Ecclesiastical History

To establish this insane doctrine they insult the Scriptures, and bring forward what is said in the Psalms of Christ, ' You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows. ' Now that the Son of God was not created out of the non-existent, and that there never was a time in which He was not, is expressly taught by John the Evangelist, who speaks of Him as ' the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father. ' This divine teacher desired to show that the Father and the Son are inseparable; and, therefore, he said, 'that the Son is in the bosom of the Father.' Moreover, the same John affirms that the Word of God is not classed among things created out of the non-existent, for, he says that ' all things were made by Him,' and he also declares His individual personality in the following words: ' In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. ' If, then, all things were made by Him, how is it that He who thus bestowed existence on all, could at any period have had no existence himself? The Word, the creating power, can in no way be defined as of the same nature as the things created, if indeed He was in the beginning, and all things were made by Him, and were called by Him out of the non-existent into being. ' That which is ' must be of an opposite nature to, and essentially different from, things created out of the non-existent. This shows, likewise, that there is no separation between the Father and the Son, and that the idea of separation cannot even be conceived by the mind; while the fact that the world was created out of the non-existent involves a later and fresh genesis of its essential nature, all things having been endowed with such an origin of existence by the Father through the Son. John, the most pious apostle, perceiving that the word 'was' applied to the Word of God was far beyond and above the intelligence of created beings, did not presume to speak of His generation or creation, nor yet dared to name the Maker and the creature in equivalent syllables. Not that the Son of God is unbegotten, for the Father alone is unbegotten; but that the ineffable personality of the only-begotten God is beyond the keenest conception of the evangelists and perhaps even of angels. Therefore, I do not think men ought to be considered pious who presume to investigate this subject, in disobedience to the injunction, ' Seek not what is too difficult for you, neither enquire into what is too high for you. ' For if the knowledge of many other things incomparably inferior is beyond the capacity of the human mind, and cannot therefore be attained, as has been said by Paul, ' Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him,' and as God also said to Abraham, that the stars could not be numbered by him; and it is likewise said, ' Who shall number the grains of sand by the sea-shore, or the drops of rain?' how then can any one but a madman presume to enquire into the nature of the Word of God? It is said by the Spirit of prophecy, ' Who shall declare His generation?' And, therefore, our Saviour in His kindness to those men who were the pillars of the whole world, desiring to relieve them of the burden of striving after this knowledge, told them that it was beyond their natural comprehension, and that the Father alone could discern this most divine mystery; ' No man,' said He, ' knows the Son but the Father, and no man knows the Father save the Son. ' It was, I think, concerning this same subject that the Father said, 'My secret is for Me and for Mine. '

But the insane folly of imagining that the Son of God came into being out of that which had no being, and that His sending forth took place in time, is plain from the words 'which had no being,' although the foolish are incapable of perceiving the folly of their own utterances. For the phrase 'He was not' must either have reference to time, or to some interval in the ages. If then it be true that all things were made by Him, it is evident that every age, time, all intervals of time, and that 'when' in which 'was not' has its place, were made by Him. And is it not absurd to say that there was a time when He who created all time, and ages, and seasons, with which the 'was not' is confused, was not? For it would be the height of ignorance, and contrary indeed to all reason, to affirm that the cause of any created thing can be posterior to that caused by it. The interval during which they say the Son was still unbegotten of the Father was, according to their opinion, prior to the wisdom of God, by whom all things were created. They thus contradict the Scripture which declares Him to be 'the firstborn of every creature. ' In consonance with this doctrine, Paul with his usual mighty voice cries concerning Him; ' whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds ' ' For by Him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him: and He is before all things ' Since the hypothesis implied in the phrase 'out of the non-existent' is manifestly impious, it follows that the Father is always Father. And He is Father from the continual presence of the Son, on account of whom He is called Father. And the Son being ever present with Him, the Father is ever perfect, wanting in no good thing, for He did not beget His only Son in time, or in any interval of time, nor out of that which had no previous existence.