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Chapter 22. Texts explained; sixthly, the context of Proverbs viii. 22.
viz. 22-30.

1. BUT since the heretics, reading the following verse [Note 1], take a perverse view of it as well as the preceding, because it is written, He founded Me before the world [Prov. viii. 22.], namely, that this is said of the Godhead of the Word and not of His incarnate Presence [Note 2], it is necessary, explaining this verse also, to shew their error.

§ 73.

2. It is written, The Lord in Wisdom hath founded the earth [Prov. iii. 19.]; if then by Wisdom the earth is founded, how can He who founds be founded? nay, this too is said after the manner of proverbs [Note 3], and we must in like manner investigate its sense; that we may know that, while by Wisdom the Father frames and founds the earth to be firm and stedfast [Note 4], Wisdom Itself is founded for us, that It may become beginning and foundation of our new creation and renewal. Accordingly here as before, He says not, "Before the world He hath made Me Word or Son," lest there should be as if a beginning of His making. For this we must seek before all things, whether He is Son [Note 5], and on this point specially search the Scriptures [Note A]; for this it was, when the Apostles were questioned, {386} that Peter answered, saying, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God [Matt. xvi. 16.]. This also the father [Note 6] of the Arian heresy asked one of his first questions; If Thou be the Son of God [Matt. iv. 3.]; for he knew that this is the truth and the sovereign principle [Note 7] of our faith; and that, if He were himself the Son, the tyranny of the devil would have its end; but if He were a creature, He too was one of those descended from that Adam whom he deceived, and he had no cause for anxiety. For the same reason the Jews of the day [Note 8] were angered, because the Lord said that He was Son of God, and that God was His proper Father. For had He called Himself one of the creatures, or said, "I am a work," they had not been startled at the intelligence, nor thought such words blasphemy, knowing, as they did, that Angels too had come among their fathers; but since He called Himself Son, they perceived that such was not the note of a creature, but of Godhead and of the Father's nature [Note 9]. The Arians then ought, even in imitation of their own father [Note 6] the devil, to take some special pains [Note 10] on this point; and if He had said, "He founded Me to be Word or Son," then to think as they do; but if He has not so spoken, not to invent for themselves what is not.

§ 74.

3. For He says not, "Before the world He founded Me as Word or Son," but simply, He founded Me, to shew again, as I have said, that not for His own sake [Note 11] but for those who are built upon Him does He here also speak, after the way of proverbs. For this knowing, the Apostle also writes, Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is {387} Jesus Christ; but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon [1 Cor. iii. 10, 11.] [Note 12]. And it must be that the foundation should be such as the things built on it, that they may admit of being well compacted together. Being then the Word, He has not, a far as Word [Note 13], any such as Himself, who may be compacted with Him; for He is Only-begotten; but having become man, He has the like of Him, those namely the likeness of whose flesh He has put on. Therefore according to His manhood He is founded, that we, as precious stones, may admit of building upon Him, and may become a temple of the Holy Ghost who dwelleth in us. And as He is a foundation, and we stones built upon Him, so again He is a Vine and we knit to Him as branches,—not according to the Substance of the Godhead; for this surely is impossible; but according to His manhood, for the branches must be like the vine, since we are like Him according to the flesh.

4. Moreover, since the heretics have such human notions, we may suitably confute them with human resemblances contained in the very matter they urge. Thus He saith not, "He hath made Me a foundation," lest He might seem to be made and to have a beginning of being, and they might thence find a shameless occasion of irreligion; but, He hath founded Me. Now what is founded is founded for the sake of the stones which are raised upon it; it is not a random [Note 14] process, but a stone is first transported from the mountain and set down in the depth of the earth. And while a stone is in the mountain, it is not yet founded; but when need demands, and it be transported, and laid in the depth of the earth, then forthwith if the stone could speak, it would say, "Now he has founded me, who has brought me hither from the mountain." Therefore the Lord also, did not when founded take a beginning of existence; for He was the Word before that; but when He put on our body, which He severed [Note 15] and took from Mary, then He says He hath founded Me; as much as to say, "Me, being the Word, He hath enveloped in a body of earth." For so He is founded for our sakes, taking on Him what is ours [Note 16], that we, as incorporated and compacted and bound together in Him through the likeness of the flesh, may attain unto a perfect man, and abide [Note 17] immortal and incorruptible. {388}

§ 75.

