Oration III Against the Arians 10–18
Greek text: Bright (Greek text: William Bright, The Orations of St. Athanasius against the Arians (Oxford: Clarendon, 1884), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 4 (1892).
Chapter 10
10Bright, 163–164
10. Ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα πάλιν ἐπιχειροῦσι φιλονεικεῖν ταῖς ἰδίαις μυθοπλαστίαις, λέγοντες μὴ οὕτως εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν καὶ τὸν Πατέρα ‘ἕν, ʼ μηδὲ ‘ὅμοιον, ’ ὡς ἡ ἐκκλησία κηρύσσει, ἀλλʼ ὡς αὐτοὶ θέλουσι. Φασὶ γάρ· ‘Ἐπεὶ ἃ θέλει ὁ Πατὴρ, ταῦτα θέλει καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ οὔτε τοῖς νοήμασιν οὔτε τοῖς κρίμασιν ἀντίκειται, ἀλλʼ ἐν πᾶσίν ἐστι σύμφωνος αὐτῷ, τὴν ταὐτότητα τῶν δογμάτων καὶ τὸν ἀκόλουθον καὶ συνηρτημένον τῇ τοῦ Πατρὸς διδασκαλίᾳ ἀποδιδοὺς λόγον, διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἕν εἰσι.’ Ταῦτα γὰρ οὐ μόνον εἰπεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ γράψαι τινὲς ἐξ αὐτῶν τετολμήκασι. Τούτου δὲ τί ἄν τις ἀτοπώτερον ἢ ἀλογώτερον εἴποι; εἰ γὰρ διὰ ταῦτα ἕν εἰσιν ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ εἰ οὕτως ὅμοιός ἐστιν ὁ Λόγος τῷ Πατρὶ, ὥρα καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἡμῶν τὰ ὑπερκείμενα, ἀρχάς τε καὶ ἐξουσίας, καὶ θρόνους καὶ κυριότητας, καὶ τὰ φαινόμενα, ἥλιόν τε καὶ σελήνην, καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας εἶναι καὶ αὐτοὺς, ὡς τὸν Υἱὸν, υἱοὺς, λέγεσθαι δὲ καὶ περὶ τούτων ὅτι αὐτοὶ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ‘ἕνʼ εἰσι, καὶ ἕκαστος εἰκὼν καὶ Λόγος ἐστι τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἃ γὰρ θέλει ὁ Θεὸς, ταῦτα θέλουσι καὶ αὐτοί· καὶ οὔτε τοῖς κρίμασιν οὔτε τοῖς δόγμασι διαφωνοῦσιν, ἀλλʼ ἐν πᾶσίν εἰσιν ὑπήκοοι τῷ πεποιηκότι. Οὐκ ἂν γὰρ ἔμειναν ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ, εἰ μὴ ἅπερ ἤθελεν ὁ Πατὴρ, ταῦτα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἠβούλοντο. Ὁ γοῦν μὴ μείνας, ἀλλὰ παραφρονήσας, ἤκουσε· ‘Πῶς ἐξέπεσεν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὁ ἑωσφόρος, ὁ πρωῒ ἀνατέλλων; ʼ πῶς οὖν, τούτων οὕτως ὄντων, μόνος οὗτος Υἱὸς μονογενὴς καὶ Λόγος καὶ Σοφία ἐστίν; ἢ πῶς, τοσούτων ὄντων ὁμοίων τῷ Πατρὶ, μόνος οὗτος εἰκών ἐστι; καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὑρεθήσονται πολλοὶ ὅμοιοι τῷ Πατρὶ, πλεῖστοι μὲν μάρτυρες γενόμενοι, καὶ πρὸ αὐτῶν οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ προφῆται, καὶ πάλιν πρὸ τούτων οἱ πατριάρχαι· πολλοί τε καὶ νῦν ἐφύλαξαν τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐντολὴν, γενόμενοι ‘οἰκτίρμονες, ὡς ὁ Πατὴρ ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ᾿ καὶ τηρήσαντες τὸ ‘Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητά· καὶ περιπατεῖτε ἐν ἀγάπῃ, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς.’ ‘Μιμηταὶ δὲ γεγόνασιʼ καὶ τοῦ Παύλου πολλοὶ, ὡς κἀκεῖνος ‘τοῦ Χριστοῦ·’ καὶ ὅμως οὐδεὶς τούτων οὔτε ‘Λόγος, ’ οὔτε ‘Σοφία, ’ οὔτε ‘μονογενὴς Υἱὸς, ’ οὔτε ‘εἰκώνʼ ἐστιν, οὔτε τις τούτων ἀπετόλμησεν εἰπεῖν· ‘Ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν, ’ ἢ, ‘ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί.᾿ Ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν πάντων εἴρηται, ‘Τίς ὅμοιός σοι ἐν θεοῖς, Κύριε;’ καὶ, ‘Τίς ὁμοιωθήσεται τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν υἱοῖς Θεοῦ;’ περὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι μόνος εἰκὼν ἀληθινὴ καὶ φύσει τοῦ Πατρός ἐστιν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ‘κατʼ εἰκόναʼ γεγόναμεν, καὶ ‘εἰκὼν καὶ δόξα Θεοῦʼ ἐχρηματίσαμεν, ἀλλʼ οὐ διʼ ἑαυτοὺς πάλιν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἐνοικήσασαν ἐν ἡμῖν εἰκόνα καὶ ἀληθῆ δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ Λόγος αὐτοῦ, ὁ διʼ ἡμᾶς ὕστερον γενόμενος σὰρξ, ταύτην τῆς κλήσεως ἔχομεν τὴν χάριν.
10. Alla kai pros tauta palin epicheirousi philoneikein tais idiais mythoplastiais, legontes mē houtōs einai ton Huion kai ton Patera ‘hen, ʼ mēde ‘homoion, ’ hōs hē ekklēsia kēryssei, allʼ hōs autoi thelousi. Phasi gar; ‘Epei ha thelei ho Patēr, tauta thelei kai ho Huios, kai oute tois noēmasin oute tois krimasin antikeitai, allʼ en pasin esti symphōnos autǭ, tēn tautotēta tōn dogmatōn kai ton akolouthon kai synērtēmenon tę̄ tou Patros didaskalią apodidous logon, dia touto autos kai ho Patēr hen eisi.’ Tauta gar ou monon eipein, alla kai grapsai tines ex autōn tetolmēkasi. Toutou de ti an tis atopōteron ē alogōteron eipoi? ei gar dia tauta hen eisin ho Huios kai ho Patēr, kai ei houtōs homoios estin ho Logos tǭ Patri, hōra kai tous angelous, kai ta alla hēmōn ta hyperkeimena, archas te kai exousias, kai thronous kai kyriotētas, kai ta phainomena, hēlion te kai selēnēn, kai tous asteras einai kai autous, hōs ton Huion, huious, legesthai de kai peri toutōn hoti autoi kai ho Patēr ‘henʼ eisi, kai hekastos eikōn kai Logos esti tou Theou. Ha gar thelei ho Theos, tauta thelousi kai autoi; kai oute tois krimasin oute tois dogmasi diaphōnousin, allʼ en pasin eisin hypēkooi tǭ pepoiēkoti. Ouk an gar emeinan en tę̄ idią doxę̄, ei mē haper ēthelen ho Patēr, tauta kai autoi ēboulonto. Ho goun mē meinas, alla paraphronēsas, ēkouse; ‘Pōs exepesen ek tou ouranou ho heōsphoros, ho prōï anatellōn? ʼ pōs oun, toutōn houtōs ontōn, monos houtos Huios monogenēs kai Logos kai Sophia estin? ē pōs, tosoutōn ontōn homoiōn tǭ Patri, monos houtos eikōn esti? kai gar kai en anthrōpois heurethēsontai polloi homoioi tǭ Patri, pleistoi men martyres genomenoi, kai pro autōn hoi apostoloi kai prophētai, kai palin pro toutōn hoi patriarchai; polloi te kai nyn ephylaxan tēn tou Sōtēros entolēn, genomenoi ‘oiktirmones, hōs ho Patēr ho en tois ouranois, ᾿ kai tērēsantes to ‘Ginesthe oun mimētai tou Theou, hōs tekna agapēta; kai peripateite en agapę̄, kathōs kai ho Christos ēgapēsen hēmas.’ ‘Mimētai de gegonasiʼ kai tou Paulou polloi, hōs kakeinos ‘tou Christou;’ kai homōs oudeis toutōn oute ‘Logos, ’ oute ‘Sophia, ’ oute ‘monogenēs Huios, ’ oute ‘eikōnʼ estin, oute tis toutōn apetolmēsen eipein; ‘Egō kai ho Patēr hen esmen, ’ ē, ‘egō en tǭ Patri kai ho Patēr en emoi.᾿ Alla peri men pantōn eirētai, ‘Tis homoios soi en theois, Kyrie?’ kai, ‘Tis homoiōthēsetai tǭ Kyriǭ en huiois Theou?’ peri de autou, hoti monos eikōn alēthinē kai physei tou Patros estin. Ei gar kai ‘katʼ eikonaʼ gegonamen, kai ‘eikōn kai doxa Theouʼ echrēmatisamen, allʼ ou diʼ heautous palin, alla dia tēn enoikēsasan en hēmin eikona kai alēthē doxan tou Theou, hētis estin ho Logos autou, ho diʼ hēmas hysteron genomenos sarx, tautēn tēs klēseōs echomen tēn charin.
But against these things too they again try to contend with their own fables, saying that the Son and the Father are not “one” or “like” in the way the church preaches, but as they themselves would have it. For they say, “Since what the Father wills the Son also wills, and he is not opposed to him either in thoughts or in judgments, but is in all things in harmony with him, rendering the identity of doctrines and a word consistent with and bound up with the Father's teaching, for this reason he and the Father are one.” Some of them have dared not only to say this but also to write it. What could one say more absurd or unreasonable than this? For if the Son and the Father are one for these reasons, and if the Word is like the Father in this way, it is time for the angels too, and the other beings above us—principalities and authorities, thrones and dominions—and the visible things—sun and moon and the stars—to be sons as the Son is, and for it to be said of them too that they and the Father are “one,” and that each is an image and Word of God. For what God wills, they will too; they disagree neither in judgments nor in doctrines, but in all things obey their maker. For they would not have remained in their own glory had they not wished what the Father willed. The one, at any rate, who did not remain but lost his mind heard, “How has the morning star fallen from heaven, who rose in the morning!” How then, if this is so, is this one alone only-begotten Son and Word and Wisdom? Or how, when so many are like the Father, is this one alone the image? For among human beings too many will be found like the Father: very many martyrs, and before them the apostles and prophets, and before these again the patriarchs; and many even now have kept the Saviour's command, becoming “merciful, as the Father in heaven,” and keeping the words, “Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us.” Many too have become “imitators” of Paul, as he was “of Christ”; and yet none of these is “Word,” or “Wisdom,” or “only-begotten Son,” or “image,” nor did any of them dare to say, “I and the Father are one,” or “I am in the Father and the Father in me.” But of all it is said, “Who is like you among the gods, O Lord?” and “Who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?” whereas of him it is said that he alone is the true and natural image of the Father. For even if we have been made “after the image,” and been called “the image and glory of God,” it is again not through ourselves, but because of the image and true glory of God that has dwelt in us, which is his Word, who afterwards became flesh for us, that we have the grace of this calling.
John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 1:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 14:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 6:36 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 5:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 5:2 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:1 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 86:8 (85:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 89:6 (88:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:7 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:14 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: If the Son were one with the Father only by agreement of will and teaching, angels, stars, and saints would be sons and images too; only the Son is the Father's true and natural image.
- The Arian formula quoted here explains the unity of Father and Son as agreement of will and doctrine.
- “How has the morning star fallen” is Isa 14:12, applied to the devil.
- Slips corrected: a stray mark (ταῖς· ἰδίαις), κοί to καὶ, Ἁλλὰ to Ἀλλὰ.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Breathing slip.; Letter slip.; Stray punctuation.): ταῖς· ἰδίαις → ταῖς ἰδίαις; κοί τοῦ Παύλου → καὶ τοῦ Παύλου; Ἁλλὰ → Ἀλλὰ.
