Compendium of Heretical Fables 4.13–5.2

Last of all the envious demon brought in the ill-named heresy of the Eutychians, by which he stirred up the [churches] throughout the world … not a few voices …: to such wickedness [he drove] the wretched Eutyches, [rekindling] the long-withered …. Arius confessed the assumption of the body only, Apollinaris of the soul too; but this man denied even the assumption of the body. For he said that God the Word took nothing human from the Virgin, but was himself changed unchangeably and became flesh (I am using his ridiculous words), and only made a passage through the Virgin; and that the … and uncontainable Godhead of the Only-begotten was nailed to the cross, and that this, given over to the tomb, obtained the resurrection. To leave aside the excess of the madness, let us consider this: that no benefit has come to us from the incarnation, and we have no pledge of our own resurrection. For if God has been raised from the dead, it does not follow that man will rise too; for the difference of the natures is very great. Why, then, does the divine Apostle strengthen the doctrine of our resurrection from the Lord's resurrection, and cry out writing to the Corinthians: “If Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised”? By what is believed he proved what is disbelieved, and with what is disbelieved he threw out what is believed as well. For if it is true, he says, that Christ rose, then it is true that we shall rise; but if this is false, then Christ's rising is false too; for that was a body, and so are these. Having confirmed this with several syllogisms, he then added in affirmation: “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” By the firstfruits he clearly indicated the whole lump too; for the firstfruits has the same nature as that of which it is the firstfruits. He also teaches the reason for the dispensation: “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man.” Then he passes from the natures to the persons: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” But since I have often written much about this, I thought it superfluous to lengthen the account at present, especially as I am going to speak about these things too, God willing, in the fifth book. Having put an end to this fourth book, then, I shall try to show the nobility of the gospel teaching, as far as I can.

Both the Old and the New Scripture teach that there is one first principle of all things, the God of all and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: unbegotten, imperishable, eternal, infinite, uncircumscribed, [indivisible], uncompounded, bodiless, invisible, simple, good, just, spiritual light, power bounded by no measure but measured only by the divine will. For whatever he wills, he can do; and the Prophet taught us this clearly: “For all things,” he says, “whatever the Lord willed, he did.” The divine Scripture is the teacher of what has been said. For we hear God saying at the beginning of the lawgiving: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; you shall have no other gods besides me.” And again: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord.” In harmony with these he teaches also through the prophet Isaiah: “For I,” he says, “am God the first, and I am after these things, and besides me there is no God.” And: “Before me there is no other god, and after me there shall not be, and besides me there is none.” And again: “I am God, and after me there shall be none.” And again: “I am God, and there is no other besides me; a righteous Savior there is none except me.” By these he clearly refutes the nonsense of Valentinus, Marcus, Basilides and Marcion. Neither … God, but the same is both first and last. The divine teaching of the holy Gospels agrees with these. For our Savior and Lord, fulfilling all righteousness on our behalf (for he himself said to John, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting to fulfil all righteousness”), accepted, as being man, the need of prayer too, and announced that he would teach the apostles about the Father; and in the form of a prayer he offered the disciples the teaching of theology: “For this,” he says, “is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God.” And again: “I give thanks to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants.” And the divine Apostle says thus: “To the King of the ages, incorruptible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” And again: “One God, one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” And again: “One God, the Father, from whom are all things.” One can find very many other passages of the Old and the New, showing their agreement and proclaiming the one God. That he is invisible both the Old and the New teach. In the Old he says to Moses: “No one shall see my face and live”; in the holy Gospels the Lord said: “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.” This is what the inspired evangelist cries: “No one has ever seen God.” And he shows where he learned it, for he adds: “The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” The Apostle too cries: “To the incorruptible, the only wise God, be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.” And again: “Whom no one among men has seen or can see.” His infinity and uncircumscribability we have again been taught by the Old and the New. In the Old God says: “Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.” And again: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet; what house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what place …?” [And David] cries: “In his hand are the ends of the earth.” He has called it a hand, but shown the activity of his providential power; and he showed that he is not circumscribed in all things, but that all things [are held] by his pro[vidence] …. [David says to] him: “Where shall I go from your Spirit, and where shall I flee from your face? If I go up into heaven, you are there; if I go down into Hades, you are present; if I take my wings at dawn and dwell at the farthest parts of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.” These words show that both his substance and his power are uncircumscribed. The prophet Isaiah too cries: “He who holds the circle of the earth, and those who dwell in it are like grasshoppers.” And again, refuting the weakness of idols, he offered us this teaching about the God of all: “Who,” he says, “has measured the water in his hand, and heaven with a span? Who has set the mountains on a scale and the valleys in a balance? Who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been his counselor, to instruct him? Or who showed him judgment, or who showed him the way of understanding?” Then, as far as human thought and a tongue of clay allow, he shows the infinity of his power: “For if all the nations are like a drop from a bucket and like the turn of a scale, … and to whom will you liken the Lord, or with what likeness will you compare him?” If heaven, earth and the nature of the waters encompass every created nature, and the measure of all these is the measure of the divine hand, let those who try to measure God with their tongue consider the infinity of that nature, understanding the hand not as a part of the body but as the power that crafts all things. [This is what] the Old Scripture teaches about the God of all; one could find other things similar to what has been said, teaching that the divine substance, wisdom and power are uncircumscribed. In the holy Gospels the Lord taught the Samaritan woman to think similarly. For when she supposed that the Divine is circumscribed by place, and therefore said, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that one must worship in Jerusalem,” the Lord trained her out of these contrary opinions and taught the uncircumscribed nature of the divine being. For he said to her: “Truly I tell you, woman, an hour is coming, and now is, when neither in Jerusalem nor in this place will they worship the Father.” Having taught thus that divine worship is not circumscribed by places, he added: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” In the same way he taught his bodilessness …. That the God of all is eternal the blessed David teaches, now saying, “From everlasting to everlasting you are,” now, “God will hear and humble them, he who exists before the ages.” The prophet Isaiah too teaches, crying: “The eternal God, who formed the ends of the earth, will not hunger nor grow weary, and there is no searching out his understanding.” The divine Apostle knows him as maker of the ages. And the Lord says not only that the divine nature exists before creation, but that the kingdom was prepared for the saints before the foundation of the world. These things we have been taught by both the Old and the New Scripture about the first principle of all things: not, as in the fables of Valentinus and Basilides, pairings, minglings and emanations of male and female Aeons, nor, as with Cerdo, Marcion and Mani, different and opposed principles, but one principle, the same both good and just, as we shall show later.

As we have learned to believe in one God, so also in one Son begotten before the ages. We do not say, according to the fables of Valentinus, that the Only-begotten is one, the Word another, Christ yet another, and Jesus again another; nor, according to the blasphemy of Arius and Eunomius, do we call our Lord Jesus Christ a creature. For the divine Scripture says he is only-begotten; but if he is created, he is not only-begotten, for he has creation and all the parts of creation as his sister. If he is only-begotten, as indeed he is, then he has no fellowship with created things. That he is only-begotten the Only-begotten himself taught, saying: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.” And a little later: “Whoever believes in him is not judged; but whoever does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.” The Evangelist spoke thus: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” For the nature of the flesh did not diminish the dignity of the Godhead; even clothed in flesh he showed his Father's nobility. And again: “The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” The Baptist too cries: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” And all the apostles name him true and genuine Son of God. The Father himself, speaking twice from heaven, showed the genuineness of the begetting, for he said: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And why do I speak of the Baptist, the evangelist and the other apostles, and the God of all? Not even the devil, the father of lies, dared to name him otherwise; before the contests, in doubt, he said, “If you are the Son of God”; but after the victory, having learned who he was, he cries without doubt: “What have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come before the time to torment us?” At Philippi he even called him the Most High and God: “These men,” it said, “are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” He called the apostles servants of Christ, having learned this from them; for he heard the divine Paul saying and writing it: “Paul,” he says, “a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle”; and, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ.” If the teacher of falsehood himself, yielding to the lightning flashes of the truth, names him Son, and Most High, and Son of God, then those who dare to call the Son a creature are striving to outdo the Father's own address. That the divine men too name him Most High we may hear from Zechariah saying to his son: “And you, child, will be called a prophet; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.” The