The Logos before and after Incarnation
God is known only through the Son; He said, "No one knows the Father except the Son, and whomever the Son shall reveal to Him" (Matthew 11:27). For since it was impossible to know God in any other way, He teaches men to know Him through His own Word, so that even he the critic fails to know accurately the Father and the Word of the latter. Therefore, let one learn that the Word of God has come—not a word named improperly, as they claim, but a Word existing truly.
It is not a word named improperly, even if those teaching falsely tear the truth apart by lying, but a Word existing principally and truly. [...] Among those teaching them, as if ashamed to remember the Word, which in this way all divine Scriptures proclaim. For David says about Him, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established" (Psalm 8:3), and again, "He sent out His word and healed them" (Psalm 18:1). And Solomon says, "Evil men will seek me, and will not find me. For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the word of the Lord" (Proverbs 8:12). And Isaiah says, "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). And again Jeremiah says, "The wise have been defiled, and they have been foolish, and they have fallen, because they rejected the word of the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:29). And the prophet Hosea says, "They have hated Him in the gates while rebuking, and they have loathed a holy word" (Hosea 8:12). And Micah similarly, remembering the Word, says, "Out of Zion shall go forth law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Micah 4:2).
Indeed, before the descent and being born of a virgin, there was only the Word. For what else was there before the one who descended "in the last days" (Hebrews 1:2), and having been born of a virgin, took upon himself flesh? There was nothing else but the Word.
It is quite so, then, that before the descent this was the case, as we have often said: the Word. But after the descent and the assumption of flesh, it has encountered various objections, since "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14).
For what other mystery was hidden than that concerning the Word? It was thus hidden 'in God'; this mystery was prior, so that no one of the former people was to know clearly the things concerning the Word, but we now enjoy the wealth of 'the glory' and the hidden mystery.
The holy apostle John, both disciple and student of the Lord, clearly and explicitly teaches at the beginning of the Gospel, as something previously unknown among men, naming it the Word of the Pantokrator, thus saying, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1). He employs more than one witness to signify the eternity of the Word. In saying 'In the beginning was the Word', he shows by power that the Word is in the Father (for God is the beginning of all things 'from whom all things are') cf. Rom 11:36; and in 'and the Word was with God', he shows the Word to be with God in activity ('for all things were made through him, and without him not one thing was made' John 1:3); and in 'the Word was God', he says not to divide the divinity, since the Word is in Him and He is in the Word; for he says, 'the Father is in me, and I in the Father' (John 14:10).
Thus you hear the harmony of the Holy Spirit, testifying to the eternity of the Word through many and diverse persons. Because of this, he begins from the eternity of the Word, saying 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1). Using three successive witnesses, he intends to demonstrate the eternity of the Word.
What then was this thing that descended before the incarnation? He says certainly: a spirit. For if he wished to say anything other than this, the angel who spoke to the virgin would not permit him, saying 'the Holy Spirit will come upon you' (Luke 1:35). But if he says it is a spirit, let him hear the Savior saying 'Spirit is God' (1 John 5:20). Yet it seems that the Father is in the Word, even if it does not seem so to Asterius and to those who think the same as him. For this seems to the prophetic prophet Isaiah,
Greek
