Novatian, On the Trinity 11
We do not define the substance of Christ's body in a way that makes Him only a man, because that would play into the hands of heretics who deny His divinity. We affirm that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Creator, was manifested in a true body, yet with the divinity of the Word mixed into that very flesh, so that He is also God according to the Scriptures (John 1:1-14; Colossians 1:15-20). It is a grave danger to call the Savior of the human race—the Lord and Prince of the world, to whom the Father has handed over all things, through whom all things were instituted, created, and ordered, the King of all ages and times, the Prince of all angels, before whom nothing exists except the Father—merely a man and to deny Him divine authority. That insult against the Son redounds to God the Father Himself, if the Father could not generate a Son who is God.
The blindness of heretics will not dictate the truth, nor will it strip from us what they refuse to see, simply because they see something else in Christ. They focus on His human weaknesses as if the divine virtues did not count; they recall the infirmities of the flesh but exclude the powers of divinity. But if the proof drawn from Christ's infirmities establishes that He is a man, then the proof gathered from His virtues must equally establish that He is God. If His sufferings demonstrate human fragility, why do His works not assert divine power? Unless the works succeed in proving He is God, the sufferings cannot succeed in proving He is a man. Whatever law governs one nature will be found to apply to the other; we cannot show Him to be a man from His passions unless we also approve Him as God from His virtues.
Therefore we must not lean toward one side and flee the other, for whoever excludes any portion of the truth will not hold the perfect truth. Scripture announces Christ as both God and man; it describes Jesus Christ as both man and God, the Lord Christ. It presents Him not only as the Son of God but also as the Son of Man, and not only as the Son of Man but also as the Son of God—so that, being from both, He may be both; lest, if He were only one, He could not be the other. Just as nature itself prescribes that we believe the man who comes from man, so the same nature prescribes that we believe the God who comes from God: lest, if He is not also God because He is from God, He is not even a man, though He is from man, and thus both are endangered when one is convicted of losing faith in the other.
Those who read that the Son of Man, Christ Jesus, is a man, let them also read that He is the same God and the Son of God. For just as, insofar as He is a man, He is from Abraham, so also, insofar as He is God, He is before Abraham (John 8:58). And just as, insofar as He is a man, He is the son of David, so also, insofar as He is God, He is the Lord of David (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:42-45). And just as, insofar as He is a man, He was made under the law and suffered sentence, so also, insofar as He is God, He possesses judgment over the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5). And just as, insofar as He is a man, He was born after the world, so also, insofar as He is God, He is said to have existed before the world (John 1:1-2; 17:5). And just as, insofar as He is a man, He was born from the seed of David, so also, insofar as He is God, the world is said to have been instituted through Him (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2). And just as, insofar as He is a man, He comes after many, so also, insofar as He is God, He is before all; and just as, insofar as He is a man, He is inferior to others, so also, insofar as He is God, He is greater than all (John 1:15, 30). And just as, insofar as He is a man, He ascends into heaven, so also, insofar as He is God, He descended from there; and just as, insofar as He is a man, He goes to the Father, so also, insofar as He is the Son, He obeys the Father (John 3:13; 6:38; 14:28; 16:28; Philippians 2:6-8). Just as the lowly traits in Him confirm human frailty, so the majestic traits in Him affirm divine power.
There is danger that, when we read of both natures, we believe only one and not the other. Since both are read in Christ, both must be believed, so that faith may be true only if it is perfect. If, from two realities, one ceases to be believed and we assume the lesser for belief, the rule of truth is disturbed; such rashness does not bring salvation but, in place of salvation, loss—a great danger of death will have flowed from the loss of faith.