5. Nor let the words before the world and before He made the earth and before the mountains were settled disturb any one; for they very well accord with founded and created; for here again allusion is made to the Economy according to the flesh. For though the grace which has come to us from the Saviour has lately appeared, as the Apostle says, and took place when He came among us; yet this grace had been prepared even before we came into being, nay, before the foundation of the world, and the reason why, is excellent and wonderful. It beseemed not that God should counsel concerning us afterwards, lest He should appear ignorant of our fate. The God of all [Note 18] then, creating us by His proper Word, and knowing our destinies better than we, and foreseeing that, being made good, we should in the event be transgressors of the commandment, and be thrust out of paradise for disobedience, being loving and kind, prepared beforehand in His proper Word, by whom also He created us [Note 19], the Economy of our salvation; that though by the serpent's deceit we fell from Him, we might not remain altogether dead, but having in the Word the redemption and salvation which was afore prepared for us, we might rise again and abide immortal, what time He should have been created for us a beginning of the ways, and He who was the First-born of creation should become first-born of the brethren, and again should rise first-fruits of the dead.

6. This Paul the blessed Apostle teaches in his writings; for, as interpreting the words of the Proverbs before the world and before the earth was, he thus speaks to Timothy [Note 20]; Be partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God, who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and brought to light life [2 Tim. i. 8-10.]. And to the Ephesians; Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us to the adoption of children {389} by Jesus Christ to Himself [Eph. i. 3-5.]. § 76. How then has He chosen us, before we came into existence, but that, as he says himself, in Him we were represented [Note 21] beforehand? and how at all, before men were created, did He predestinate us unto adoption, but that the Son Himself was founded before the world, taking on Him that economy which was for our sake? or how, as the Apostle goes on to say, have we an inheritance being predestinated, but that the Lord Himself was founded before the world, inasmuch as He had a purpose, for our sakes, to take on Him through the flesh all that inheritance of judgment which lay against us, and we henceforth were made sons in Him? and how did we receive it before the world was, when we were not yet in being, but afterwards in time, but that in Christ was stored the grace which has reached us? Wherefore also in the Judgment, when every one shall receive according to his conduct, He says, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world [Matt. xxv. 34.]. How then, or in whom, was it prepared before we came to be, save in the Lord who before the world was founded for this purpose; that we, as built upon Him, might partake, as well-compacted stones, the life and grace which is from Him?

7. And this took place, as naturally suggests itself to the religious mind, that, as I said, we, rising after our brief death, may be capable of an eternal life, of which we had not been capable [Note B], men as we are, formed of earth, but that {390} before the world there had been prepared for us in Christ the hope of life and salvation. Therefore reason is there that the Word, on coming into our flesh, and being created in it as a beginning of ways for His works, is laid as a foundation according as the Father's will [Note 22] was in Him before the world, as has been said, and before land was, and before the mountains were settled, and before the fountains burst forth; that, though the earth and the mountains and the shapes of visible nature pass away in the fulness of the present age, we on the contrary may not grow old after their pattern, but may be able to live after them, having the spiritual life and blessing which before these things have been prepared for us in the Word Himself according to election. For thus we shall be capable of a life not temporary, but ever afterwards abide [Note 23] and live in Christ; since even before this our life had been founded and prepared in Christ Jesus.

§ 77.

8. Nor in any other way was it fitting that our life should be founded, but in the Lord who is before the ages, and through whom the ages were brought to be; that, since it was in Him, we too might be able to inherit that everlasting life. For God is good; and being good always, He willed this, as knowing that our weak nature needed the succour and salvation which is from Him. And as a wise architect, proposing to build a house, consults also about repairing it, should it at any time become dilapidated after building, and, as counselling about this, makes preparation and gives to the workmen materials for a repair; and thus the means of the repair are provided before the house; in the same way prior to us is the repair of our salvation founded in Christ, that in Him also we might be new-created. And the will and the proposal were ready before the world; but the work took place, when the need required, and the Saviour came among us. For the Lord Himself will stand us in place of all things in the heavens, when He receives us into everlasting life.