Cite (SBL): Athanasius, C. Ar. 10 (Bright, 163–164; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-oratio-3/10/#p-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Bright (1884); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with NPNF² 4.
Chapter 11
11Bright, 164–165
11. Ἀπρεποῦς δὴ οὖν καὶ ἀλόγου καὶ τῆς τοιαύτης φρονήσεως ἐκείνων φαινομένης, ἀνάγκη τὴν ὁμοίωσιν καὶ τὴν ἑνότητα ἐπʼ αὐτὴν τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ Υἱοῦ φέρειν· εἰ γὰρ μὴ οὕτω τις λάβοι, οὔτε πλέον τι τῶν γενητῶν ἔχων φανήσεται, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, οὔτε τοῦ Πατρὸς ὅμοιος ἔσται, ἀλλὰ τῶν τοῦ Πατρὸς ὅμοιος ἔσται δογμάτων· καὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς διαφέρει ὅτι ὁ μὲν Πατὴρ Πατήρ ἐστι, τὰ δὲ δόγματα καὶ ἡ διδασκαλία τοῦ Πατρός ἐστιν. Εἰ τοίνυν κατὰ τὰ δόγματα καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν ὅμοιός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τῷ Πατρὶ, ὁ μὲν Πατὴρ κατʼ αὐτοὺς ὀνόματι μόνον Πατὴρ ἔσται· ὁ δὲ Υἱὸς οὐκ ἀπαράλλακτος εἰκὼν, μᾶλλον οὐδὲ ὅλως ἰδιότητα ἢ ὁμοίωσίν τινα τοῦ Πατρὸς ἔχων φανήσεται. Ποία γὰρ ὁμοίωσις καὶ ἰδιότης τῷ παρεξηλλαγμένῳ παρὰ τὸν Πατέρα; καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, ὅμοια τῷ Σωτῆρι διδάσκων, οὐκ ἦν κατʼ οὐσίαν ὅμοιος αὐτῷ. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν, τοιαῦτα φρονοῦντες, ψεύδονται· ὁ δέ γε Υἱὸς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ οὕτως εἰσὶν ἓν, καθάπερ εἴρηται· καὶ οὕτως ἐστὶν ὁ Υἱὸς ὅμοιος καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Πατρὸς, ὡς ἔστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ νοεῖν υἱὸν πρὸς πατέρα, καὶ ὡς ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τὸ ἀπαύγασμα πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον. Διὰ γὰρ τὸ οὕτως εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν, ἐργαζομένου τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ὁ Πατήρ ἐστιν ὁ ἐργαζόμενος, καὶ ἐρχομένου τοῦ Υἱοῦ πρὸς τοὺς ἁγίους, ὁ Πατήρ ἐστιν ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ, ὡς αὐτὸς ἐπηγγείλατο λέγων, ‘ἐλευσόμεθα ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ μονὴν παρʼ αὐτῷ ποιήσομεν.’ Ἐν γὰρ τῇ εἰκόνι θεωρεῖται ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀπαυγάσματί ἐστι τὸ φῶς. Διὰ τοῦτο, καθάπερ μικρῷ πρόσθεν εἴπομεν, καὶ διδόντος τοῦ Πατρὸς χάριν καὶ εἰρήνην, αὐτὴν καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς δίδωσιν, ὡς ὁ Παῦλος ἐπισημαίνεται διὰ πάσης ἐπιστολῆς γράφων· ‘Χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.’ Μία γὰρ καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ χάρις ἐστὶ παρὰ Πατρὸς ἐν Υἱῷ, ὡς ἔστιν ἓν τὸ φῶς τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τοῦ ἀπαυγάσματος, καὶ τὸ φωτίζειν τοῦ ἡλίου διὰ τοῦ ἀπαυγάσματος γίνεται. Οὕτω γοῦν πάλιν ἐπευχόμενος Θεσσαλονικεῦσι, καὶ λέγων, ‘Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ ἡμῶν, καὶ ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς κατευθύναι τὴν ὁδὸν ἡμῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ’ τὴν ἑνότητα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐφύλαξεν· οὐ γὰρ εἶπε, ‘κατευθύνοιεν, ’ ὡς παρὰ δύο διδομένης, παρὰ τούτου καὶ τούτου, διπλῆς χάριτος, ἀλλὰ ‘κατευθύναι, ’ ἵνα δείξῃ ὅτι ὁ Πατὴρ διʼ Υἱοῦ δίδωσι ταύτην· ἐξ ὧν κἂν ἐρυθριᾷν οἱ ἀσεβεῖς δυνάμενοι, οὐ βούλονται.
11. Aprepous dē oun kai alogou kai tēs toiautēs phronēseōs ekeinōn phainomenēs, anankē tēn homoiōsin kai tēn henotēta epʼ autēn tēn ousian tou Huiou pherein; ei gar mē houtō tis laboi, oute pleon ti tōn genētōn echōn phanēsetai, hōsper eirētai, oute tou Patros homoios estai, alla tōn tou Patros homoios estai dogmatōn; kai tou Patros diapherei hoti ho men Patēr Patēr esti, ta de dogmata kai hē didaskalia tou Patros estin. Ei toinyn kata ta dogmata kai tēn didaskalian homoios estin ho Huios tǭ Patri, ho men Patēr katʼ autous onomati monon Patēr estai; ho de Huios ouk aparallaktos eikōn, mallon oude holōs idiotēta ē homoiōsin tina tou Patros echōn phanēsetai. Poia gar homoiōsis kai idiotēs tǭ parexēllagmenǭ para ton Patera? kai gar kai ho Paulos, homoia tǭ Sōtēri didaskōn, ouk ēn katʼ ousian homoios autǭ. Ekeinoi men oun, toiauta phronountes, pseudontai; ho de ge Huios kai ho Patēr houtōs eisin hen, kathaper eirētai; kai houtōs estin ho Huios homoios kai ex autou tou Patros, hōs estin idein kai noein huion pros patera, kai hōs estin idein to apaugasma pros ton hēlion. Dia gar to houtōs einai ton Huion, ergazomenou tou Huiou, ho Patēr estin ho ergazomenos, kai erchomenou tou Huiou pros tous hagious, ho Patēr estin ho erchomenos en tǭ Huiǭ, hōs autos epēngeilato legōn, ‘eleusometha egō kai ho Patēr, kai monēn parʼ autǭ poiēsomen.’ En gar tę̄ eikoni theōreitai ho Patēr, kai en tǭ apaugasmati esti to phōs. Dia touto, kathaper mikrǭ prosthen eipomen, kai didontos tou Patros charin kai eirēnēn, autēn kai ho Huios didōsin, hōs ho Paulos episēmainetai dia pasēs epistolēs graphōn; ‘Charis hymin kai eirēnē apo Theou Patros hēmōn kai Kyriou Iēsou Christou.’ Mia gar kai hē autē charis esti para Patros en Huiǭ, hōs estin hen to phōs tou hēliou kai tou apaugasmatos, kai to phōtizein tou hēliou dia tou apaugasmatos ginetai. Houtō goun palin epeuchomenos Thessalonikeusi, kai legōn, ‘Autos de ho Theos kai Patēr hēmōn, kai ho Kyrios Iēsous Christos kateuthynai tēn hodon hēmōn pros hymas, ’ tēn henotēta tou Patros kai tou Huiou ephylaxen; ou gar eipe, ‘kateuthynoien, ’ hōs para dyo didomenēs, para toutou kai toutou, diplēs charitos, alla ‘kateuthynai, ’ hina deixę̄ hoti ho Patēr diʼ Huiou didōsi tautēn; ex hōn kan erythriąn hoi asebeis dynamenoi, ou boulontai.
Since such thinking of theirs too appears unfitting and unreasonable, the likeness and the unity must be referred to the very substance of the Son; for if one does not take it so, he will not appear to have anything more than originated things, as has been said, nor will he be like the Father, but only like the Father's doctrines; and he differs from the Father in this, that the Father is Father, while the doctrines and the teaching are the Father's. If, then, the Son is like the Father in doctrines and teaching, the Father on their view will be Father in name only, and the Son will not be an exact image, or rather will be shown to have no propriety or likeness of the Father at all. For what likeness or propriety has one who differs altogether from the Father? For Paul too, teaching things like the Saviour's, was not like him in substance. They, then, thinking such things, lie; but the Son and the Father are one in the way that has been said; and the Son is like the Father, and from him, in the way one can see and understand a son to be toward a father, and the radiance toward the sun. For because the Son is so, when the Son works, the Father is the one who works; and when the Son comes to the saints, the Father is the one who comes in the Son, as he himself promised, saying, “I and the Father will come and make our dwelling with him.” For in the image the Father is contemplated, and in the radiance is the light. Therefore, as we said a little before, when the Father gives grace and peace, the Son gives it too, as Paul indicates, writing in every letter, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” For the grace from the Father in the Son is one and the same, as the light of the sun and of the radiance is one, and the sun's illumining takes place through the radiance. So again, praying for the Thessalonians and saying, “Now may our God and Father himself and the Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you,” he preserved the unity of the Father and the Son; for he did not say “may they direct,” as though a double grace were given from two, from this one and from that, but “may he direct,” to show that the Father gives it through the Son. At this the impious, though they could blush, do not wish to.
John 14:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Thess 3:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Likeness and unity must belong to the Son's substance, not merely to his teaching; so the grace and peace of Father and Son are one gift, as Paul's singular verb in 1 Thess 3:11 shows.
- The argument from 1 Thess 3:11 rests on the singular optative κατευθύναι (“may he direct”) with a double subject.
- Slips corrected: κεῖνοι to Ἐκεῖνοι, Ἀὐτὸς to Αὐτὸς, εἷπε to εἶπε.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Accent slip.; Breathing slip.; Initial letter dropped.): κεῖνοι μὲν οὖν → Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν; Ἀὐτὸς → Αὐτὸς; οὐ γὰρ εἷπε → οὐ γὰρ εἶπε.
Topics: Trinity
Cite (SBL): Athanasius, C. Ar. 11 (Bright, 164–165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-oratio-3/10/#p-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Bright (1884); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with NPNF² 4.
