Oration I Against the Arians 62–64

62. If the Son is one of the angels, let “having become” be said of him as of them, and let him not differ from them at all in nature; but either let them too be “sons,” or let him be an “angel,” and let them all sit together at the right hand of the Father; or let the Son too stand with them all as a “ministering spirit, sent out for service,” just like them. But if Paul distinguishes the Son from things originated, saying, “For to which of the angels did he ever say, ‘You are my Son’?” and this one creates heaven and earth while they come to be through him, and he sits with the Father while they stand by ministering, to whom again is it not clear that he said “having become” not of the Word's substance, but of the ministry that came about through him? For as, being Word, he became flesh, so, having become man, “he became so much better” in his ministry than the ministry that came about through angels, as a son differs from servants and the creator from the things created. So let them stop taking “having become” of the Son's substance, for he is not one of the things originated; and let them know that “having become” indicates the ministry and the economy that came about. How he became better in ministry, being better in nature than things originated, what has been said above shows; and I think that even so they are put to shame. But if they keep contending, it would follow that we should close with their irrational daring and set against them similar texts said about the Father himself, so that either, put to shame, they may “keep their tongue from evil,” or they may know how deep in folly they are. It is written, then, “Become for me a protecting God and a house of refuge, to save me”; and again, “The Lord became a refuge for the poor”; and all such things as are found in the divine Scriptures. If, then, they say that these are said of the Son, which is perhaps nearer the truth, let them recognize that the saints ask him, who is not originated, to become their helper and house of refuge; and from now on let them take “having become,” “he made,” and “he created” of his coming in the flesh. For it was then that “he became” helper and house of refuge, when “he bore our sins in his own body on the tree,” and said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

63. But if they say that the texts are said of the Father, will they, since here too “become” and “he became” are written, go so far as to say that God is originated? Yes, they will dare, just as they reason such things about his Word; for their logic leads them to suspect about the Father the same things they imagine about his Word. But may such a thing never even enter the mind of any of the faithful! For neither is the Son one of the things originated, nor do the words written and spoken here, “become” and “he became,” signify a beginning of being, but the help that “came about” for those in need. For God is always and the same; but men came to be afterwards through the Word, when the Father himself willed; and God is invisible and inaccessible to things originated, and especially to men on earth. When, then, men in weakness call on him, when being persecuted they ask for help, when wronged they pray, then the invisible one, being a lover of mankind, shines forth by his beneficence, which he performs through his own Word and in him. And then the manifestation of God comes to each according to his need: to the weak he “becomes” strength; to the persecuted a refuge and a house of salvation; and to the wronged he says, “While you are still speaking I will say, Here I am.” So whatever help comes to each person through the Son, each says that God “has become” this for him, since help comes from God himself through the Word. The usage of men knows this too, and anyone at all will agree that it is rightly said. Help has often come to men from men. One labored for someone wronged, as Abraham did for Lot; another opened his house to someone persecuted, as Obadiah did to the sons of the prophets; one gave rest to strangers, as Lot did to the angels; another supplied the needy, as Job did those who asked of him. So if each of those who had been helped were to say, “So-and-so became a helper to me,” and another, “And to me a refuge,” and, “to this one a supplier,” in saying this they would not be signifying the beginning of the origin or the substance of their benefactors, but the kindness that came to them from them. So when the saints say of God “he became” and “become,” they do not signify any beginning of origin (for God is without beginning and unoriginated), but the salvation that has come to men from him.

64. This being so understood, it would follow that in the case of the Son too, whatever and however often “he became” and “become” are said, the same meaning should be kept. So when we hear what is said, “having become better than the angels,” and “he became,” we should not imagine any beginning of the Word's coming to be, nor at all fancy from these words that he is originated, but understand what Paul says of the ministry and economy, when he became man. For when “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” and came “to serve” and to grant salvation to all, then he “became” salvation for us, became life, became propitiation; then his economy on our behalf “became better than the angels,” and he became the way and became the resurrection. And as “Become for me a protecting God” does not signify a coming into being of the substance of God himself, but his love for mankind, as has been said, so now too “having become better than the angels,” and “he became,” and “by so much Jesus has become a better guarantor,” do not signify that the substance of the Word is originated (far from it!), but the kindness that has come to us from his becoming man, even if the heretics are ungrateful and contentious for impiety.