9. This then suffices to prove that the Word of God is not a creature, but that the doctrine of the passage is concordant with orthodoxy [Note 24]. But since that passage, when scrutinized, {391} has an orthodox sense in every point of view, it may be well to state what it is; perhaps many words may bring these senseless men to shame. Now here I must recur to what has been said before, for what I have to say relates to the same proverb and the same Wisdom. The Word has not called Himself a creature by nature, but has said in proverbs, The Lord created Me; and He plainly indicates a sense not spoken plainly but latent [Note 25], such as we shall be able to find by taking away the veil from the proverb. For who, on hearing from the Framing Wisdom, The Lord created Me a beginning of His ways, does not at once question the meaning, reflecting how that creative Wisdom can be created? who on hearing the Only-begotten Son of God say, that He was created a beginning of ways, does not investigate the sense, wondering how the Only-begotten Son can become a Beginning of many others? for it is a dark saying [Note 26]; but a man of understanding, says he, shall understand a proverb and the interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings [Prov. i. 5, 6].

§ 78.

10. Now the Only-begotten and very Wisdom [Note 27] of God is Creator and Framer of all things; for in Wisdom hast Thou made them all, he says, and the earth is full of Thy creation [Ps. civ. 24. Sept.]. But that what came into being, might not only be, but be good [Note 28], it pleased God that His own Wisdom should condescend [Note 29] to the creatures, so as to introduce an impress and semblance [Note 30] of Its Image on all in common and on each, that what was made might be manifestly wise works and worthy of God [Note C]. For as of the Son of God, considered as the Word, our word is an image, so of the same Son considered as Wisdom is the wisdom which is implanted in us an image; in which wisdom we, having the power of knowledge and thought, become recipients of the All-framing Wisdom; and {392} through It we are able to know Its Father. For he who hath the Son, saith He, hath the Father also [vid. 1 John ii. 23.]; and He that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me [Mat. x. 40.]. Such an impress then of Wisdom being created in us, and being in all the works, with reason does the true and framing Wisdom take to Itself what belongs to its own impress, and say, The Lord created Me for His works; for what the wisdom in us says, that the Lord Himself speaks as if it were His own; and, whereas He is not Himself created, being Creator, yet because of the image of Him created in the works [Note D], He says this as if of Himself. And as the Lord Himself has said, He that receiveth you, receiveth Me [Mat. x. 40], because His impress is in us, so, though He be not among the creatures, yet because His image and impress is created in the works, He says, as if in His own person, The Lord created Ale a beginning of His ways for His works. And therefore has this impress of Wisdom in the works been brought into being, that, as I said before, the world might recognise in it its own Creator the Word, and through Him the Father. And this is what Paul said, Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shewed it unto them: for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made [Rom. i. 19, 20.]. But if so, the Word is not a creature in substance [Note 31]; but the wisdom which is in us and so called, is spoken of in this passage in the Proverbs. {393}

§ 79.

11. But if this too fails to persuade them, let them tell us themselves, whether there is any wisdom in the creatures or not [Note 32]? If not, how is it that the Apostle complains, For after that in the Wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God? [1 Cor. i. 21.] or how is it if there is no wisdom, that a multitude of wise men [vid. Wisd. vi. 26.] are found in Scripture? for a wise man feareth and departeth from evil [Prov. xiv. 16.]; and through wisdom is a house builded [Prov. xxiv. 3.]; and the Preacher says, A man's wisdom maketh his face to shine; and he blames those who are headstrong thus, Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this [Eccles. viii. 1; vii. 10.]. But if, as the Son of Sirach says, He poured her out upon all His works; she is with all flesh according to His gift, and He hath given her to them that love Him [Ecclus. i. 9, 10.], and this outpouring is a note, not of the Substance of the Very [Note 33] Wisdom and Only-begotten, but of that wisdom which is imaged in the world, how is it incredible that the All-framing and true Wisdom Itself, whose impress is the wisdom and knowledge poured out in the world, should say, as I have already explained, as if of Itself, The Lord hath created Me for His works?