Chapter 12
12Bright, 165–166
12. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἦν ἑνότης, καὶ ἴδιον τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας γέννημα ὁ Λόγος, ὡς τὸ ἀπαύγασμα τοῦ φωτὸς, ἀλλὰ διειστήκει τῇ φύσει ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἤρκει τὸν Πατέρα δοῦναι μόνον, οὐδενὸς τῶν γενητῶν ἐπικοινωνοῦντος πρὸς τὸν πεποιηκότα ἐν τοῖς διδομένοις· νῦν δὲ ἡ τοιαύτη δόσις δείκνυσι τὴν ἑνότητα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ. Οὐκ ἂν γοῦν εὔξαιτό τις λαβεῖν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἢ παρά τινος τῶν ἄλλων κτισμάτων, οὐδʼ ἂν εἴποι τις, ‘Δῴη σοι ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος, ’ ἀλλὰ παρὰ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ διὰ τὴν ἑνότητα καὶ τὴν ἑνοειδῆ δόσιν. Διὰ γὰρ τοῦ Υἱοῦ δίδοται τὰ διδόμενα· οὐδὲν δέ ἐστιν, ὃ μὴ διʼ Υἱοῦ ἐνεργεῖ ὁ Πατήρ· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ λαβὼν ἀσφαλῆ τὴν χάριν ἔχει. Εἰ δὲ ὁ πατριάρχης Ἰακὼβ, εὐλογῶν τοὺς ἐγγόνους Ἐφραῒμ καὶ Μανασσῆ, ἔλεγεν, ‘Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ τρέφων με ἐκ νεότητός μου ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης, ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ ῥυόμενός με ἐκ πάντων τῶν κακῶν, εὐλογήσαι τὰ παιδία ταῦτα, ’ οὐ τῶν κτισθέντων καὶ τὴν φύσιν ἀγγέλων ὄντων ἕνα συνῆπτε τῷ κτίσαντι αὐτοὺς Θεῷ· οὐδὲ ἀφεὶς τὸν τρέφοντα αὐτὸν Θεὸν, παρʼ ἀγγέλου τὴν εὐλογίαν ᾔτει τοῖς ἐγγόνοις· ἀλλʼ εἰρηκὼς, ‘ὁ ῥυόμενός με ἐκ πάντων τῶν κακῶν.᾿ ἔδειξε μὴ τῶν κτισθέντων τινὰ ἀγγέλων, ἀλλὰ τὸν Λόγον εἶναι τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὃν τῷ Πατρὶ συνάπτων ηὔχετο· διʼ οὗ καὶ οὓς ἐὰν θέλῃ, ῥύεται ὁ Θεός. Τοῦτον γὰρ καὶ μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελονʼ τοῦ Πατρὸς εἰδὼς καλούμενον, οὐκ ἄλλον ἢ αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν εὐλογοῦντα, καὶ ῥυόμενον ἐκ τῶν κακῶν ἔλεγεν. Οὐ γὰρ αὐτὸς μὲν παρὰ Θεοῦ ἠξίου εὐλογεῖσθαι, τοὺς δὲ ἐκγόνους ἤθελε παρʼ ἀγγέλου· ἀλλʼ ὃν αὐτὸς παρεκάλει λέγων, Οὐ μή σε ἀποστείλω, ἐὰν μή με εὐλογήσῃς, ’ (Θεὸς δὲ ἦν οὗτος, ὡς αὐτός φησιν· Εἶδον Θεὸν πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπονʼ ), τοῦτον εὐλογῆσαι καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ηὔχετο. Ἀγγέλου μὲν οὖν ἴδιον τὸ διακονεῖν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ προστάξει· πολλάκις δὲ καὶ ‘προπορεύεταιʼ ἐκβάλλειν τὸν Ἀμοῤῥαῖον, καὶ πέμπεται φυλάξαι τὸν λαὸν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ· ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ, τοῦ δὲ προστάξαντος καὶ ἀποστείλαντος αὐτὸν Θεοῦ, οὗ καὶ τὸ ῥύεσθαι ἔστιν, οὓς ἂν αὐτὸς θελήσῃ ῥύεσθαι· διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἄλλος ἢ αὐτὸς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ὀφθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ‘Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μετὰ σοῦ, διαφυλάσσων σε ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ πάσῃ, οὗ ἂν πορευθῇς·’ καὶ οὐκ ἄλλος, ἀλλὰ πάλιν ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ὀφθεὶς ἐπέσχε τοῦ Λάβαν τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν, κελεύσας αὐτῷ ‘μὴ λαλῆσαι πονηρὰ τῷ Ἰακώβ·’ καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ οὐκ ἄλλον ἢ τὸν Θεὸν παρεκάλει λέγων· ‘Ἐξελοῦ με ἐκ χειρὸς τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μου Ἠσαῦ, ὅτι φοβοῦμαι αὐτόν·’ καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταῖς γυναιξὶν ὁμιλῶν ἔλεγεν, ὅτι ‘οὐκ ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Λάβαν κακοποιῆσαί με.’
12. Ei gar mē ēn henotēs, kai idion tēs tou Patros ousias gennēma ho Logos, hōs to apaugasma tou phōtos, alla dieistēkei tę̄ physei ho Huios tou Patros, ērkei ton Patera dounai monon, oudenos tōn genētōn epikoinōnountos pros ton pepoiēkota en tois didomenois; nyn de hē toiautē dosis deiknysi tēn henotēta tou Patros kai tou Huiou. Ouk an goun euxaito tis labein para tou Theou kai tōn angelōn, ē para tinos tōn allōn ktismatōn, oudʼ an eipoi tis, ‘Dǭē soi ho Theos kai ho angelos, ’ alla para Patros kai tou Huiou dia tēn henotēta kai tēn henoeidē dosin. Dia gar tou Huiou didotai ta didomena; ouden de estin, ho mē diʼ Huiou energei ho Patēr; houtō gar kai ho labōn asphalē tēn charin echei. Ei de ho patriarchēs Iakōb, eulogōn tous engonous Ephraïm kai Manassē, elegen, ‘Ho Theos ho trephōn me ek neotētos mou heōs tēs hēmeras tautēs, ho angelos ho rhyomenos me ek pantōn tōn kakōn, eulogēsai ta paidia tauta, ’ ou tōn ktisthentōn kai tēn physin angelōn ontōn hena synēpte tǭ ktisanti autous Theǭ; oude apheis ton trephonta auton Theon, parʼ angelou tēn eulogian ę̄tei tois engonois; allʼ eirēkōs, ‘ho rhyomenos me ek pantōn tōn kakōn.᾿ edeixe mē tōn ktisthentōn tina angelōn, alla ton Logon einai tou Theou, hon tǭ Patri synaptōn ēucheto; diʼ hou kai hous ean thelę̄, rhyetai ho Theos. Touton gar kai megalēs boulēs angelonʼ tou Patros eidōs kaloumenon, ouk allon ē auton einai ton eulogounta, kai rhyomenon ek tōn kakōn elegen. Ou gar autos men para Theou ēxiou eulogeisthai, tous de ekgonous ēthele parʼ angelou; allʼ hon autos parekalei legōn, Ou mē se aposteilō, ean mē me eulogēsę̄s, ’ (Theos de ēn houtos, hōs autos phēsin; Eidon Theon prosōpon pros prosōponʼ ), touton eulogēsai kai tous huious tou Iōsēph ēucheto. Angelou men oun idion to diakonein tę̄ tou Theou prostaxei; pollakis de kai ‘proporeuetaiʼ ekballein ton Amorrhaion, kai pempetai phylaxai ton laon en tę̄ hodǭ; alla kai tauta ouk estin autou, tou de prostaxantos kai aposteilantos auton Theou, hou kai to rhyesthai estin, hous an autos thelēsę̄ rhyesthai; dia touto ouk allos ē autos Kyrios ho Theos ho ophtheis eipen autǭ; ‘Kai idou egō meta sou, diaphylassōn se en tę̄ hodǭ pasę̄, hou an poreuthę̄s;’ kai ouk allos, alla palin ho Theos ho ophtheis epesche tou Laban tēn epiboulēn, keleusas autǭ ‘mē lalēsai ponēra tǭ Iakōb;’ kai autos de ouk allon ē ton Theon parekalei legōn; ‘Exelou me ek cheiros tou adelphou mou Ēsau, hoti phoboumai auton;’ kai gar kai tais gynaixin homilōn elegen, hoti ‘ouk edōken ho Theos tǭ Laban kakopoiēsai me.’
For if there were no unity, and the Word were not the proper offspring of the Father's substance, as the radiance is of the light, but the Son stood apart from the Father in nature, it would have sufficed for the Father alone to give, since none of the originated beings shares with the maker in giving; but as it is, such giving shows the unity of the Father and the Son. No one, at any rate, would pray to receive from God and the angels, or from any other creature, nor would anyone say, “May God and the angel give to you”; but one prays to receive from the Father and the Son, because of the unity and the single form of the giving. For the things given are given through the Son; and there is nothing that the Father works except through the Son; for so the one who receives has the grace secure. And if the patriarch Jacob, blessing his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh, said, “The God who has fed me from my youth to this day, the angel who delivers me from all evils, bless these children,” he did not join one of the angels, who are created and angels by nature, to God who created them; nor, leaving aside the God who fed him, did he ask a blessing for his grandsons from an angel. But by saying, “who delivers me from all evils,” he showed that it was not one of the created angels but the Word of God whom he joined with the Father in his prayer, through whom God delivers whomever he wills. For knowing that he is also called the Father's “angel of great counsel,” he said that none other than he was the one who blesses and delivers from evils. For he did not ask to be blessed himself by God while wishing his grandsons to be blessed by an angel; but the one whom he himself had entreated, saying, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (and this was God, as he himself says, “I have seen God face to face”), him he prayed to bless the sons of Joseph too. It is proper to an angel to minister at God's command; and often he “goes before” to drive out the Amorite, and is sent to guard the people on the way; but these things are not his, but belong to God who commanded and sent him, to whom it also belongs to deliver whomever he wills to deliver. That is why it was none other than the Lord God himself, who appeared to him, who said to him, “And behold, I am with you, keeping you in every way wherever you go”; and none other, but again the God who appeared, who checked Laban's plot, commanding him “not to speak evil to Jacob”; and Jacob himself entreated none other than God, saying, “Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I fear him”; and speaking with his wives he said, “God did not allow Laban to do me harm.”
Gen 48:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 48:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 9:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 32:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 32:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 23:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 28:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 31:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 32:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 31:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: No one prays for gifts from God and an angel together, but from the Father and the Son; the “angel” Jacob invoked with God (Gen 48:16) was the Word, the “angel of great counsel.”
- “Angel of great counsel” is the Septuagint of Isa 9:6, read as a title of the Word.
- Slips corrected: κοὶ to καὶ, Ὁὐ to Οὐ, οὖτος to οὗτος, Ἑἶδον to Εἶδον, εἷπεν to εἶπεν.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Accent slip.; Breathing slip.; Letter slip.): Πατρὸς κοὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ → Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ; Ὁὐ μή → Οὐ μή; δὲ ἦν οὖτος → δὲ ἦν οὗτος; Ἑἶδον → Εἶδον; ὀφθεὶς εἷπεν → ὀφθεὶς εἶπεν.
Topics: Trinity, Christology
Cite (SBL): Athanasius, C. Ar. 12 (Bright, 165–166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-oratio-3/10/#p-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Bright (1884); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with NPNF² 4.
Chapter 13
13Bright, 167
13. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Δαβὶδ οὐκ ἄλλον ἢ αὐτὸν τὸν Θεὸν παρεκάλει περὶ τοῦ ῥυσθῆναι, ‘Πρός σε, Κύριε, ἐν τῷ θλίβεσθαί με, ἐκέκραξα, καὶ ἐπήκουσάς μου· Κύριε, ῥῦσαι τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπὸ χειλέων ἀδίκων, καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης δολίας·’ τούτῳ καὶ τὴν χάριν ἀνατιθεὶς, ‘ἐλάλησε καὶ τοὺς λόγους τῆς ᾠδῆςʼ ἐν τῷ ἑπτακαιδεκάτῳ ψαλμῷ, ‘ἐν ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτὸν ὁ Κύριος ἐκ χειρὸς πάντων τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς Σαοὺλ, καὶ εἶπεν, Ἀγαπήσω σε, Κύριε, ἡ ἰσχύς μου, Κύριος στερέωμά μου καὶ καταφυγή μου, καὶ ῥύστης μου.’ Ὁ δὲ Παῦλος, πολλοὺς διωγμοὺς ὑπομείνας, οὐκ ἄλλῳ ἢ τῷ Θεῷ ηὐχαρίστει λέγων, ‘ἐκ πάντων με ἐῤῥύσατο ὁ Κύριος, καὶ ῥύσεται, εἰς ὃν ἠλπίκαμεν·’ καὶ οὐκ ἄλλος δὲ ἢ ὁ Θεὸς ηὐλόγησε τὸν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ τὸν Ἰσαάκ· καὶ ὁ Ἰσαὰκ δὲ, ἐπευχόμενος τῷ Ἰακὼβ, ἔλεγεν, ‘Ὁ Θεός μου εὐλογήσαι σε, καὶ αὐξήσαι σε, καὶ πληθυνεῖ σε, καὶ ἔσῃ εἰς συναγωγὰς ἐθνῶν· καὶ δῴη σοι τὴν εὐλογίαν Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ πατρός μου.’ Εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἄλλου τινός ἐστι τὸ εὐλογεῖν καὶ τὸ ῥύεσθαι ἢ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἄλλος τις ἦν ὁ ῥυόμενος τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἢ αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος, τὸν δὲ ῥυόμενον αὐτὸν ὁ πατριάρχης ἐπεκαλεῖτο ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐκγόνους· δῆλόν ἐστιν ὡς οὐκ ἄλλον ἐν τῇ εὐχῇ συνῆπτε τῷ Θεῷ ἢ τὸν τούτου Λόγον, ὃν διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ‘ἄγγελονʼ ἐκάλεσεν, ὅτι μόνος οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀποκαλύπτων τὸν Πατέρα. Ὅπερ καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἐποίει λέγων, ‘χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ·’ οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἀσφαλὴς ἦν ἡ εὐλογία διὰ τὸ ἀδιαίρετον τοῦ Υἱοῦ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ ὅτι μία καὶ ἡ αὐτή ἐστιν ἡ διδομένη χάρις. Κἂν γὰρ ὁ Πατὴρ δῴῃ, διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐστι τὸ διδόμενον· κἂν ὁ Υἱὸς λέγηται χαρίζεσθαι, ὁ Πατήρ ἐστιν ὁ διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ παρέχων· ‘εὐχαριστῶʼ γὰρ, φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος γράφων Κορινθίοις, ‘τῷ Θεῷ μου πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῇ χάριτι τοῦ Θεοῦ τῇ δοθείσῃ ὑμῖν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ’ Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ φωτὸς καὶ ἀπαυγάσματος ἄν τις ἴδοι· καὶ γὰρ ὅπερ φωτίζει τὸ φῶς, τοῦτο τὸ ἀπαύγασμα καταυγάζει· ὅπερ δὲ καταυγάζει τὸ ἀπαύγασμα, ἐκ τοῦ φωτός ἐστιν ὁ φωτισμός. Οὕτω καὶ βλεπομένου τοῦ Υἱοῦ, βλέπεται ὁ Πατήρ· τοῦ γὰρ Πατρός ἐστι τὸ ἀπαύγασμα· καὶ οὕτως ὁ Πατὴρ καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ‘ἕν εἰσι.’