Latin
Verum ne ex hoc quod dominum nostrum Iesum Christum dei creatoris filium in substantia ueri corporis exhibitum asserimus, aliis haereticis hoc in loco hominem tantum et solum defendentibus, atque ideo hominem illum nudum et solitarium probare cupientibus, aut manus dedisse aut loquendi materiam commodasse uideamur, non sic de substantia corporis ipsius exprimimus, ut solum et tantum hominem illum esse dicamus; sed ut diuinitate sermonis in ipsa con- ro cretione permixta etiam deum illum secundum scripturas esse teneamus. est enim periculum grande, saluatorem generis humani, totius dominum et principem mundi, cui a suo patre omnia tradita sunt et cuncta concessa, per quem instituta sunt uniuersa, creata sunt tota, digesta sunt cuncta, aeuorum omnium et temporum regem, angelorum omnium principem, ante quem nihil praeter patrem, hominem tantummodo dicere et auctoritatem illi diuinam in his abnegare. haec enim contumelia haereticorum ad ipsum quoque deum patrem redundabit, si deus pater filium deum generare non potuit. sed enim ueritati caecitas haereticorum nulla praescribet, nec quoniam in Christo aliquid tenent, aliquid non tenent, alterum uident, alterum non uident, eripietur nobis illud quod non uident, per illud quod uident. quasi hominis enim in illo fragilitates considerant, quasi dei uirtutes non computant; infirmitates carnis recolunt, potestates diuinitatis excludunt. quando si probatio haec ex infirmitatibus Christi illuc proficit, ut homo ex infirmitatibus comprobetur, probatio diuinitatis in illo collecta ex uirtutibus illuc proficiet, ut etiam deus ex operibus asseratur. si enim passiones ostendunt in illo humanam fragilitatem, cur opera non asserant in illo diuinam potestatem? ne, si hoc non profecerit ut deus ex uirtutibus asseratur, nec passiones proficiant ut etiam homo ex ipsis esse monstretur. quaecumque enim lex in alterutro fuerit posita, in altero inuenietur esse suscepta. periculum enim erit nec hominem illum ex passionibus ostendi, si non potuerit etiam deus ex uirtutibus approbari. non est ergo in unam partem inclinandum et ab alia parte fugiendum, quoniam nec tenebit perfectam ueritatem quisquis aliquam ueritatis excluserit portionem. tam enim scriptura etiam deum annuntiat Christum, quam etiam hominem ipsum annuntiat deum; tam hominem descripsit Iesum Christum, quam etiam deum quoque descripsit Christum dominum. quoniam nec dei tantum illum filium esse proponit, sed et hominis; nec hominis tantum dicit, sed et dei referre consueuit: ut dum ex utroque est, utrumque sit; ne si alterum tantum sit, alterum esse non possit. ut enim praescripsit ipsa natura hominem credendum esse, qui ex homine sit, ita eadem natura praescribit et deum credendum esse, qui ex deo sit: ne si non et deus fuerit, cum ex deo sit, iam nec homo sit, licet ex homine fuerit, et sic in alterutro utrumque periclitetur, dum alterum altero fidem perdidisse conuincitur. qui legunt ergo hominis filium hominem Christum Iesum, legant hunc eundem et deum et dei filium nuncupatum. nam quo modo est, qua homo, ex Abraham, sic est etiam, qua deus, ante ipsum Abraham. et quo modo, qua homo, filius Dauid, ita dominus Dauid, qua deus, nuncuet quo modo, qua homo, sub lege factus est, ita, et quo modo, qua homo, sententiam patitur, sic omne, qua deus, de uiuis et mortuis iudicium habere reperitur. et quo modo post mundum, qua homo, nascitur, sic ante mundum, qua deus, fuisse perhibetur. et quo modo ex semine Dauid, qua homo, genitus est, sic item per ipsum, qua deum, mundus dicitur institutus. et quo modo, qua homo, post multos, sic, qua deus, ante omnes; et quo modo ceteris, qua homo, inferior, sic omnibus, qua deus, maior. et quo modo in caelum, qua homo, ascendit, sic inde, qua deus, ante descendit; et quo modo ad patrem, qua homo, uadit, sic oboediens patri, qua filius, inde ita si mediocritates in illo approbant humanam fragilitatem, maiestates in illo affirmant diuinam potestatem. periculum est enim, cum utrumque legis, non utrumque sed alterum credidisse. ex quo quoniam utrumque in Christo legitur, utrumque creditur, ut fides ita demum uera sit, si et perfecta fuerit. nam si ex duobus, altero in fide cessante, unum, et quidem id quod est minus, ad credendum fuerit assumptum, perturbata regula ueritatis, temeritas ista non salutem contulerit, sed in uicem salutis de iactura: fidei periculum mortis grande conflauerit.