12. For the wisdom in the world is not creative, but is that which is created in the works, according to which the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handywork [Ps. xix. 1.]. This if men have within them [Note E], they will acknowledge the true Wisdom of God; and will know that they are made really [Note 34] after God's image. And, as some son of a king, when the father wished to build a city [Note F], might cause his own {394} name to be printed upon each of the works that were rising, both to give security to them of the works remaining, by reason of the show [Note 35] of his name on every thing, and also to make them remember him and his father from the name, and having finished the city might be asked concerning it, how it was made, and then would answer, "It is made securely, for according to the will of my father, I am imaged in every work, for there is a creation of my name in the works;" but saying this, he does not signify that his own substance is created, but the impress [Note 36] of himself by means of his name; in the same manner, to apply the illustration, to those who admire the wisdom in the creatures, the true Wisdom makes answer, The Lord hath created Me for the works, for My impress is in them; and I have thus condescended [Note 37] for the framing of all things.

§ 80.

13. Moreover, that the Son should be speaking of the impress that is within us as if it were Himself, should not startle any one, considering (for we must not care about repetition [Note G]) that, when Saul was persecuting the Church, in which was His impress and image, He said, as if He were Himself under persecution, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? [Acts ix. 4.] Therefore, (as has been said,) as, supposing the impress itself of Wisdom which is in the works had said, The Lord hath created Me for the works, no one would have been startled, so, if He, the True and Framing Wisdom, the Only-begotten Word of God, should use what belongs to His image as about Himself, namely, The Lord hath created Me for the works, let no one, overlooking the wisdom created in the world and in the works, think that He created is said of the Substance of the Very [Note 38] Wisdom, lest, diluting the wine with water [Note 39], he be judged a defrauder of the truth. For It is Creator and Framer; but Its impress is created in the works, as the copy of an image. {395}

14. And He says, Beginning of ways, since such wisdom becomes a sort of beginning, and, as it were, rudiments [Note 40] of the knowledge of God; for a man entering, as it were, upon this way first, and keeping it in the fear of God, (as Soloman says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom [Prov. i. 7. Sept.],) then advancing upwards in his thoughts and perceiving the Framing Wisdom which is in the creation, will perceive in It also Its Father [Note H], as the Lord Himself has said, He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father [John xiv. 9.], and as John writes, He who acknowledgeth the Son, hath the Father also [1 John ii. 23.] [Note 41]. And He says, Before the world hath He founded Me, since in its impress the works remain settled [Note 42] and eternal. Then, lest any, hearing concerning the wisdom thus created in the works, should think the true Wisdom, God's Son, to be by nature a creature, He has found it necessary to add, Before the mountains, and before the earth, and before the waters, and before all hills He begets Me [Prov. viii. 24-26.], that in saying, "before all creation," (for He includes all the creation under these heads,) He may shew that He is not created together with the works according to Substance. For if He was created for the works, yet is before them, it follows that He is in being before He was created. He is not then a creature by nature and substance, but as He himself has added, an Offspring. But in what differs a creature from an offspring, and how it is distinct by nature, has been shewn in what has gone before.

§ 81.

15. But since He proceeds to say, When He prepared the heaven, I was present with Him [Prov. viii. 27.], we ought to know that He says not this as if without Wisdom the Father prepared the heaven or the clouds above, (for there is no room to doubt that all things are created in Wisdom, and without It was made not even one thing;) but this is what He says, "All things took place in Me and through Me, and when there was need that Wisdom should be created in the works, {396} in my Substance indeed I was with the Father, but by a condescension [Note I] to things generate, I was disposing over the works My own impress, so that the whole world as being in one body, might not be at variance but in concord with itself." All those then who with an upright understanding, according to the wisdom given unto them, come to contemplate the creatures, are able to say for themselves, "By Thy appointment all things continue;" [vid. Ps. cxix. 91.] but they who make light of this, must be told, Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools; for that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has revealed it unto them; for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal Power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, but served the creature more than the Creator of all, who is blessed for ever. Amen. [Rom. i. 19-25.]

16. And they will feel some compunction surely at the words, For, after that in the wisdom of God, (in the mode we have explained above,) the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe [1 Cor. i. 21.]. For no longer, as in the former times, God has willed to be known by an image and shadow of wisdom, that namely which is in the creatures, but He has made the true Wisdom Itself to take flesh, and to become man, and to undergo the death of the cross; that by the faith in Him, henceforth all that believe may obtain salvation. However, it is the same Wisdom of God, which through Its own Image in the creatures, (whence also It is said to be created,) first manifested Itself, and through Itself Its own Father; and afterwards, being Itself the Word, It became flesh [John i. 14.], as John says, and after abolishing death and saving our race, still more revealed Himself, and through Him His own Father, saying, Grant unto them that they may know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent [John i. 14.].