13. Dia touto kai ho Dabid ouk allon ē auton ton Theon parekalei peri tou rhysthēnai, ‘Pros se, Kyrie, en tǭ thlibesthai me, ekekraxa, kai epēkousas mou; Kyrie, rhysai tēn psychēn mou apo cheileōn adikōn, kai apo glōssēs dolias;’ toutǭ kai tēn charin anatitheis, ‘elalēse kai tous logous tēs ǭdēsʼ en tǭ heptakaidekatǭ psalmǭ, ‘en hę̄ hēmerą errhysato auton ho Kyrios ek cheiros pantōn tōn echthrōn autou, kai ek cheiros Saoul, kai eipen, Agapēsō se, Kyrie, hē ischys mou, Kyrios stereōma mou kai kataphygē mou, kai rhystēs mou.’ Ho de Paulos, pollous diōgmous hypomeinas, ouk allǭ ē tǭ Theǭ ēucharistei legōn, ‘ek pantōn me errhysato ho Kyrios, kai rhysetai, eis hon ēlpikamen;’ kai ouk allos de ē ho Theos ēulogēse ton Abraam kai ton Isaak; kai ho Isaak de, epeuchomenos tǭ Iakōb, elegen, ‘Ho Theos mou eulogēsai se, kai auxēsai se, kai plēthynei se, kai esę̄ eis synagōgas ethnōn; kai dǭē soi tēn eulogian Abraam tou patros mou.’ Ei de ouk allou tinos esti to eulogein kai to rhyesthai ē tou Theou, kai ouk allos tis ēn ho rhyomenos ton Iakōb ē autos ho Kyrios, ton de rhyomenon auton ho patriarchēs epekaleito epi tous ekgonous; dēlon estin hōs ouk allon en tę̄ euchę̄ synēpte tǭ Theǭ ē ton toutou Logon, hon dia touto kai ‘angelonʼ ekalesen, hoti monos houtos estin ho apokalyptōn ton Patera. Hoper kai ho apostolos epoiei legōn, ‘charis hymin kai eirēnē apo Theou Patros hēmōn kai Kyriou Iēsou Christou;’ houtō gar kai asphalēs ēn hē eulogia dia to adiaireton tou Huiou pros ton Patera, kai hoti mia kai hē autē estin hē didomenē charis. Kan gar ho Patēr dǭę̄, dia tou Huiou esti to didomenon; kan ho Huios legētai charizesthai, ho Patēr estin ho dia tou Huiou kai en tǭ Huiǭ parechōn; ‘eucharistōʼ gar, phēsin ho apostolos graphōn Korinthiois, ‘tǭ Theǭ mou pantote peri hymōn epi tę̄ chariti tou Theou tę̄ dotheisę̄ hymin en Christǭ Iēsou, ’ Touto de kai epi phōtos kai apaugasmatos an tis idoi; kai gar hoper phōtizei to phōs, touto to apaugasma kataugazei; hoper de kataugazei to apaugasma, ek tou phōtos estin ho phōtismos. Houtō kai blepomenou tou Huiou, blepetai ho Patēr; tou gar Patros esti to apaugasma; kai houtōs ho Patēr kai ho Huios ‘hen eisi.’
That is why David too entreated none other than God himself for deliverance: “To you, Lord, in my distress I cried, and you heard me; Lord, deliver my soul from unjust lips and from a deceitful tongue.” To him too he ascribed the grace when “he spoke the words of the song” in the seventeenth psalm, “on the day the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul; and he said, I will love you, O Lord, my strength; the Lord is my firmament and my refuge and my deliverer.” And Paul, having endured many persecutions, gave thanks to no one but God, saying, “From them all the Lord delivered me, and will deliver, in whom we have hoped”; and none other than God blessed Abraham and Isaac; and Isaac, praying for Jacob, said, “May my God bless you and increase you and multiply you, and you shall become assemblies of nations; and may he give you the blessing of Abraham my father.” And if to bless and to deliver belongs to no one else but God, and the one who delivered Jacob was none other than the Lord himself, and the patriarch called on the one who delivered him for his grandsons, it is clear that in his prayer he joined with God none other than his Word, whom he called “angel” for this reason, that he alone is the one who reveals the Father. The apostle too did this, saying, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”; for so the blessing was secure, because the Son is undivided from the Father and because the grace given is one and the same. For even if the Father gives, what is given is through the Son; and even if the Son is said to bestow grace, it is the Father who supplies it through the Son and in the Son; “for I thank my God always for you,” says the apostle writing to the Corinthians, “for the grace of God given you in Christ Jesus.” One may see this also in light and radiance; for what the light illuminates, the radiance shines on; and what the radiance shines on, the illumination is from the light. So too, when the Son is seen, the Father is seen; for he is the Father's radiance; and so the Father and the Son “are one.”
Ps 120:1 (119:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 120:2 (119:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 18:1 (17:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 18:2 (17:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Tim 3:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 28:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 28:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 48:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 11:27 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 1:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:4 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Deliverance and blessing come from God alone, so the “angel” Jacob joined with God was the Word; every gift is from the Father through the Son, as light shines through its radiance.
- Psalm numbers are Septuagint (17 = Ps 18).
- Slips corrected: ἧ to ᾗ, πόντων to πάντων, Οὔτω to Οὕτω.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Accent and iota slip.; Breathing slip.; Letter slip.): ἐν ἧ ἡμέρᾳ → ἐν ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ; πόντων → πάντων; Οὔτω καὶ βλεπομένου → Οὕτω καὶ βλεπομένου.
Topics: Trinity
Cite (SBL): Athanasius, C. Ar. 13 (Bright, 167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-oratio-3/10/#p-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Bright (1884); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with NPNF² 4.
Chapter 14
14Bright, 168–169
14. Τοῦτο δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν γενητῶν καὶ κτισμάτων οὐκ ἄν τις εἴποι. Οὔτε γὰρ, ἐργαζομένου τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἐργάζεταί τις αὐτὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἢ ἄλλος τις τῶν κτισμάτων· οὐδὲν γὰρ τούτων ποιητικὸν αἴτιόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τῶν γινομένων εἰσίν· ἄλλως τε καὶ κεχωρισμένοι, καὶ διεστηκότες τοῦ μόνου, καὶ ἄλλο τὴν φύσιν ὄντες, καὶ ἔργα τυγχάνοντες, οὔτε ἅπερ ἐργάζεται ὁ Θεὸς δύνανται ἐργάζεσθαι, οὔτε, καθὰ προεῖπον, χαριζομένου τοῦ Θεοῦ συγχαρίζεσθαι· οὔτε βλεπομένου ἀγγέλου, εἴποι ἄν τις ἑωρακέναι τὸν Πατέρα. Ἄγγελοι μὲν γὰρ, ὡς γέγραπται, ‘λειτουργικὰ πνεύματά εἰσιν εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενοι, ’ καὶ τὰς παρʼ αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦ Λόγου δωρεὰς διδομένας ἀπαγγέλλοντές εἰσι τοῖς λαμβάνουσι. Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ ἄγγελος, ὁρώμενος, ὁμολογεῖ ἀπεστάλθαι παρὰ τοῦ Δεσπότου, ὡς ἐπὶ Ζαχαρίου ὁ Γαβριὴλ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς Θεοτόκου Μαρίας ὁ αὐτὸς ὡμολόγησε. Καὶ ὁ βλέπων δὲ ‘ἀγγέλων ὀπτασίανʼ οἶδεν, ὅτι τὸν ἄγγελον εἶδε, καὶ οὐ τὸν Θεόν. Εἶδε γὰρ Ζαχαρίας ἄγγελον· ‘εἶδε καὶ Ἡσαΐας τὸν Κύριον.’ Εἶδε Μανωὲ ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ Σαμψὼμ ἄγγελον· ἐθεώρησε δὲ καὶ Μωσῆς τὸν Θεόν. Εἶδε Γεδεὼν ἄγγελον, ‘ὤφθη δὲ καὶ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ὁ Θεός.’ Καὶ οὔτε ὁ τὸν Θεὸν ὁρῶν, ἄγγελον ἔβλεπεν, οὔτε ὁ τὸν ἄγγελον ὁρῶν ἐνόμιζε τὸν Θεὸν ὁρᾷν· πολὺ γὰρ, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ ὅλον διέστηκε τῇ φύσει τὰ γενητὰ πρὸς τὸν κτίσαντα Θεόν, Εἰ δὲ καί ποτε ὀφθέντος ἀγγέλου, ὁ ὁρῶν φωνῆς ἤκουε Θεοῦ, ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς βάτου γέγονεν· ‘ὤφθηʼ γὰρ ‘ἄγγελος Κυρίου ἐν φλογὶ πυρὸς ἐκ τῆς βάτου· καὶ ἐκάλεσε Κύριος Μωσῆν ἐκ τῆς βάτου λέγων, Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ πατρός σου, ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰακώβ·’ ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ, ἐν δὲ ἀγγέλῳ λαλῶν ἦν ὁ Θεός. Καὶ ὁ μὲν φαινόμενος ἦν ἄγγελος· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ ἐλάλει. Ὡς γὰρ ἐν στύλῳ νεφέλης ἐλάλει τῷ Μωσῇ ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ, οὕτω καὶ ἐν ἀγγέλοις φαίνεται λαλῶν ὁ Θεός· οὕτω καὶ τῷ τοῦ Ναυῆ διʼ ἀγγέλου ἐλάλει. Ἃ δὲ λαλεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, πρόδηλον ὅτι διά τοῦ Λόγου λαλεῖ, καὶ οὐ διʼ ἄλλου. Ὁ δὲ Λόγος οὐ κεχωρισμένος τοῦ Πατρὸς, οὐδὲ ἀνόμοιος καὶ ξένος τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς τυγχάνων, ἃ ἐργάζεται, ταῦτα τοῦ Πατρός ἐστιν ἔργα, καὶ μίαν ποιεῖ τὴν δημιουργίαν· καὶ ἃ δίδωσιν ὁ Υἱὸς, ταῦτα τοῦ Πατρός ἐστιν ἡ δόσις. Καὶ ὁ ἑωρακὼς τὸν Υἱὸν οἶδεν ὅτι, τοῦτον ἑωρακὼς, οὐκ ἄγγελον, οὐδὲ μείζονά τινα τῶν ἀγγέλων, οὐδὲ ὅλως τινά τῶν κτισμάτων, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸν ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα· καὶ ὁ τοῦ Λόγου ἀκούων, οἶδεν ὅτι τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀκούει· ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ τῷ ἀπαυγάσματι καταυγαζόμενος οἶδεν ὅτι καὶ ὑπὸ ἡλίου φωτίζεται.