μόνου γινώσκεται ὁ θεός, ἔλεγεν "οὐδεὶς ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ᾧ ἂν ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ". ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀδύνατον ἦν ἑτέρως γνῶναι τὸν θεόν, διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου λόγου εἰδέναι αὐτὸν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους διδάσκει, ὥστε ἐσφάλη μὲν κἀκεῖνος μὴ τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν τούτου λόγον ἀκριβῶς γνούς. 45 καὶ μανθανέτω τοίνυν θεοῦ λόγον ἐληλυθέναι, οὐ λόγον καταχρηστικῶς ὀνομασθέντα, ὡς αὐτοί φασιν, ἀλλ' ἀληθῆ ὄντα λόγον. 46 οὐ καταχρηστικῶς λόγος ὀνομασθείς, κἂν διαρραγῶσιν οἱ ἑτεροδιδασκαλοῦντες ψευδόμενοι, ἀλλὰ κυρίως τε καὶ ἀληθῶς ὑπάρχων λόγος. 47 * * * * * τῶν δὲ διδασκόντων αὐτοὺς ὥσπερ αἰδουμένων μεμνῆσθαι τοῦ λόγου, ὃν οὕτω πᾶσαι αἱ θεῖαι κηρύττουσιν γραφαί. ∆αυὶδ μὲν γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγει "τῷ λόγῳ κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν", αὖθίς τε ὁ αὐτὸς "ἐξαπέστειλεν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτούς". Σολομὼν δὲ "ζητήσουσίν με κακοί, καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσουσιν. ἐμίσησαν γὰρ σοφίαν, τὸν δὲ λόγον κυρίου οὐ προείλοντο". Ἡσαΐας τε "ἐκ γὰρ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεται" ἔφη "νόμος, καὶ λόγος κυρίου ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ". καὶ αὖθις Ἱερεμίας "ᾐσχύνθησαν σοφοὶ" φησὶν "καὶ ἐπτοήθησαν καὶ ἑάλωσαν, ὅτι τὸν λόγον κυρίου ἀπεδοκίμασαν". καὶ Ὡσηὲ δὲ ὁ προφήτης "ἐμίσησαν" ἔφη "ἐν πύλαις ἐλέγχοντα, καὶ λόγον ὅσιον ἐβδελύξαντο". Μιχαίας τε ὁμοίως καὶ αὐτὸς περὶ τοῦ λόγου μνημονεύων "ἐκ Σιὼν" ἔφη "ἐξελεύσεται νόμος, καὶ λόγος κυρίου ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ". 48 οὐκοῦν πρὸ μὲν τοῦ κατελθεῖν καὶ διὰ τῆς παρθένου τεχθῆναι λόγος ἦν μόνον. ἐπεὶ τί ἕτερον ἦν πρὸ τοῦ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀναλαβεῖν σάρκα τὸ κατελθὸν "ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν", ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς γέγραφεν, καὶ γεννηθὲν ἐκ τῆς παρθένου; οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἦν ἢ λόγος. 49 εἰκότως οὖν πρὸ τῆς καθόδου τοῦτο ἦν, ὅπερ πολλάκις ἔφαμεν, λόγος· μετὰ δὲ τὴν κάθοδον καὶ τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς ἀνάληψιν διαφόρων καὶ τῶν ἐπηγοριῶν τετύχηκεν, ἐπειδὴ "ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο". 50 τί γὰρ ἕτερον ἦν ἀποκεκρυμμένον μυστήριον ἢ τὸ κατὰ τὸν λόγον; οὕτως δὲ ἦν ἀποκεκρυμμένον "ἐν τῷ θεῷ" τουτὶ πρότερον τὸ μυστήριον, ὥστε μηδένα τοῦ προτέρου λαοῦ σαφῶς τὰ κατὰ τὸν λόγον εἰδέναι, ἀλλ' ἡμᾶς τοῦ πλούτου "τῆς δόξης" καὶ τοῦ ἀποκεκρυμμένου μυστηρίου ἀπολαύειν νυνί. 51 ὁ δὲ ἱερὸς ἀπόστολός τε καὶ μαθητὴς τοῦ κυρίου Ἰωάννης σαφῶς καὶ διαρρήδην ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου διδάσκων, ὡς ἀγνοούμενον ἐν ἀνθρώποις πρότερον, λόγον αὐτὸν τοῦ παντοκράτορος ὀνομάζων, οὕτως ἔφη "ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος". οὐ μιᾷ μαρτυρίᾳ χρώμενος τὴν ἀιδιότητα τοῦ λόγου σημαίνει. 52 ἵν' ἐν μὲν τῷ φῆσαι "ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος" δείξῃ δυνάμει ἐν τῷ πατρὶ εἶναι τὸν λόγον (ἀρχὴ γὰρ ἁπάντων τῶν γεγονότων ὁ θεὸς "ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα"), ἐν δὲ τῷ "καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν" ἐνεργείᾳ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν εἶναι τὸν λόγον ("πάντα" γὰρ "δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν"), ἐν δὲ τῷ θεὸν εἶναι τὸν λόγον εἰρηκέναι μὴ διαιρεῖν τὴν θεότητα, ἐπειδὴ ὁ λόγος τε ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ λόγῳ· "ἐν ἐμοὶ" γάρ φησιν "ὁ πατήρ, κἀγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρί". 53 ἀκούεις τοίνυν τῆς συμφωνίας τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, διὰ πολλῶν καὶ διαφόρων προσώπων τῇ τοῦ λόγου μαρτυρούσης ἀιδιότητι. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀιδιότητος τοῦ λόγου, "ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος" λέγων "καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος". τρισὶν ἐπαλλήλοις μαρτυρίαις χρώμενος τὴν ἀιδιότητα τοῦ λόγου δεικνύναι βούλεται. 54 τί τοίνυν ἦν τὸ κατελθὸν τοῦτο πρὸ τοῦ ἐνανθρωπῆσαι; πάντως πού φησιν· πνεῦμα. εἰ γάρ τι παρὰ τοῦτο ἐθέλοι λέγειν, οὐ συγχωρήσει αὐτῷ ὁ πρὸς τὴν παρθένον εἰρηκὼς ἄγγελος "πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σέ". εἰ δὲ πνεῦμα εἶναι φήσει, ἀκουέτω τοῦ σωτῆρος λέγοντος "πνεῦμα ὁ θεός". 55 ἀλλ' ἔοικεν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ ὁ πατὴρ εἶναι, κἂν Ἀστερίῳ μὴ δοκῇ 55 καὶ τοῖς τὰ αὐτὰ ἐκείνῳ φρονοῦσιν. δοκεῖ γὰρ τοῦτο τῷ θεσπεσίῳ προφήτῃ Ἡσαΐᾳ,
About this text
Deposed in the East, cleared in Rome: fragments of the bishop who fought Arianism hardest.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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