§ 82.

17. Hence the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of Him; for the knowledge of Father through Son and of Son {397} from Father is one and the same, and the Father delights in Him, and in the same joy the Son rejoices in the Father saying, I was by Him, daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him [Prov. viii. 30.]. And this again proves that the Son is not foreign, but proper to the Father's Substance. For behold, not because of us has He come to be, as the irreligious men say, nor is He out of nothing, (for not from without did God procure for Himself a cause of rejoicing [Note 43],) but the words denote what is proper and like. When then was it, when the Father rejoiced not? but if He ever rejoiced, He was ever, in whom He rejoiced. And in whom does the Father rejoice, except as seeing Himself in His proper Image, which is His Word? And though in sons of men also He had delight, on finishing the world, as it is written in these same Proverbs, yet this too has a consistent sense. For even thus He had delight, not as if joy came upon Him, but again as seeing the works made after His own Image; so that even this rejoicing of God is on account of His Image. And how too has the Son delight, except as seeing Himself in the Father? for this is the same as saying, He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father, and I am in the Father and the Father in Me [John xiv. 9, 10.].

18. Vain then is your vaunt as is on all sides shewn, O Christ's enemies, and vainly do ye preach [Note K] and circulate every where your text, The Lord hath created Me a beginning of His ways, perverting its sense, and publishing, not Solomon's meaning, but your own comment [Note 44]. For behold your sense is proved to be but a fantasy; but the passage in the Proverbs, as well as all that is above said, proves that the Son is not a creature in nature and substance, but the proper Offspring of the Father, true Wisdom and Word, by whom all things were made, and without Him was made not one thing [John i. 3.].