14. Touto de epi tōn genētōn kai ktismatōn ouk an tis eipoi. Oute gar, ergazomenou tou Patros, ergazetai tis auta tōn angelōn, ē allos tis tōn ktismatōn; ouden gar toutōn poiētikon aition estin, alla tōn ginomenōn eisin; allōs te kai kechōrismenoi, kai diestēkotes tou monou, kai allo tēn physin ontes, kai erga tynchanontes, oute haper ergazetai ho Theos dynantai ergazesthai, oute, katha proeipon, charizomenou tou Theou syncharizesthai; oute blepomenou angelou, eipoi an tis heōrakenai ton Patera. Angeloi men gar, hōs gegraptai, ‘leitourgika pneumata eisin eis diakonian apostellomenoi, ’ kai tas parʼ autou dia tou Logou dōreas didomenas apangellontes eisi tois lambanousi. Kai autos de ho angelos, horōmenos, homologei apestalthai para tou Despotou, hōs epi Zachariou ho Gabriēl, kai epi tēs Theotokou Marias ho autos hōmologēse. Kai ho blepōn de ‘angelōn optasianʼ oiden, hoti ton angelon eide, kai ou ton Theon. Eide gar Zacharias angelon; ‘eide kai Hēsaïas ton Kyrion.’ Eide Manōe ho patēr tou Sampsōm angelon; etheōrēse de kai Mōsēs ton Theon. Eide Gedeōn angelon, ‘ōphthē de kai tǭ Abraam ho Theos.’ Kai oute ho ton Theon horōn, angelon eblepen, oute ho ton angelon horōn enomize ton Theon horąn; poly gar, mallon de to holon diestēke tę̄ physei ta genēta pros ton ktisanta Theon, Ei de kai pote ophthentos angelou, ho horōn phōnēs ēkoue Theou, hōs epi tēs batou gegonen; ‘ōphthēʼ gar ‘angelos Kyriou en phlogi pyros ek tēs batou; kai ekalese Kyrios Mōsēn ek tēs batou legōn, Egō eimi ho Theos tou patros sou, ho Theos Abraam, kai ho Theos Isaak, kai ho Theos Iakōb;’ allʼ ouk ēn ho angelos ho Theos Abraam, en de angelǭ lalōn ēn ho Theos. Kai ho men phainomenos ēn angelos; ho de Theos en autǭ elalei. Hōs gar en stylǭ nephelēs elalei tǭ Mōsę̄ en tę̄ skēnę̄, houtō kai en angelois phainetai lalōn ho Theos; houtō kai tǭ tou Nauē diʼ angelou elalei. Ha de lalei ho Theos, prodēlon hoti dia tou Logou lalei, kai ou diʼ allou. Ho de Logos ou kechōrismenos tou Patros, oude anomoios kai xenos tēs ousias tou Patros tynchanōn, ha ergazetai, tauta tou Patros estin erga, kai mian poiei tēn dēmiourgian; kai ha didōsin ho Huios, tauta tou Patros estin hē dosis. Kai ho heōrakōs ton Huion oiden hoti, touton heōrakōs, ouk angelon, oude meizona tina tōn angelōn, oude holōs tina tōn ktismatōn, allʼ auton heōrake ton Patera; kai ho tou Logou akouōn, oiden hoti tou Patros akouei; hōsper kai ho tǭ apaugasmati kataugazomenos oiden hoti kai hypo hēliou phōtizetai.
One could not say this of originated things and creatures. For when the Father works, none of the angels or any other creature works the same things; for none of them is a productive cause, but they are among the things made. Besides, being separated and standing apart from the Only one, being other in nature and being works, they can neither work what God works nor, as I said before, bestow grace together with God when he bestows it; nor, when an angel is seen, would anyone say that he has seen the Father. For angels, as it is written, “are ministering spirits sent out for service,” and they announce to those who receive them the gifts given by him through the Word. And the angel himself, when he is seen, confesses that he has been sent by the Master, as Gabriel confessed in the case of Zechariah, and again in the case of Mary the God-bearer. And he who sees “a vision of angels” knows that he saw an angel and not God. Zechariah saw an angel; “Isaiah saw the Lord.” Manoah, Samson's father, saw an angel; but Moses beheld God. Gideon saw an angel; but “God appeared to Abraham.” And neither did the one who saw God see an angel, nor did the one who saw an angel think he saw God; for originated things differ greatly, or rather wholly, in nature from God who created them. And if ever, when an angel was seen, the one who saw heard God's voice, as happened at the bush—for “an angel of the Lord appeared in a flame of fire out of the bush; and the Lord called Moses out of the bush, saying, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”—yet the angel was not the God of Abraham, but God was speaking in the angel. What appeared was an angel, but God spoke in him. For as he spoke to Moses in the pillar of cloud in the tabernacle, so too God appears speaking in angels; so too he spoke to the son of Nun through an angel. And what God speaks, it is evident that he speaks through the Word and not through another. And since the Word is not separated from the Father, nor unlike and foreign to the Father's substance, what he works are the Father's works, and he makes the work of creation one; and what the Son gives is the Father's giving. And he who has seen the Son knows that, in seeing him, he has seen not an angel, nor one greater than the angels, nor any creature at all, but the Father himself; and he who hears the Word knows that he hears the Father, as he who is shone upon by the radiance knows that he is illuminated by the sun.
Heb 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 1:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 24:23 (quotation, medium confidence) · Isa 6:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Judg 13:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 33:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Judg 6:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 12:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Josh 5:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 14:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Angels only minister and announce; those who saw angels knew they had not seen God; but whoever sees and hears the Son sees and hears the Father.
- “Mary the God-bearer” renders Θεοτόκος, Athanasius's title for Mary.
- At the burning bush, Athanasius holds, God spoke in the angel who appeared, and God speaks always through his Word.
Topics: Trinity, Christology
Cite (SBL): Athanasius, C. Ar. 14 (Bright, 168–169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-oratio-3/10/#p-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Bright (1884); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with NPNF² 4.
Chapter 15
15Bright, 169
15. Οὕτω γὰρ ἡμᾶς βουλομένη νοεῖν ἡ θεία γραφὴ, τοιαῦτα τὰ παραδείγματα δέδωκεν, ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς προτέροις εἰρήκαμεν, ἐξ ὧν καὶ τοὺς προδότας Ἰουδαίους δυσωπεῖν δυνάμεθα, καὶ τὴν Ἑλλήνων διαλύειν κατηγορίαν, φασκόντων καὶ νομιζόντων διὰ τὴν Τριάδα λέγειν καὶ ἡμᾶς πολλοὺς θεούς. Οὐδὲ γὰρ, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ παράδειγμα δείκνυσι, τρεῖς ἀρχὰς ἢ τρεῖς πατέρας εἰσάγομεν, ὡς οἱ περὶ Μαρκίωνα καὶ Μανιχαῖον· ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τριῶν ἡλίων ὑπεθέμεθα τὴν εἰκόνα, ἀλλὰ ἥλιον καὶ ἀπαύγασμα, καὶ ἓν τὸ ἐξ ἡλίου ἐν τῷ ἀπαυγάσματι φῶς· οὕτω μίαν ἀρχὴν οἴδαμεν· τόν τε δημιουργὸν Λόγον φάσκομεν οὐχ ἕτερόν τινα τρόπον ἔχειν θεότητος ἢ τὴν τοῦ μόνου Θεοῦ, διὰ τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ πεφυκέναι. Μᾶλλον μὲν οὖν οἱ Ἀρειομανῖται δικαίως ἂν σχοῖεν τὸ ἔγκλημα τῆς πολυθεότητος ἢ καὶ ἀθεότητος, ὅτι ἔξωθεν τὸν Υἱὸν κτίσμα, καὶ πάλιν τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος βαττολογοῦσιν. Ἢ γὰρ οὐκ εἶναι Θεὸν τὸν Λόγον φήσουσιν· ἢ λέγοντες ‘Θεὸνʼ μὲν διὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, μὴ ἴδιον δὲ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς, πολλοὺς ἂν εἰσάγοιεν διὰ τὸ ἑτεροειδὲς αὐτῶν· εἰ μὴ ἄρα κατὰ μετοχὴν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ πάντα, ‘Θεὸνʼ λέγεσθαι καὶ αὐτὸν λέγειν τολμήσουσιν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο νομίζοντες ὁμοίως ἀσεβοῦσιν, ἕνα τῶν πάντων λέγοντες εἶναι τὸν Λόγον. Ἡμῶν δὲ τοῦτο μηδὲ εἰς τὸν νοῦν ποτε εἰσέλθοι· ἓν γὰρ εἶδος θεότητος, ὅπερ ἐστὶ καὶ ἐν τῷ Λόγῳ· καὶ εἶς Θεὸς ὁ Πατὴρ, ἐφʼ ἑαυτῷ ὢν κατὰ τὸ ἐπὶ πάντων εἶναι, καὶ ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ δὲ φαινόμενος κατὰ τὸ διὰ πάντων διήκειν, καὶ ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἐν ἅπασι διὰ τοῦ Λόγου ἐν αὐτῷ ἐνεργεῖν. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἕνα διὰ τῆς Τριάδος ὁμολογοῦμεν εἶναι τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον εὐσεβέστερον λέγομεν τῆς πολυειδοῦς καὶ πολυμεροῦς τῶν αἱρετικῶν θεότητος, ὅτι τὴν μίαν ἐν Τριάδι θεότητα φρονοῦμεν.
15. Houtō gar hēmas boulomenē noein hē theia graphē, toiauta ta paradeigmata dedōken, hōs kai en tois proterois eirēkamen, ex hōn kai tous prodotas Ioudaious dysōpein dynametha, kai tēn Hellēnōn dialyein katēgorian, phaskontōn kai nomizontōn dia tēn Triada legein kai hēmas pollous theous. Oude gar, hōsper kai to paradeigma deiknysi, treis archas ē treis pateras eisagomen, hōs hoi peri Markiōna kai Manichaion; epei mēde triōn hēliōn hypethemetha tēn eikona, alla hēlion kai apaugasma, kai hen to ex hēliou en tǭ apaugasmati phōs; houtō mian archēn oidamen; ton te dēmiourgon Logon phaskomen ouch heteron tina tropon echein theotētos ē tēn tou monou Theou, dia to ex autou pephykenai. Mallon men oun hoi Areiomanitai dikaiōs an schoien to enklēma tēs polytheotētos ē kai atheotētos, hoti exōthen ton Huion ktisma, kai palin to Pneuma ek tou mē ontos battologousin. Ē gar ouk einai Theon ton Logon phēsousin; ē legontes ‘Theonʼ men dia to gegrammenon, mē idion de tēs ousias tou Patros, pollous an eisagoien dia to heteroeides autōn; ei mē ara kata metochēn, hōsper kai ta panta, ‘Theonʼ legesthai kai auton legein tolmēsousin. Alla kai touto nomizontes homoiōs asebousin, hena tōn pantōn legontes einai ton Logon. Hēmōn de touto mēde eis ton noun pote eiselthoi; hen gar eidos theotētos, hoper esti kai en tǭ Logǭ; kai eis Theos ho Patēr, ephʼ heautǭ ōn kata to epi pantōn einai, kai en tǭ Huiǭ de phainomenos kata to dia pantōn diēkein, kai en tǭ Pneumati de kata to en hapasi dia tou Logou en autǭ energein. Houtō gar kai hena dia tēs Triados homologoumen einai ton Theon, kai poly mallon eusebesteron legomen tēs polyeidous kai polymerous tōn hairetikōn theotētos, hoti tēn mian en Triadi theotēta phronoumen.
