Defence of the Nicene Definition 30–32

For when the prophets call God Almighty, they did not call him so because the Word is one of all things; for they knew that the Son is other than originated things and is himself the ruler of all, after the likeness of the Father. They called him so because he rules all the things that he made through the Son, and has given the authority over them to the Son, and having given it, is himself again Lord of all through the Word. And again, when they call God Lord of powers, they said this not because the Word too is one of these powers, but because he is Father of the Son and Lord of the powers that came to be through the Son. For the Word himself in turn, being in the Father, is Lord of all these and rules all; for all that the Father has belongs to the Son. As, then, this has such a meaning, so let anyone who wishes to call God unoriginate say it, if he once thinks fit to do so—but not because the Word is among originated things, but because, as I said before, God is not only not originated, but is also the maker of originated things through his own Word. For even when the Father is spoken of in this way, the Word is still his image and of the same essence as the Father; and being his image, he would be other than originated things and than all things; for he has the property and the likeness of him whose image he is; so that one who calls the Father unoriginate and almighty perceives in the Unoriginate and the Almighty his Word and Wisdom too, which is the Son. But these marvelous men, so ready for impiety, invented the name “unoriginate” not out of concern for the honor of God, but out of malice against the Savior. For if they had cared for honor and reverent speech, they ought rather—and it would have been better—to acknowledge and call God Father, than to give him that name. For in calling God unoriginate they call him, as I said before, only maker, from the things that came to be, so as to signify, as it pleases them, that the Word too is a thing made; but whoever calls God Father at once signifies the Son in him as well, and will not be ignorant that, since there is a Son, all things that came to be were created through the Son. [31] It would therefore be more fitting and truer to signify God from the Son and call him Father, than to name him from the works alone and call him unoriginate. For the latter signifies the works that came to be by the will of God through the Word; but the name of Father makes known the proper offspring from his essence. And as much as the Word differs from originated things, so much and more would calling God Father differ from calling him unoriginate. For the latter is unscriptural and suspect, since it has various meanings; the former is simple and scriptural, and truer, and signifies the Son alone. “Unoriginate” was found by the Greeks, who do not know the Son; but “Father” was made known and granted by our Lord. For knowing himself whose Son he is, he said, “I am in the Father and the Father in me,” and “He who has seen me has seen the Father,” and “I and the Father are one”; and nowhere does he appear calling the Father unoriginate. And when teaching us to pray, he did not say, “When you pray, say: O God unoriginate,” but rather, “When you pray, say: Our Father who art in heaven.” And he willed that the sum of our faith should tend to this; for he commanded us to be baptized not into the name of Unoriginate and originated, nor into the name of Uncreated and creature, but into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For being perfected in this way we too are truly made sons; and in saying the name of the Father we recognize from this name the Word who is in the Father as well. And if he wills that we too should call his own Father our Father, we must not on this account put ourselves on a level with the Son in nature; … for this too is said because of him. For since the Word bore our body and came to be in us, it follows that, because of the Word in us, God is called our Father too. For the Spirit of the Word who is in us names through us his own Father as ours; and this is the meaning of the apostle when he says: “God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”

But perhaps, having been refuted about the name “unoriginate” too, being evil in their ways, they will want to say for their part: “About our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ too, what is written of him in the Scriptures ought to have been said, and unscriptural terms ought not to have been brought in.” Yes, it ought, I too would say; for the marks of the truth are more exact when drawn from the Scriptures than from other sources. But the malice and the crafty, shifting impiety of Eusebius’s party compelled the bishops, as I said before, to set out more clearly the terms that overthrow their impiety; and what the council wrote has been shown to have a correct sense, while the catchwords of the Arians have been shown to be rotten and their ways wicked. For even the name “unoriginate,” which has its own sense and can be used piously, they in turn use according to their own notion, as they wished, to dishonor the Savior, only so that, like the giants, they may contend in fighting against God. But neither did they remain uncondemned when they brought forward those catchwords, nor, though “unoriginate” can be used well and piously, could they escape detection, since their own thinking is wrong; for they were put to shame in everything, and their heresy has been exposed everywhere. These things, then, I have related as well as I could, recalling what was done at the council at that time. But I know that the contentious among the Christ-fighters will not be willing to change even after hearing these things, but will run about seeking other pretexts again, and after these will devise still others. For according to the prophetic saying, if the Ethiopian will change his skin and the leopard her spots, then these too will be willing to think piously, after learning to be impious. But you, beloved, when you receive this, read it by yourself; and if you judge it to be good, read it also to the brothers who are present at the time, so that they too, learning these things, may approve the council’s zeal for the truth and the exactness of its meaning, and may condemn the Christ-fighting Arians and the vain pretexts which they have practiced fabricating among themselves for the sake of their impious heresy. For to God and the Father belong glory, honor, and worship, with his Son and Word who is without beginning together with him, together with the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and to the endless ages of ages. Amen.