great John went before not God the Father but the only-begotten Son; and he himself is witness of this: asked whether he was the Christ, he denied it, but said, “I have been sent before him.” And the inspired David says to him: “Let them know that your name is Lord, you alone the Most High over all the earth.” If the Son is Lord (“For there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things,” according to the divine Apostle; and, “One Lord, one faith”), then the Son is Most High, since he is also Lord. But we have gone through many arguments on these matters against Arius and Eunomius in our works against them. Let us pass, then, to the teaching before us, and show that we have been taught that the same one is Lord, Only-begotten, God the Word, Savior and Jesus. Let us bring Peter forward, the first to confess these titles together. For he was the first of the apostles to be asked by the Savior, “But who do you say that I am?” and he answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The divine John the Evangelist calls the same one the Word before the ages, the only-begotten Son, the maker of all things, and Christ Jesus. “In the beginning,” he says, “was the Word”; this shows eternity, for what was in the beginning plainly always was. He did not say “In the beginning came to be” or “In the beginning was created,” but “In the beginning was.” He also teaches … [“And the Word was with] God, and the Word was God.” Then he takes up the opening again and says: “He was in the beginning with God.” By the common name he showed the consubstantiality, and by saying God with God he made plain the distinction of the persons. Him he often called only-begotten Son and Jesus Christ. The all-wise Paul too says thus: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” And again: “When he who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his Son in me.” And countless such [passages can be found, in which they name him] eternal Son and coeternal with the Father. Teaching this, the same teacher first shows him maker of the ages: “In these last days,” he says, “he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages.” But since those who will not understand divine things in a manner worthy of God do not think it possible that the one from God is coeternal with God (foolishly thinking that the divine nature too is subject to the law of human nature, they have supposed the Father older than the Son), the divine Apostle shows clearly by an image that the only-begotten Son is both from God and with God. For he called him the radiance of glory. The radiance has its existence from the fire and coexists with the fire; for the radiance is grown together with the fire, and the ray with the sun: from the moment there is a sun, from that moment there are rays. Yet the sun is the cause of the rays, and the fire of the radiance; for the sun is not born of the rays, but the rays of the sun, and the radiance springs from the fire. So the only-begotten Son is begotten of the Father, but is with the one who begot him, as the word is with the mind, the radiance with the fire, and the ray with the sun. But each of these does not subsist by itself; it has its subsistence in that from which it sprang. God the Word, the radiance of glory, is not an activity subsisting by itself. For he is not named simply Word but God the Word; nor only radiance of glory, but also the stamp of [his] hypostasis. For since it was not possible to teach divine things clearly by one image, we learn them somehow through several images. The radiance of glory teaches the coeternity; the [stamp of the hypostasis] shows the [exactness of] likeness and teaches the distinction of the hypostases; and the word shows that the begetting is free of passion. For lest, hearing “Son,” we should come down to human [thoughts about] the begetting of the maker of all things, he called him Word, teaching by this that that begetting is free of every passion. For our mind, in giving birth to its word, does not need fellowship with a female, nor undergo any cutting or flowing; being complete, it produces its word complete. By these we have been taught both the impassibility of the begetting and the eternity of the Only-begotten. That he is equal in power to the one who begot him, and like and equal in all things, we [learn] from the Lord's teaching: “[My Father is working until] now, and I am working.” And: “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” And: “All that the Father has is mine.” And: “I am in the Father, and the Father in me.” And: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” In these he clearly showed the exactness of the likeness. For when Philip asked that the Father be shown, the Lord showed himself, teaching by this that he is a living image of the one who begot him, clearly showing the features of the one who begot him. For he said to Philip: “Have I been with you so long, and you have not known me, Philip?” You desire to see the Father, he says, while you see me? Then you have not known me; for if you had known me, you would not have longed to see him, for the Father is seen in me. That is why he added, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” He here called the contemplation of faith sight. “Have I been with you so long,” he says, “and you have not known me, Philip?” He did not say “you have not seen,” but “you have not known.” For Philip saw what was visible, but did not contemplate the invisible Godhead. That is why he was blamed, as not knowing the Son accurately and therefore longing to see the Father. But if we were to use all the proofs against every heresy, we would fill not ten or twenty books of accusation; against these we have already written twelve treatises before, and now besides we have shown the aim of the rest of theology and of moral teaching.