Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume X/Works/Exposition of the Christian Faith/Book I/Chapter 6

Chapter V.

''The various blasphemies uttered by the Arians against Christ are cited. Before these are replied to, the orthodox are admonished to beware of the captious arguments of philosophers, forasmuch as in these especially did the heretics put their trust.''

34. let us consider the disputings of the Arians concerning the Son of God.

35. They say that the Son of God is unlike His Father. To say this of a man would be an insult.

36. They say that the Son of God had a beginning in time, whereas He Himself is the source and ordainer of time and all that therein is. The original was: &#8220;Cum conditor ipse sit temporum,&#8221; which, rendered more closely word for word, is, &#8220;whereas He Himself is the ordainer of times,&#8221; or &#8220;ages.&#8221; The Latin tempora is the equivalent of the Greek &#945;&#7984;&#8182;&#957;&#949;&#962;, which is commonly rendered &#8220;worlds&#8221; in the A.V. of the New Testament, e.g. Heb. i. 2; Rom. xii. 2; 1 Cor. i. 20; ii. 6; 2 Cor. iv. 4; Gal. i. 4; 2 Tim. iv. 10. But &#945;&#7984;&#8060;&#957; also means &#8220;age&#8221;&#8212;&#8220;for ever and ever&#8221; is the rendering of &#949;&#7984;&#962; &#945;&#7984;&#8182;&#957;&#945;&#962; &#945;&#7984;&#8061;&#957;&#969;&#957; (&#8220;unto ages of ages&#8221;) or &#949;&#8055;&#962; &#964;&#8056;&#957; &#945;&#7984;&#8182;&#957;&#945;. The term denotes the world as a complex, the parts of which are presented to us in succession of time, from which notion is derived its use to denote a selection of the parts so presented, collectively termed an &#8220;age&#8221; or &#8220;time.&#8221; Another word rendered &#8220;world&#8221; in the N.T. is &#954;&#8057;&#963;&#956;&#959;&#962;, which frequently occurs in St. John; and St. Paul also has it, in conjunction with &#7936;&#953;&#8060;&#957; in Eph. ii. 2. &#8220;According to the course (&#7936;&#953;&#8182;&#957;&#945;) of this world (&#954;&#8057;&#963;&#956;&#959;&#965;).&#8221; &#922;&#8057;&#963;&#956;&#959;&#962; means the world as an ordered whole, as opposed to a chaos. The use of &#8220;world&#8221; to translate both &#954;&#8057;&#963;&#956;&#959;&#962; and &#945;&#7984;&#8060;&#957; may be justified on the ground that we cannot think of time void of objects and events, whilst, on the other hand, we know not&#8212;at least, have never observed&#8212;any objects and events not in time. For us &#8220;time&#8221; is a necessary form of thought. We are men, and we would not be limited to time. We began to exist once, and we believe that we shall have a timeless existence. We desire after immortality&#8212;how, then, can we deny the eternity of God&#8217;s Son, Whom God declares to be eternal by nature, not by grace?

37. They say that He was created. But who would reckon an author with his works, and have him seem to be what he has himself made?

38. They deny His goodness. Their blaspheming is its own condemnation, and so cannot hope for pardon.

39. They deny that He is truly Son of God, they deny His omnipotence, in that whilst they admit that all things are made by the ministry of the Son, they attribute the original source of their being to the power of God. But what is power, save perfection of nature?

40. Furthermore, the Arians deny that in

Godhead He is One with the Father. Let them annul the Gospel, then, and silence the voice of Christ. For Christ Himself has said: &#8220;I and the Father are one.&#8221; It is not I who say this: Christ has said it. Is He a deceiver, that He should lie? Is He unrighteous, that He should claim to be what He never was? But of these matters we will deal severally, at greater length, in their proper place.

41. Seeing, then, that the heretic says that Christ is unlike His Father, and seeks to maintain this by force of subtle disputation, we must cite the Scripture: &#8220;Take heed that no man make spoil of you by philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, and after the rudiments of this world, not according to Christ; for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of Godhead in bodily shape.&#8221;

42. For they store up all the strength of their poisons in dialetical disputation, which by the judgment of philosophers is defined as having no power to establish aught, and aiming only at destruction. But it was not by dialectic that it pleased God to save His people; &#8220;for the kingdom of God consisteth in simplicity of faith, not in wordy contention.&#8221;