Theological Oration 4: On the Son 19–21

Of the other titles, some plainly belong to his authority, others to his economy, and this twofold: one above the body, the other in the body. For example, “the Almighty,” and “the King” of glory, or of the ages, or of the powers of the Beloved, or of those who reign; and “the Lord,” or “Sabaoth,” that is, of hosts, or of powers, or of those who rule. These plainly belong to his authority. But “God” of salvation, or of vengeance, or of peace, or of righteousness, or of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of all the spiritual Israel that sees God: these belong to the economy. For since we are governed by these three things, fear of punishment, hope of salvation and also of glory, and the practice of the virtues from which these come, the name of vengeance governs fear, the name of salvation hope, and the name of the virtues their practice; so that anyone who achieves any of these, as bearing God within himself, may press on more eagerly toward perfection and the kinship that comes from the virtues. These names are still common to the Godhead. The name proper to the one without beginning is “Father”; to the one begotten without beginning, “Son”; to the one who came forth, or proceeds, without being begotten, “the Holy Spirit.” But let us come to the titles of the Son, which is what our discourse set out to discuss.

He seems to me to be called “Son” because he is the same as the Father in substance, and not only that, but also from him. “Only-begotten,” not because he alone is from the only one and is only this, but because it is in a unique manner, not like bodies. “Word,” because he is to the Father as word to mind; not only because the begetting is free from passion, but also because of the close union and the function of making known. One might also say, as definition to the thing defined, since this too is called logos. For “he who has understood the Son,” it says (for that is what “has seen” means), “has understood the Father”; and the Son is a concise and easy demonstration of the Father’s nature, for every offspring is a silent word of its begetter. And if anyone should say it is because he is present in all things that exist, he will not miss the mark; for what is there that does not consist by the Word? “Wisdom,” as the knowledge of things divine and human; for how could the maker be ignorant of the principles of what he has made? “Power,” as the preserver of what has come to be, supplying the power by which they hold together. “Truth,” as being one and not many by nature (for truth is one, but falsehood is manifold), and as the pure seal of the Father and his most truthful imprint. “Image,” as consubstantial, and because he is from the Father, not the Father from him. For this is the nature of an image, to be a copy of the archetype and of that whose image it is called, except that here there is more. There, an unmoving image of what moves; here, a living image of the living, and more exactly alike than Seth to Adam or any offspring to its begetter. For such is the nature of simple beings, not to be like in one respect and unlike in another, but to be the whole impress of the whole, and the same rather than a likeness. “Light,” as the brightness of souls purified in word and life. For if ignorance and sin are darkness, knowledge and a godly life would be light. “Life,” because he is light, and the constitution and substance of every rational nature. “For in him we live and move and have our being,” according to the twofold power of the breathing-in: we all receive breath from him, and all who have room for it receive the Holy Spirit, and in the measure in which we open the mouth of our mind. “Righteousness,” because he distributes according to worth, and judges justly between those under the law and those under grace, between soul and body, so that the one rules and the other is ruled, and the better has command over the worse, so that the worse does not rebel against the better. “Sanctification,” as purity, so that the pure may be contained by purity. “Redemption,” as setting us free when we were held captive by sin, and giving himself as a ransom for us, a cleansing for the world. “Resurrection,” as raising us up from here and bringing us back to life when we were dead through sin.

These titles are still common to him who is above us and him who is for us. But those that are properly ours, and belong to what he assumed from here, are these. “Man,” not only so that he might be contained by bodies through a body, since otherwise he could not be contained because of the incomprehensibility of his nature, but also so that he might sanctify man through himself, becoming like leaven for the whole lump, and uniting to himself all that was condemned, free it from condemnation, becoming for all everything that we are, except sin: body, soul, mind, all that death reaches. What is common to these is man, God made visible because of what is understood. “Son of Man,” both because of Adam and because of the Virgin, from whom he came: of the one as forefather, of the other as mother, by the law of birth and not by the law of birth. “Christ,” because of the Godhead; for this is the anointing of the humanity, sanctifying it not by an operation, as with the other anointed ones, but by the presence of the whole Anointer; and the effect of this anointing is that the Anointer is called man and the anointed is made God. “Way,” as bringing us through himself. “Door,” as the one who leads in. “Shepherd,” as making us dwell in a green pasture, feeding us by the water of rest, guiding us from there, and fighting for us against wild beasts; turning back the wandering, bringing back the lost, binding up the broken, guarding the strong, and gathering them into the fold above with words of pastoral skill. “Sheep,” as the victim; “Lamb,” as perfect. “High Priest,” as the one who brings us near. “Melchizedek,” as without mother in what is above us and without father in what is ours; and as without genealogy in what is above (“for who,” it says, “shall declare his generation?”); and as King of Salem, which means peace, and King of righteousness, and as receiving tithes from patriarchs who excel against the powers of evil. There you have the titles of the Son. Walk through them, the lofty ones in a godlike way, and the bodily ones with sympathy; or rather, all of them in a godlike way, so that you may become God, rising from below, because of him who came down from above for our sake. Above all and before all, keep this, and you will not go wrong with either the loftier or the lowlier names: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today” bodily, and spiritually “for ever.” Amen.