For wishing us to understand in this way, the divine Scripture has given such examples, as we also said earlier, from which we can shame the traitorous Jews and refute the charge of the Greeks, who claim and think that because of the Trinity we too speak of many gods. For, as the example also shows, we do not introduce three principles or three fathers, as the followers of Marcion and Mani do; for we did not propose the image of three suns, but of sun and radiance, and one light from the sun in the radiance; so we know one principle; and we say that the creating Word has no other mode of Godhead than that of the only God, because he is by nature from him. Rather, the Ariomaniacs might justly bear the charge of polytheism, or even atheism, because they babble that the Son is a creature from outside, and again that the Spirit is from what is not. For either they will say that the Word is not God; or, calling him “God” because it is written, but not proper to the Father's substance, they would introduce many gods, because of their difference in kind; unless indeed they dare to say that he too is called “God” by participation, as all things are. But in thinking this too they are equally impious, saying that the Word is one of all things. May this never enter our mind! For there is one form of Godhead, which is also in the Word; and one God, the Father, existing by himself inasmuch as he is over all, and appearing in the Son inasmuch as he pervades all things, and in the Spirit inasmuch as he works in all things through the Word in the Spirit. For so we confess that God is one through the Trinity, and we speak far more piously than the heretics with their many-formed and many-parted Godhead, because we hold the one Godhead in the Trinity.
Eph 4:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The sun-and-radiance image shows one principle, not three gods as Greeks charge; it is the Arians, with a created Son and Spirit, who fall into polytheism, while the church confesses one Godhead in the Trinity.
- Marcion and Mani were held to teach more than one ultimate principle.
- “Over all … through all … in all” echoes Eph 4:6.
- “The traitorous Jews” is the author's polemic, translated as written.
Cite (SBL): Athanasius, C. Ar. 15 (Bright, 169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-oratio-3/10/#p-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Bright (1884); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with NPNF² 4.
Chapter 16
16Bright, 169–171
16. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ οὕτως ἔχει, ἀλλʼ ‘ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐστὶ κτίσμα καὶ ποίημα ὁ Λόγος, ’ ἢ οὐκ ἔστι Θεὸς ἀληθινὸς, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἕνα τῶν κτισμάτων· ἢ εἰ ‘Θεὸνʼ αὐτὸν ὀνομάζουσιν ἐντρεπόμενοι παρὰ τῶν γραφῶν, ἀνάγκη λέγειν αὐτοὺς δύο θεοὺς, ἕνα μὲν κτίστην, τὸν δὲ ἕτερον κτιστόν· καὶ δύο κυρίοις λατρεύειν, ἑνὶ μὲν ἀγενήτῳ, τῷ δὲ ἑτέρῳ γενητῷ καὶ κτίσματι· δύο τε πίστεις ἔχειν, μίαν μὲν εἰς τὸν ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν, ἑτέραν δὲ εἰς τὸν ποιηθέντα καὶ πλασθέντα παρʼ αὐτῶν καὶ λεχθέντα Θεόν. Ἀνάγκη δὲ αὐτοὺς, οὕτω τυφλωθέντας, ὅτε μὲν προσκυνοῦσι τῷ ἀγενήτῳ, κατανωτίζεσθαι τὸν γενητὸν, ὅτε δὲ προσέρχονται τῷ κτίσματι, ἀποστρέφεσθαι τὸν κτίστην. Οὐ γάρ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τοῦτον ἐν ἐκείνῳ, διὰ τὸ ξένας καὶ διαφόρους αὐτῶν εἶναι τάς τε φύσεις καὶ τὰς ἐνεργείας. Οὕτω δὲ φρονοῦντες, πάντως καὶ πλείονας συνάψουσι θεούς· τοῦτο γάρ τῶν ἐκπεσόντων ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑνὸς Θεοῦ τὸ ἐπιχείρημα. Διά τί οὖν οἱ Ἀρειανοὶ, τοιαῦτα λογιζόμενοι καὶ νοοῦντες, οὐ συναριθμοῦσιν ἑαυτοὺς μετὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων; καὶ γὰρ κἀκεῖνοι, ὥσπερ καὶ οὗτοι, ‘τῇ κτίσει λατρεύουσι παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα τὰ πάντα Θεόν, ’ Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ὄνομα τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν φεύγουσι διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνοήτων ἀπάτην, τὴν δὲ ὁμοίαν ἐκείνοις διάνοιαν ὑποκρίνονται. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ σοφὸν αὐτῶν, ὥσπερ εἰώθασι λέγειν, ‘Οὐ λέγομεν δύο ἀγένητα, ’ φαίνονται πρὸς ἀπάτην τῶν ἀκεραίων λέγοντες· φάσκοντες γὰρ, ‘Οὐ λέγομεν δύο ἀγένητα, ’ λέγουσι δύο θεοὺς, καὶ τούτους διαφόρους ἔχοντας τὰς φύσεις, τὸν μὲν γενητὴν, τὸν δὲ ἀγένητον. Εἰ δὲ οἱ μὲν Ἕλληνες ἑνὶ ἀγενήτῳ καὶ πολλοῖς γενητοῖς λατρεύουσιν, οὗτοι δὲ ἑνὶ ἀγενήτῳ καὶ ἑνὶ γενητῷ, οὐδʼ οὕτω διαφέρουσιν Ἑλλήνων. Ὅ τε γὰρ παρʼ αὐτῶν λεγόμενος ‘γενητὸςʼ εἷς ἐκ πολλῶν ἐστι· καὶ οἱ πολλοὶ δὲ πάλιν τῶν Ἑλλήνων τὴν αὐτὴν τῷ ἑνὶ τούτῳ φύσιν ἔχουσι, καὶ οὗτος γὰρ κἀκεῖνοι κτίσματά εἰσιν. Ἄθλιοι, καὶ πλεῖον ὅσον ἐβλάβησαν κατὰ Χριστοῦ φρονήσαντες· ἐξέπεσαν γὰρ τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ τὴν μὲν Ἰουδαίων προδοσίαν ὑπερέβησαν ἀρνούμενοι τὸν Χριστὸν, τοῖς δὲ Ἕλλησι συγκυλίονται, κτίσματι καὶ διαφόροις θεοῖς λατρεύοντες οἱ θεοστυγεῖς. Εἶς γὰρ Θεός ἐστι, καὶ οὐ πολλοὶ, καὶ εἷς ὁ τούτου Λόγος, καὶ οὐ πολλοί· ‘Θεὸς γὰρ ἐστιν ὁ Λόγος, ’ καὶ μόνος αὐτὸς ἔχει τὸ πατρικὸν εἶδος· ὅσπερ ὢν αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐδυσώπει τοὺς Ἰουδαίους λέγων, ‘ὁ πέμψας με Πατὴρ, ἐκεῖνος μεμαρτύρηκε περὶ ἐμοῦ· οὔτε φωνὴν αὐτοῦ πώποτε ἀκηκόατε, οὔτε εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἑωράκατε· καὶ τὸν Λόγον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔχετε ἐν ὑμῖν μένοντα, ὅτι ὃν ἀπέστειλεν ἐκεῖνος, τούτῳ ὑμεῖς οὐ πιστεύετε, ’ Τὸν δὲ Λόγον συνῆψε τῷ εἴδει καλῶς, ἵνα δείξῃ ὅτι ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, αὐτὸς καὶ εἰκὼν καὶ χαρακτὴρ καὶ εἶδός ἐστι τοῦ Πατρὸς ἑαυτοῦ· καὶ ὅτι οἱ τὸν λαλοῦντα μὴ δεξάμενοι Ἰουδαῖοι οὐκ ἐδέξαντο τὸν Λόγον, ὅσπερ ἐστὶ ‘τὸ εἶδος τοῦ Θεοῦ.’ Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ πατριάρχης Ἰακὼβ ἑωρακὼς ηὐλογήθη, καὶ ἀντὶ Ἰακὼβ ‘Ἰσραὴλʼ ἐκλήθη παρʼ αὐτοῦ, ὡς ἡ θεία γραφὴ μαρτυρεῖ λέγουσα· ‘Ἀνέτειλε δὲ ὁ ἥλιος αὐτῷ, ἡνίκα παρῆλθε τὸ εἶδος τοῦ Θεοῦ.’ Τοῦτο δὲ ἦν ὁ λέγων, ‘Ὁ ἐμὲ ἑωρακὼς ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα·’ καὶ, ‘ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστι· κἀγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν·’ οὕτω γὰρ εἷς ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ μία ἡ εἰς τὸν Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν πίστις. Καὶ γὰρ τοῦ Λόγου ὄντος Θεοῦ, πάλιν ‘Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν Κύριος εἷς ἐστι.’ Τοῦ γὰρ ἑνὸς ἴδιος καὶ ἀδιαίρετός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς κατὰ τὴν ἰδιότητα καὶ οἰκειότητα τῆς οὐσίας.
16. Ei gar mē houtōs echei, allʼ ‘ex ouk ontōn esti ktisma kai poiēma ho Logos, ’ ē ouk esti Theos alēthinos, dia to einai auton hena tōn ktismatōn; ē ei ‘Theonʼ auton onomazousin entrepomenoi para tōn graphōn, anankē legein autous dyo theous, hena men ktistēn, ton de heteron ktiston; kai dyo kyriois latreuein, heni men agenētǭ, tǭ de heterǭ genētǭ kai ktismati; dyo te pisteis echein, mian men eis ton alēthinon Theon, heteran de eis ton poiēthenta kai plasthenta parʼ autōn kai lechthenta Theon. Anankē de autous, houtō typhlōthentas, hote men proskynousi tǭ agenētǭ, katanōtizesthai ton genēton, hote de proserchontai tǭ ktismati, apostrephesthai ton ktistēn. Ou gar estin idein touton en ekeinǭ, dia to xenas kai diaphorous autōn einai tas te physeis kai tas energeias. Houtō de phronountes, pantōs kai pleionas synapsousi theous; touto gar tōn ekpesontōn apo tou henos Theou to epicheirēma. Dia ti oun hoi Areianoi, toiauta logizomenoi kai noountes, ou synarithmousin heautous meta tōn Hellēnōn? kai gar kakeinoi, hōsper kai houtoi, ‘tę̄ ktisei latreuousi para ton ktisanta ta panta Theon, ’ Alla to men onoma to Hellēnikon pheugousi dia tēn tōn anoētōn apatēn, tēn de homoian ekeinois dianoian hypokrinontai. Kai gar kai to sophon autōn, hōsper eiōthasi legein, ‘Ou legomen dyo agenēta, ’ phainontai pros apatēn tōn akeraiōn legontes; phaskontes gar, ‘Ou legomen dyo agenēta, ’ legousi dyo theous, kai toutous diaphorous echontas tas physeis, ton men genētēn, ton de agenēton. Ei de hoi men Hellēnes heni agenētǭ kai pollois genētois latreuousin, houtoi de heni agenētǭ kai heni genētǭ, oudʼ houtō diapherousin Hellēnōn. Ho te gar parʼ autōn legomenos ‘genētosʼ heis ek pollōn esti; kai hoi polloi de palin tōn Hellēnōn tēn autēn tǭ heni toutǭ physin echousi, kai houtos gar kakeinoi ktismata eisin. Athlioi, kai pleion hoson eblabēsan kata Christou phronēsantes; exepesan gar tēs alētheias, kai tēn men Ioudaiōn prodosian hyperebēsan arnoumenoi ton Christon, tois de Hellēsi synkyliontai, ktismati kai diaphorois theois latreuontes hoi theostygeis. Eis gar Theos esti, kai ou polloi, kai heis ho toutou Logos, kai ou polloi; ‘Theos gar estin ho Logos, ’ kai monos autos echei to patrikon eidos; hosper ōn autos ho Sōtēr edysōpei tous Ioudaious legōn, ‘ho pempsas me Patēr, ekeinos memartyrēke peri emou; oute phōnēn autou pōpote akēkoate, oute eidos autou heōrakate; kai ton Logon autou ouk echete en hymin menonta, hoti hon apesteilen ekeinos, toutǭ hymeis ou pisteuete, ’ Ton de Logon synēpse tǭ eidei kalōs, hina deixę̄ hoti ho tou Theou Logos, autos kai eikōn kai charaktēr kai eidos esti tou Patros heautou; kai hoti hoi ton lalounta mē dexamenoi Ioudaioi ouk edexanto ton Logon, hosper esti ‘to eidos tou Theou.’ Touto kai ho patriarchēs Iakōb heōrakōs ēulogēthē, kai anti Iakōb ‘Israēlʼ eklēthē parʼ autou, hōs hē theia graphē martyrei legousa; ‘Aneteile de ho hēlios autǭ, hēnika parēlthe to eidos tou Theou.’ Touto de ēn ho legōn, ‘Ho eme heōrakōs heōrake ton Patera;’ kai, ‘egō en tǭ Patri, kai ho Patēr en emoi esti; kagō kai ho Patēr hen esmen;’ houtō gar heis estin ho Theos, kai mia hē eis ton Patera kai Huion pistis. Kai gar tou Logou ontos Theou, palin ‘Kyrios ho Theos hēmōn Kyrios heis esti.’ Tou gar henos idios kai adiairetos estin ho Huios kata tēn idiotēta kai oikeiotēta tēs ousias.