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Footnotes

A. vid. supr. p. 57, note L. p. 60, note C. vid. also Serap. i. 32 init. iv, fin. contr. Apoll. i. 6, 8, 9, 11, 22. ii. 8, 9, 13, 14, 17-19. "The doctrine of the Church should be proved, not announced, ([apodeiktikos ouk apophantikos];) therefore shew that Scripture thus teaches." Theod. Eran. p. 199. "We have borne the rule of doctrines ([kanona]) out of divine Scripture." ibid. p. 213. "Do not believe me, let Scripture be recited. I do not say of myself 'In the beginning was the Word,' but I hear it; I do not invent, but I read; what we all read, but not all understand." Ambros. de Incarn. 14. Non recipio quod extra Scripturam de tuo infers. Tertull. Carn. Christ. 7. vid. also 6. "You departed from inspired Scripture and therefore didst fall from grace." Max. dial. v. 29. Heretics in particular professed to be guided by Scripture. Tertull. Præscr. 8. For Gnostics vid. Tertullian's grave sarcasm. " Utantur hæretici omnes scripturis ejus, cujus utuntur etiam mundo." Carn. Christ. 6. For Arians, vid. supr. p. 178, note C. And so Marcellus, "We consider it unsafe to lay down doctrine concerning things which we have not learned with exactness from the divine Scriptures." (leg. [peri hon … para ton].) Euseb. Eccl. Theol. p. 177, d. And Macedonians, vid. Leont. de Sect. iv. init. And Monophysites, "I have not learned this from Scripture; and I have a great fear of saying what it is silent about." Theod. Eran. p. 215. S. Hilary brings a number of these instances together with their respective texts, Marcellus, Photinus, Sabellius, Montanus, Manes; then he continues, "Omnes Scripturas sine Scripturæ sensu loquuntur, et fidem sine fide prætendunt. Scriptura enim non in legendo sunt, sed in intelligendo, neque in prævaricatione sunt sed in caritate." ad Const. ii. 9. vid. also Heiron. c. Lucif. 27. August. Ep. 120, 13.
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B. The Catholic doctrine seems to be, that Adam innocent was mortal, yet would not in fact have died; that he had no principle of eternal life within him, but was sustained continually by divine power, till such time as immortality should have been given him. vid. Incarn. 4, a. b. "If God accorded to the garments and shoes of the Israelites," says S. Augustine, "that they should not wear out during so many years, how is it strange that to man obedient His power should be accorded, that, whereas his body was animal and mortal, it was so constituted as to become aged without decay, and at such time as God willed might pass without the intervention of death from mortality to immortality? For as the flesh itself, which we now bear, is not therefore invulnerable, because it may be preserved from wounding, so Adam's was not therefore not mortal, because he was not bound to die. Such a habit even of their present animal and mortal body I suppose was granted also to them who have been translated thence without death; for Enoch and Elias too have through so long a time been preserved from the decay of age." de pecc. mer. i. 3. Adam's body, he says elsewhere, "mortale quia poterat mori, immortale quia poterat non mori;" and he goes on to say that immortality was given him "de ligno vitæ non de constitutione naturæ." Gen. ad lit. vi. 20. This doctrine came into the controversy with Baius, and Pope Pius V. condemned the assertion, Immortalitas primi hominis non erat gratiæ beneficium sed naturalis conditio. His decision of course is here referred to only historically.
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C. Didymus argues in favour of interpreting the passage of created wisdom at length, Trin. iii. 3. He says that the context makes this interpretation necessary, as speaking of "the fear of God" being the "beginning" of it, of "doing it," and of "kings and rulers" reigning by means of it. Again it is said that wisdom was with the Creator who was Himself the Son and Word. "The Son and Word, the Framer of all, who was all-knowing and powerful from the beginning, long-suffering and waiting for repentance in the unrighteous and wrong-thinking multitude, when He had finished all, delighted in wisdom which was in the creatures and was glad in it, rejoicing in His own work." p. 336. He contrasts with this the more solemn style used by the sacred writer when he speaks of the Uncreated Wisdom; [hyperphuos kai hosper hyp' ekplexeos thaumazon anaphthengetai], e.g. Prov. xxx. 3.
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D. As Athan. here considers wisdom as the image of the Creator in the Universe, so elsewhere he explains it of the Church, de Incarn. contr. Ar. 6. if it be his; (and so Didym. Trin. iii. 3 fin.) but the interpretation is very much the same as his own, supr. 56. S. Jerome applies it to the creation of the new man in holiness, "'Put ye on Christ Jesus;' for He is the new man, in whom all we believers ought to be clad and attired. For what was not new in the man which was taken on Him by our Saviour? He rather who can imitate His conversation and bring out in himself all virtues, he has put on the new man, and can say with the Apostle, 'Not I, but Christ liveth in me.' In great deeds and works the word 'creation" is used. The new man is the great work of God, and excels all other creatures, since he is said to be framed, as the world is said, and is created the beginning of God's ways, and in the commencement of all the elements." in Eph. iv. 23, 24. Naz alludes to the interpretation of Wisdom being the plan, system, or laws of the Universe. Orat. 30, 2. though he does not so explain it himself. Epiphanius says, "Scripture has no where confirmed this passage, (Prov. vii. 22.) nor has any Apostle referred it to Christ." (vid. also Basil. contr. Eunom. ii. 20.) He adds, "How many wisdoms of God are there, improperly so called! but One Wisdom is the Only-begotten, not improperly so called, but in truth ... The very word 'wisdom' does not oblige me to speak of the Son of God." Hær. 69. pp. 743-745. He proceeds to show how it may apply to Him.
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E. Athan. speaks, contr. Gent, of man "having the grace of the Giver, and his own virtue from the Father's Word;" of the mind "seeing the Word, and in Him the Word's Father also," 2; of "the way to God being, not as God Himself, above us and far off, or external to us, but in us," 30, &c. &c. vid. also Basil. de Sp. S. n. 19. "Rational creatures, receiving light, enlighten by imparting principles which are poured from their own mind into another intellect; and such an illumination may be justly called teaching rather than revelation. But the Word of God enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world, not in the way of a teacher, as for instance Angels do or men, but rather as God in the way of a Framer doth He sow in each whom He calls into being the seed of Wisdom, that is of divine knowledge, and implant a root of understanding," &c. Cyril. in Joan. p. 75. Athan. speaks of this seed somewhat differently elsewhere as a natural instinct in the world in contrast to the Word by whom it is imparted. He calls it "a reason combined and connatural with every thing that came into being, which some are wont to call seminal, inanimate indeed and unreasoning and unintelligent, but operating only by external art according to the science of Him who sowed it." contr. Gent. 40.
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F. This is drawn out somewhat differently, and very strikingly in contr. Gent. 43. The Word indeed is regarded more as the Governor than the Life of the world, but He is said, §. 43, [ho paradoxopoios kai thaumatopoios tou theou logos photizon kai zoopoion … ekastoi ten idian energeian apodidous], &c. 44. Shortly before he spoke of the Word as the Principle of permanence. 41 fin.
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G. [to auto gar legein ouk okneteon]: where Petavius, de Trin. ii. 1. §. 8. ingeniously but without any authority reads [ouk oknei theon]; and most gratuitously too, for it is quite a peculiarity of Athan. to repeat and to apologize for doing so. The very same words occur supr. 22, c. Orat. iii. 54, a. Serap. i. 19, b. 27, e. Vid. also 2, c. 41, d. 67, a. 69, b. iii. 39 init. vid. especially Incarn. 20 d.
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H. The whole of this passage might be illustrated at great length from the contr. Gent, and the Incarn. V. D. vid. supr. notes on 79. "The soul as in a mirror contemplates the Word the Image of the Father, and in Him considers the Father, whose Image the Saviour is ... or if not ... yet from the things that are seen, the creation as by letters signifying and heralding its Lord and Maker by means of its order and harmony." Gent. 34. "As by looking up to the heaven ... we have an idea of the Word who set it in order, so considering the Word of God, we cannot but see God His Father." 45. And Incarn. 11, 41, 42, &c. Vid. also Basil. contr. Eunom. ii. 16.
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I. Here again, as in former passages, the [sunkatabasis] has no reference whatever to a figurative [gennesis], as Bishop Bull contends, but to His impressing the image of Wisdom on the works, or what He above calls the Son's image, on which account He is [prototokos].
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K. [enepompeusate]. The ancients said [pompeuein] 'to use bad language,' and the coarse language of the procession, [pompeia]. This arose from the custom of persons in the Bacchanalian cars using bad language towards bystanders, and their retorting it." Erasm. Adag. p. 1158. He quotes Menander,

