The Divinity of the Son

He has the Son as greater for himself. For God having said to Abraham in Genesis, 'Bring me a sacrifice of your son' (Gen 22:2), and after he had done this willingly and was about to bring his hand upon him with a sword armed, an angel of the Lord called him, saying, 'Abraham, do not lay your hand upon the lad, nor do anything evil to him; for now I have known that you fear God and you have not withheld your only beloved son from me' (Gen 22:12).

Then, after a ram was found for the sacrifice instead of Isaac, and the sacrifice was completed by Abraham—the intention being through the boy, but the slaughter through the ram—he says, 'an angel of the Lord called him a second time from heaven, saying: I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, because you have done this thing and you have not withheld your beloved son from me; surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea; and all the nations shall be blessed in you, because you obeyed my voice' (Gen 22:16-18).

Neither the Father nor even a ministering angel was the one swearing. For a minister does not swear by himself, nor bless, nor say, 'I will not withhold your beloved son from me'; nor does he dare to turn away the sacrifice being brought to God, nor does he have the authority to offer it again.

But it was the only-begotten God, the Word, who sought the sacrifice, granting the only-begotten to Abraham, as Paul explains writing to the Hebrews thus: 'For God, having promised to Abraham'—which he both promised and did—'since he had nothing greater by which to swear, he swore by himself, saying: Surely blessing I will bless you' (Heb 6:13-14). And to the Romans he explains again, the one swearing by himself: 'For we shall all be presented at the judgment seat of Christ, as it is written: I live, says the Lord, that every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God' (Rom 14:10-11). And the sitting at the right hand of the...

Yet, the Evangelist uses the term 'bosom' appearing to the Son to signify that it is the Father's bosom, unless it signifies the same and of equal nature, and that he is to be worshipped along with the Father and His Spirit, the only-begotten God and Son; but—according to human standards, for one must not receive the words written concerning God as if they were human—the one at the right hand is greater and more glorious than them, possessing the divine, unapproachable bosom like a many-eyed cherubic throne. May such a thing never be said regarding the most inexpressible and serene Trinity.

For David sang concerning the Father in Psalm 110: 'The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand' (Psalm 110:1). And Paul explains to the Hebrews: 'who, being the radiance of the Father's glory and the imprint of His essence, bearing all things by the word of His power, having made cleansing of sins, sat at the right hand of Majesty in the highest places' (Hebrews 1:3). And the Evangelist says: 'the only-begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father' (John 1:18).

Similarly, theology concerning the Son states that 'in Him dwells all the fullness of deity' (Colossians 2:9) and that He is 'great God' and 'over all,' 'by whom no other is counted,' 'true God,' 'eternal life,' 'sole Lord,' 'sole wonder-worker,' 'most high,' 'King,' 'Authority,' 'Christ in all in all,' and the rest. These things suffice regarding these matters; yet the mystics of the divine, desiring even more regarding the most provident Trinity, theologize about the Son just as they do about the Father, saying that 'in Him dwells all the fullness of deity' (Colossians 2:9) and that He is 'great God' and 'over all,' 'by whom no other is counted,' 'true God,' 'eternal life,' 'the true light,' 'sole Lord,' 'sole most high,' 'sole wonder-worker,' 'great King,' and 'Lord of all.'