For if it is not so, but “the Word is a creature and a work from things that are not,” either he is not true God, because he is one of the creatures; or, if they name him “God” out of shame before the Scriptures, they must say that there are two gods, one creator and the other created; and serve two lords, one unoriginate and the other originated and a creature; and have two faiths, one in the true God and the other in the one made and fashioned by them and called God. And, being so blinded, they must, when they worship the unoriginate, turn their backs on the originated one, and when they approach the creature, turn away from the creator. For one cannot see the one in the other, because their natures and activities are foreign and different. And thinking thus, they will certainly add still more gods; for this is the attempt of those who have fallen away from the one God. Why, then, do the Arians, reasoning and thinking such things, not count themselves among the Greeks? For they too, like these, “serve the creature rather than God who created all things.” But they flee the name of Greeks to deceive the senseless, while they feign a mind like theirs. For even their clever saying, as they are accustomed to put it, “We do not say two unoriginates,” they evidently say to deceive the simple; for in saying, “We do not say two unoriginates,” they say two gods, and these with different natures, one originated and the other unoriginate. And if the Greeks serve one unoriginate and many originated, while these serve one unoriginate and one originated, not even so do they differ from the Greeks. For the one they call “originated” is one of many; and the many gods of the Greeks, again, have the same nature as this one, for both he and they are creatures. Wretches, and the more harmed for thinking against Christ! For they have fallen from the truth, and have surpassed the treachery of the Jews in denying Christ, and they wallow with the Greeks, these God-haters, serving a creature and different gods. For God is one and not many, and his Word is one and not many; for “the Word is God,” and he alone has the Father's form. Being this, the Saviour himself put the Jews to shame, saying, “The Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form; and you do not have his Word abiding in you, because you do not believe the one whom he has sent.” He fittingly joined “Word” to “form,” to show that the Word of God is himself the image and impress and form of his own Father; and that the Jews, not receiving the one who spoke, did not receive the Word, who is “the form of God.” The patriarch Jacob, having seen this form, was blessed, and was called “Israel” by him instead of Jacob, as the divine Scripture testifies, saying, “The sun rose upon him when the form of God passed by.” And this was he who says, “He who has seen me has seen the Father,” and “I am in the Father and the Father is in me; and I and the Father are one”; for so God is one, and the faith in the Father and Son is one. For even though the Word is God, still “the Lord our God is one Lord.” For the Son is proper to the One and undivided from him by the propriety and kinship of the substance.
Matt 6:24 (echo, low confidence) · Rom 1:25 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:37 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:38 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 32:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 32:31 (32:32 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:9 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:10 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 6:4 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A created Son who is also called God would give the Arians two gods, two lords, and two faiths, like the Greeks; but the Son is the Father's own form, so God and faith are one.
- “The sun rose upon him when the form of God passed by” is Gen 32:31 (Septuagint).
- The comparisons with Jews and Greeks are the author's polemic, translated as written.
- Slips corrected: Οὔτω to Οὕτω, τῆ to τῇ, Ἐλλήνων to Ἑλλήνων.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Breathing slip.; Iota subscript dropped.): Οὔτω δὲ φρονοῦντες → Οὕτω δὲ φρονοῦντες; ‘τῆ κτίσει → ‘τῇ κτίσει; διαφέρουσιν Ἐλλήνων → διαφέρουσιν Ἑλλήνων.
Cite (SBL): Athanasius, C. Ar. 16 (Bright, 169–171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-oratio-3/10/#p-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Bright (1884); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with NPNF² 4.
Chapter 17
17Bright, 171–172
17. Ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ οὕτως ἐντραπέντες, οἱ Ἀρειανοί φασιν· Οὐχ ὡς ὑμεῖς λέγετε, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἡμεῖς θέλομεν· ἀνατρεπόντων γὰρ ὑμῶν τὰς προτέρας ἡμῶν ἐπινοίας, ἐφεύρομεν καινοτέραν, καὶ λέγομεν· Οὕτως ἐστὶν ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἓν, καὶ οὕτως ἐστὶν ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ, καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, ὡς ἂν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν αὐτῷ γενοίμεθα· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην εὐαγγελίῳ γέγραπται, ὅπερ περὶ ἡμῶν ὁ Χριστὸς ἠξίου λέγων· ‘Πάτερ ἅγιε, τήρησον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου, ᾧ δέδωκάς μοι, ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν, καθὼς καὶ ἡμεῖς·’ καὶ πάλιν μετʼ ὀλίγα· Οὐ περὶ τούτων δὲ ἐρωτῶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν πιστευόντων διὰ τοῦ λόγου αὐτῶν εἰς ἐμέ· ἵνα πάντες ἓν ὦσι, καθὼς σὺ, Πάτερ, ἐν ἐμοὶ, κἀγὼ ἐν σοὶ, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ἓν ὦσιν· ἵνα ὁ κόσμος πιστεύσῃ, ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας· κἀγὼ τὴν δόξαν, ἣν δέδωκάς μοι, δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν, καθὼς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἕν ἐσμεν, ἐγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ σὺ ἐν ἐμοί· ἵνα ὦσι τετελειωμένοι εἰς ἓν, καὶ ἵνα γινώσκῃ ὁ κόσμος, ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας.’ Εἶτα ὥσπερ εὑρόντες πρόφασιν, ἐπιλέγουσιν οἱ δόλιοι ταῦτα· ‘Εἰ ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ γινόμεθα ἓν, οὕτω καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἕν ἐστι, καὶ οὕτως ἐν τῷ Πατρί ἐστι καὶ αὐτός· πῶς ὑμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ λέγειν αὐτὸν, “Ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν, ” καὶ, “ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοὶ, ” ἴδιον καὶ ὅμοιον τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας αὐτὸν φάσκετε; ἀνάγκη γὰρ ἢ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἰδίους εἶναι τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἢ κἀκεῖνον ἀλλότριον εἶναι, ὥσπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν ἀλλότριοι.’ Ταῦτα μὲν ἐκεῖνοι ληροῦντες φλυαροῦσιν· ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ αὐτῶν κακονοίᾳ βλέπω ἢ ἀλόγιστον τόλμαν καὶ διαβολικὴν ἀπόνοιαν, λεγόντων καὶ αὐτῶν κατʼ ἐκεῖνον, ‘εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναβησόμεθα, ἐσόμεθα ὅμοιοι τῷ ὑψίστῳ·’ τὰ γὰρ κατὰ χάριν διδόμενα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ταῦτα θέλουσιν ἴσα τῆς τοῦ διδόντος εἶναι θεότητος. Ἀκούοντες γοῦν ‘υἱοὺςʼ χρηματίζοντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἐνόμισαν καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ἴσους εἶναι τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ καὶ φύσει Υἱοῦ· καὶ νῦν πάλιν ἀκούοντες τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ‘ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν, καθὼς καὶ ἡμεῖς, ʼ πλανῶσιν ἑαυτοὺς, καὶ θρασυνόμενοι νομίζουσιν οὕτως ἔσεσθαι ἑαυτοὺς, ὡς ἔστιν ὁ Υἱὸς ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ· οὐχ ὁρῶντες τὸ ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης οἰήσεως γενόμενον τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῶν τοῦ διαβόλου πτῶμα.
17. Allʼ oudʼ houtōs entrapentes, hoi Areianoi phasin; Ouch hōs hymeis legete, allʼ hōs hēmeis thelomen; anatrepontōn gar hymōn tas proteras hēmōn epinoias, epheuromen kainoteran, kai legomen; Houtōs estin ho Huios kai ho Patēr hen, kai houtōs estin ho Patēr en tǭ Huiǭ, kai ho Huios en tǭ Patri, hōs an kai hēmeis en autǭ genoimetha; touto gar en tǭ kata Iōannēn euangeliǭ gegraptai, hoper peri hēmōn ho Christos ēxiou legōn; ‘Pater hagie, tērēson autous en tǭ onomati sou, hǭ dedōkas moi, hina ōsin hen, kathōs kai hēmeis;’ kai palin metʼ oliga; Ou peri toutōn de erōtō monon, alla kai peri tōn pisteuontōn dia tou logou autōn eis eme; hina pantes hen ōsi, kathōs sy, Pater, en emoi, kagō en soi, hina kai autoi en hēmin hen ōsin; hina ho kosmos pisteusę̄, hoti sy me apesteilas; kagō tēn doxan, hēn dedōkas moi, dedōka autois, hina ōsin hen, kathōs kai hēmeis hen esmen, egō en autois, kai sy en emoi; hina ōsi teteleiōmenoi eis hen, kai hina ginōskę̄ ho kosmos, hoti sy me apesteilas.’ Eita hōsper heurontes prophasin, epilegousin hoi dolioi tauta; ‘Ei hōsper hēmeis en tǭ Patri ginometha hen, houtō kai autos kai ho Patēr hen esti, kai houtōs en tǭ Patri esti kai autos; pōs hymeis ek tou legein auton, “Egō kai ho Patēr hen esmen, ” kai, “egō en tǭ Patri, kai ho Patēr en emoi, ” idion kai homoion tēs tou Patros ousias auton phaskete? anankē gar ē kai hēmas idious einai tēs ousias tou Patros, ē kakeinon allotrion einai, hōsper kai hēmeis esmen allotrioi.’ Tauta men ekeinoi lērountes phlyarousin; egō de ouden heteron en tę̄ toiautę̄ autōn kakonoią blepō ē alogiston tolman kai diabolikēn aponoian, legontōn kai autōn katʼ ekeinon, ‘eis ton ouranon anabēsometha, esometha homoioi tǭ hypsistǭ;’ ta gar kata charin didomena tois anthrōpois, tauta thelousin isa tēs tou didontos einai theotētos. Akouontes goun ‘huiousʼ chrēmatizontas tous anthrōpous, enomisan kai heautous isous einai tou alēthinou kai physei Huiou; kai nyn palin akouontes tou Sōtēros, ‘hina ōsin hen, kathōs kai hēmeis, ʼ planōsin heautous, kai thrasynomenoi nomizousin houtōs esesthai heautous, hōs estin ho Huios en tǭ Patri, kai ho Patēr en tǭ Huiǭ; ouch horōntes to ek tēs toiautēs oiēseōs genomenon tou patros autōn tou diabolou ptōma.
But not even so put to shame, the Arians say: “Not as you say, but as we wish; for since you overturn our earlier notions, we have invented a newer one, and we say: the Son and the Father are one in this way, and the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father in this way, as we too might come to be in him. For this is written in the Gospel according to John, which Christ asked concerning us, saying, ‘Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, as we are’; and again a little after: ‘I do not ask for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me; and the glory which you have given me I have given them, that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, and that the world may know that you sent me.’” Then, as though they had found a pretext, the crafty men add this: “If, as we become one in the Father, so he and the Father are one, and so he too is in the Father, how do you claim, from his saying, ‘I and the Father are one,’ and ‘I am in the Father and the Father in me,’ that he is proper to and like the Father's substance? For it must be either that we too are proper to the Father's substance, or that he too is foreign to it, as we are foreign.” So they babble their nonsense; but in such ill will of theirs I see nothing else than irrational daring and devilish madness, as they too say with him, “We will ascend into heaven, we will be like the Most High”; for they want what is given to human beings by grace to be equal to the Godhead of the giver. Hearing, at any rate, that human beings are called “sons,” they thought themselves equal to the true and natural Son; and now again, hearing the Saviour say, “that they may be one, as we are,” they deceive themselves, and in their boldness think that they will be as the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son, not seeing the fall of their father the devil that came from such conceit.