[epi ton amaxon eisi pomeiai tines
sphodra loidoroi].

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Margin Notes

1. [stichon].
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2. [ensarkos parousia] p. 252, note G.
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3. p. 342, note B.
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4. [diamenein], p. 380, r. 1.
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5. p. 342, r. 1. Serap. ii. 7, 8.
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6. Ep. Æg. 4. Sent. D. 3. c. infr. 59. init. 67. fin. note infr. on iii. 8.
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7. [to kurion].
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8. [oi tote], p. 384, r. 1.
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9. [patriken], vid. supr. p. 145, note R.
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10. [periergazesthai], vid. iii. 18.
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11. p. 366, r. 2.
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12. Didym. Trin. iii. 3. p. 341.
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13. [hei logos estin], p. 291, note L.
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14. [haplos].
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15. [tmethen].
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16. Epict. 6. a. Leon. Ep. 28. 3.
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17. [diameinomen], p. 380, r. 1.
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18. [ho ton holon th.]
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19. p. 251, note F.
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20. Didym. Trin. iii. 3. p. 342.
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21. pp. 272, 3. notes R and S.
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22. p. 324, note C.
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23. p. 387, r. 6.
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24. p. 341, note I.
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25. p. 343.
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26. [ainigma], supr. p. 238, note E.
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27. [auto sophia]. vid. infr. note on iv. 2.
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28. supr. p. 32, note Q.
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29. p. 372, note Q. p. 373, note S.
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30. [tupon, phantasian].
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31. p. 345, note G.
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32. vid. Epiph. Hær. 69. p. 744.
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33. [autosophias], vid. p. 391, r. 3. note on Orat. iv. 2.
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34. [ontos], vid. p. 56, note K.
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35. [phantasian].
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36. [tupon].
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37. [sunkateben].
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38. [autosophias], p. 393, r. 1.
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39. infr. iii. 35. Ep. Æg. § 17. Ambros. de Fid. iii. 65.
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40. [stoicheiosis].
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41. 1 John ii. 23. and so Cyril in Joan. P. 864. vid. Wetstein in loc.
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42. [hedraia].
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43. [charas poietikon].
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44. [dianoian, epinoian], supr. p. 255, note N.
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Newman Reader — Works of John Henry Newman
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