John 17:11 (quotation, high confidence) · John 17:20 (quotation, high confidence) · John 17:21 (quotation, high confidence) · John 17:22 (quotation, high confidence) · John 17:23 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 14:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 14:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Arians now argue from John 17:11, 21–23 that the Son is one with the Father only as believers become one in God; Athanasius calls this the devil's presumption of equality with God.
- “We will ascend into heaven, we will be like the Most High” is Isa 14:13–14, applied to the devil.
- Slips corrected: Ὁὐχ to Οὐχ, Ὁὐ to Οὐ.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Breathing slip.): Ὁὐχ ὡς → Οὐχ ὡς; Ὁὐ περὶ → Οὐ περὶ.
Cite (SBL): Athanasius, C. Ar. 17 (Bright, 171–172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-oratio-3/10/#p-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Bright (1884); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with NPNF² 4.
Chapter 18
18Bright, 172–173
18. Εἰ μὲν οὖν, ὡς πολλάκις εἴπομεν, ὁ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡμῖν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, καὶ οὐδὲν ἡμῶν διαφέρει ἢ χρόνῳ, ἔστω ἡμῖν ὅμοιος, καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἐχέτω χώραν παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ, ἣν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἔχομεν· καὶ μήτε μονογενὴς, μήτε μόνος Λόγος, ἢ Σοφία τοῦ Πατρὸς λεγέσθω· ἀλλὰ κοινὸν ἔστω κατὰ πάντων ἡμῶν τῶν ὁμοίων τὸ αὐτὸ ὄνομα. Δίκαιον γὰρ, ὧν ἐστι φύσις μία, τούτων εἶναι καὶ τὸ ὄνομα κοινὸν, κἂν τοῖς χρόνοις ἀλλήλων διαφέρωσιν. Ἄνθρωπος γὰρ ὁ Ἀδὰμ, ἄνθρωπος δὲ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, ἄνθρωπος δὲ καὶ ὁ νῦν γενόμενος· καὶ οὐχ ὁ χρόνος ἀλλοιοῖ τὴν φύσιν τοῦ γένους. Εἰ τοίνυν καὶ ὁ Λόγος χρόνῳ μόνον ἡμῶν διαφέρει, ἔδει καὶ ἡμᾶς ὡς ἐκεῖνον εἶναι. Ἀλλʼ οὔτε ἡμεῖς Λόγος ἢ Σοφία, οὔτε ἐκεῖνος κτίσμα ἢ ποίημα τυγχάνει ὤν· ἐπεὶ διὰ τί οἱ πάντες ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς γεγόναμεν, καὶ μόνος ἐστὶν αὐτὸς Λόγος; Ἀλλὰ γὰρ, εἰ καὶ ἐκείνους λέγειν τοιαῦτα πρέπει, ἀλλʼ ἡμῖν ἀπρεπὲς ἐνθυμεῖσθαι τὰς ἐκείνων βλασφημίας· καὶ εἰ καὶ οὐδὲ περιεργάζεσθαί τι τῶν ῥητῶν ἐχρῆν πρὸς τὴν οὕτω φανερὰν καὶ εὐσεβῆ διάνοιαν, καὶ τὴν ἐν ἡμῖν ὀρθὴν πίστιν· ὅμως ἵνα καὶ ἐντεῦθεν δειχθῶσιν ἀσεβεῖς, φέρε συντόμως, ὡς παρὰ τῶν πατέρων μεμαθήκαμεν, ἐκ τοῦ ῥητοῦ τὴν ἑτεροδοξίαν ἐκείνων ἐλέγξωμεν. Ἔθος τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ τὰ κατὰ φύσιν ὄντα πράγματα, ταῦτα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εἰς εἰκόνας καὶ παραδείγματα λαμβάνειν· τοῦτο δὲ ποιεῖ, ἵνʼ ἐκ τῶν κατὰ φύσιν ἐκείνων τὰ ἐκ προαιρέσεως φαίνηται τῶν ἀνθρώπων κινήματα· καὶ οὕτως ἢ φαῦλος ἢ δίκαιος ὁ τούτων δείκνυται τρόπος. Ἐπὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν φαύλων, ὡς ἐὰν παραγγέλλῃ, ‘Μὴ γίνεσθε ὡς ἵππος καὶ ἡμίονος, οἷς οὐκ ἔστι σύνεσις· ἢ καὶ ὅταν, μεμφόμενος τοὺς οὕτω γενομένους, λέγῃ, ‘Ἄνθρωπος ἐν τιμῇ ὢν οὐ συνῆκε· παρασυνεβλήθη τοῖς κτήνεσι τοῖς ἀνοήτοις, καὶ ὡμοιώθη αὐτοῖς· καὶ πάλιν ‘ἵπποι θηλυμανεῖς ἐγενήθησαν Καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ δὲ τὸν μὲν Ἡρώδην δεικνὺς ὁποῖός ἐστιν, ἔλεγεν, ‘εἴπατε τῇ ἀλώπεκι ταύτῃ·’ τοῖς δὲ μαθηταῖς παρήγγελλεν, ‘Ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλω ὑμᾶς ὡς πρόβατα ἐν μέσῳ λύκων· γίνεσθε οὖν φρόνιμοι ὡς οἱ ὄφεις, καὶ ἀκέραιοι ὡς αἱ περιστεραί.’ Ἔλεγε δὲ τοῦτο, οὐχ ἵνα τῇ φύσει γενώμεθα κτήνη, ἢ γενώμεθα ὄφεις καὶ περιστεραί· οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἡμᾶς αὐτὸς πεποίηκε· διὸ οὐδὲ τοῦτο οἶδεν ἡ φύσις· ἀλλʼ ἵνʼ ἡμεῖς τῶν μὲν τὰς ἀλόγους ὁρμὰς φεύγωμεν, τοῦ δὲ τὸ φρόνιμον ἵνα γινώσκοντες, μὴ ἀπατώμεθα παρʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς περιστερᾶς τὸ πρᾶον ἀναλάβωμεν.
18. Ei men oun, hōs pollakis eipomen, ho autos estin hēmin ho tou Theou Logos, kai ouden hēmōn diapherei ē chronǭ, estō hēmin homoios, kai tēn autēn echetō chōran para tǭ Patri, hēn kai hēmeis echomen; kai mēte monogenēs, mēte monos Logos, ē Sophia tou Patros legesthō; alla koinon estō kata pantōn hēmōn tōn homoiōn to auto onoma. Dikaion gar, hōn esti physis mia, toutōn einai kai to onoma koinon, kan tois chronois allēlōn diapherōsin. Anthrōpos gar ho Adam, anthrōpos de kai ho Paulos, anthrōpos de kai ho nyn genomenos; kai ouch ho chronos alloioi tēn physin tou genous. Ei toinyn kai ho Logos chronǭ monon hēmōn diapherei, edei kai hēmas hōs ekeinon einai. Allʼ oute hēmeis Logos ē Sophia, oute ekeinos ktisma ē poiēma tynchanei ōn; epei dia ti hoi pantes ek tou henos gegonamen, kai monos estin autos Logos? Alla gar, ei kai ekeinous legein toiauta prepei, allʼ hēmin aprepes enthymeisthai tas ekeinōn blasphēmias; kai ei kai oude periergazesthai ti tōn rhētōn echrēn pros tēn houtō phaneran kai eusebē dianoian, kai tēn en hēmin orthēn pistin; homōs hina kai enteuthen deichthōsin asebeis, phere syntomōs, hōs para tōn paterōn memathēkamen, ek tou rhētou tēn heterodoxian ekeinōn elenxōmen. Ethos tę̄ theią graphę̄ ta kata physin onta pragmata, tauta tois anthrōpois eis eikonas kai paradeigmata lambanein; touto de poiei, hinʼ ek tōn kata physin ekeinōn ta ek proaireseōs phainētai tōn anthrōpōn kinēmata; kai houtōs ē phaulos ē dikaios ho toutōn deiknytai tropos. Epi men oun tōn phaulōn, hōs ean parangellę̄, ‘Mē ginesthe hōs hippos kai hēmionos, hois ouk esti synesis; ē kai hotan, memphomenos tous houtō genomenous, legę̄, ‘Anthrōpos en timę̄ ōn ou synēke; parasyneblēthē tois ktēnesi tois anoētois, kai hōmoiōthē autois; kai palin ‘hippoi thēlymaneis egenēthēsan Kai ho Sōtēr de ton men Hērōdēn deiknys hopoios estin, elegen, ‘eipate tę̄ alōpeki tautę̄;’ tois de mathētais parēngellen, ‘Idou apostellō hymas hōs probata en mesǭ lykōn; ginesthe oun phronimoi hōs hoi opheis, kai akeraioi hōs hai peristerai.’ Elege de touto, ouch hina tę̄ physei genōmetha ktēnē, ē genōmetha opheis kai peristerai; ou gar houtōs hēmas autos pepoiēke; dio oude touto oiden hē physis; allʼ hinʼ hēmeis tōn men tas alogous hormas pheugōmen, tou de to phronimon hina ginōskontes, mē apatōmetha parʼ autou, kai tēs peristeras to praon analabōmen.
If, then, as we have often said, the Word of God is the same as we are, and differs from us in nothing but time, let him be like us and have the same place with the Father as we have; and let him not be called only-begotten, nor the only Word or Wisdom of the Father; but let the same name be common to all of us who are alike. For it is just that those whose nature is one should have a common name, even if they differ from one another in time. Adam was a man, and Paul was a man, and he who is born now is a man; and time does not alter the nature of the race. If, then, the Word too differs from us only in time, we too ought to be as he is. But neither are we Word or Wisdom, nor is he a creature or a work; otherwise why have we all come from one, while he alone is Word? But even if it befits them to say such things, it is unfitting for us to dwell on their blasphemies; and even though there should be no need to examine any of the sayings curiously, given so evident and pious a sense and the right faith we hold, nevertheless, so that they may be shown impious from this too, come, let us briefly refute their heterodoxy from the saying, as we have learned from the fathers. It is the custom of the divine Scripture to take things that exist by nature as images and examples for human beings; and it does this so that from those natural things the movements of human beings that arise from free choice may be seen, and so their conduct may be shown to be either bad or righteous. In the case of the bad, as when it commands, “Do not be like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding”; or when, blaming those who have become so, it says, “Man, being in honor, did not understand; he was compared with the senseless cattle and became like them”; and again, “They became lusty horses.” And the Saviour, showing what sort of man Herod was, said, “Tell that fox”; and he charged the disciples, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; be therefore wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” He said this not so that we should become beasts by nature, or become serpents and doves—for he did not make us so, and therefore nature does not know this either—but so that we might flee the irrational impulses of the one, and, knowing the cunning of the other, not be deceived by it, and take up the gentleness of the dove.
Ps 32:9 (31:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 49:12 (48:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 13:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:16 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: If the Word differed from us only in time, he would share our name and nature; Scripture uses natural things, like animals, as examples for human conduct, not as statements of nature.
- “As we have learned from the fathers” refers to earlier church teachers.
- Slips corrected: εὐσεβῇ to εὐσεβῆ, a stray period after δὲ.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Iota subscript slip.; Stray period.): εὐσεβῇ → εὐσεβῆ; ὁ Σωτὴρ δὲ. τὸν → ὁ Σωτὴρ δὲ τὸν.
Topics: Trinity, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Athanasius, C. Ar. 18 (Bright, 172–173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-oratio-3/10/#p-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-athanasius-oratio-3-18) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Bright (1884); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with NPNF² 4.