On the Trinity 5–6

On what is read in the Acts of the Apostles: "Let all the house of Israel therefore know most assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

I. Among the other points of the heretics, in order that the Son of God may be believed a thing made, I have set down from the opposing party's position this too, which we read in the Acts of the Apostles, blessed Peter saying: "Let all the house of Israel therefore know most assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." But the answer to this question too is plain from the earlier exposition, in which we said that the Son of God was also made son of man. Although he cannot suffer, because he is the Son of God, being the Word and wisdom of God—for in this respect he always remains impassible, as his Father is—yet by having been made man, born of the virgin Mary, he is passible, since indeed he endured death, and the death of the cross, remaining always in himself, because God is inviolable, even while he dwells in the man and is crucified. This Jesus, then, who is according to the flesh, God made Lord and Christ. For according to his being the only-begotten Son of God, who is the Word and wisdom of God, he is not any thing made, nor awaiting promotions, since he exists in all things as perfect God, as his Father is. But this Jesus, according to the flesh, was made Christ when first that form of a servant which he had received was freed from Adam's sin. For Adam fell from lordship into slavery by committing sin: "For everyone who commits sin is a slave." But the Saviour renewed lordship much more firmly—indeed more incorruptibly—in the man he assumed, when he wiped away in him the very sin that through Adam had been the cause of base slavery. And he was made truly Lord again when the peoples believing in him subjected themselves to his lordship. For each one, roused by the exhortations of sacred Scripture, which says, "Serve the Lord in fear," now recognizing the saving lordship in Christ, says: "Will not my soul be subject to God?" To become his servant is the highest honour, and a kind of nobility surpassing the world. Therefore the apostle too writes his glory: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ." You see how he was made Lord, when even he who had persecuted him confesses him as his Lord for his own highest glory.

II. And Jesus according to the flesh was made not only Lord but also Christ. In the name of Christ the mysteries of king and priest are contained. We read in the old Scripture that priests and kings among the Israelites were marked by anointing with oil, and therefore they were called christs. For what is said in Greek "Christ" is interpreted among the Latins as "anointed" or "smeared." But our Saviour was truly made Christ according to the flesh, being true King and true Priest—the same one being both, so that nothing should be found lacking in the Saviour. Hear him, then, made king, when he says: "But I have been established king by him upon Zion, his holy mountain." Hear that he is also priest, from the testimony of the Father, saying: "You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek." Aaron was the first in the law to be made priest by the anointing of chrism; but it did not say "according to Aaron," lest it be believed that the Saviour's priesthood too could be held by succession. For the priesthood that was in Aaron rested on succession; but the priesthood of the Saviour is not passed by succession to another, since he himself continues priest perpetually, according to what is written: "You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek." The Saviour, then, according to the flesh, is both King and Priest—anointed not bodily but spiritually. For those kings and priests among the Israelites, anointed bodily with oil, were kings and priests—not one man both, but each of them either king or priest; for perfection and fullness in all things is due to Christ alone, who had come to fulfil the law. But although each of them was not both, yet, anointed bodily with royal or priestly oil, they were called christs. But the Saviour, who is truly Christ, was anointed with the Holy Spirit, so that what is written of him might be fulfilled: "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows." For in this he was anointed more than the fellows of this name, since he was anointed with the oil of gladness, by which nothing else is signified than the Holy Spirit.

III. That this is true we learn from the Saviour himself. For when he had taken the book of Isaiah and read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me," he then said that the prophecy was fulfilled in the ears of the hearers. And Peter too, the chief of the apostles, taught that the chrism by which the Saviour is shown to be Christ is the Holy Spirit—the same also the power of God—when in the Acts of the Apostles he was speaking to the most faithful and merciful (Cornelius), who was then a centurion. For among other things he says: "Beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power—he went about doing mighty works and great deeds, and freeing all who were oppressed by the devil." You see that Peter too said that this Jesus according to the flesh was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. Hence Jesus himself according to the flesh was truly made Christ, who by the anointing of the Holy Spirit was made both king and priest for ever. I have pursued these things so that it may clearly appear that Jesus the Son of God was crucified, or made Lord and Christ, not according to his being the Word and wisdom of God, but according to what he assumed from Mary—although, through the passion of the man assumed, we also say that the only-begotten Son of God suffered; not because the only-begotten Son himself, as he is the Word and wisdom of God, truly suffered, but because whatever injury or suffering was inflicted on the man he assumed is all referred, in a certain way, to the only-begotten impassible God himself. Hence the apostle Paul too, writing to the Corinthians, says: "For if they had known"—namely, the rulers of this age—"they would never have crucified the Lord of majesty." If these things are plain, it now appears how it was said, "Let all Israel therefore know most assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ"—this Jesus, namely, whom you crucified; whom the same Peter above called a man, saying: "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God among you by mighty works and wonders and signs"; this Jesus Christ, namely, whom Paul too called a man, writing to Timothy: "One God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ"; who also said in the gospel: "But now you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you."

IV. We do not say these things in favour of the impious Photinus, who wants him to be a bare man without the incarnation of the Word of God; but we recite them against Arius the antichrist, who wants the only-begotten Son himself, who is the Word and wisdom of God, to have been crucified as God and not as man, and himself to have been made Lord and Christ. But even if they contend with the hardest obstinacy, saying that it was written of the God the Word himself that God made him both Lord and Christ, not even so do we fear, confident in the truth, that because of what is written the Word of God may be believed to be a thing made. For suppose the Word of God was made Lord and Christ: what does this prejudge about his substance, by which he is always the Word of God? Notice that he did not say that the substance of the Word of God was made, but that this very Word, which is always the Son of God, was made Lord and Christ. For it is not the same thing for what did not exist at all to be made, and for what existed to be made something. For God too sometimes becomes a helper and protector; yet, because he has become helper and protector, it is not to be believed that he has also been made what God is. For Moses too, after he had experienced divine help and protection, said of God, who had helped and protected him against Pharaoh: "He has become my helper and protector for salvation"; and you will find many very similar testimonies, which I pass over so as not to lengthen this further. If, then, when God is helper and protector, it is not believed that what God is was made, but only that he is designated helper and protector, why, when they say that the Word of God was made Lord and Christ, should we think that the substance of God the Word was made? Because we read, "And the Word became flesh," is it therefore to be believed that the Word itself was made? But it is most plainly expressed that the Word which was in the beginning with God was not made; rather the Word itself, which always was, afterward became flesh, as a thing made—not that what became flesh was made. So too, then, when the Word of God is said to have been made Lord and Christ, it is not to be understood that the very substance of the Word of God was made, but that this very Word, which was always God, was made Lord and Christ.

V. He becomes Lord of those who bind themselves to him with the purpose of serving. And pardon me, most blessed Matthew, if I say that Christ, God, was not yet your Lord when you were still serving at the tax office. Indeed he first became Lord to all the apostles when, having left everything, they chose to serve him. He became Lord of the nations themselves too when, having abandoned the vain superstition of idols, the nations gave themselves to his lordship: for in so far as anyone is a slave of sin or of mammon, so far he cannot be a servant of God. When, then, someone has renounced sin and mammon, doing righteousness and rejecting the desire to possess, then Jesus becomes his Lord. By the same reasoning he is understood also to become Christ, since, as was said above, kings and priests were marked by the word "christ." The Saviour became king, then, of those who are no longer held bound by the kingdom of death, in whose mortal body sin has ceased to reign, after they learned through the divine teaching, the apostles teaching them: "Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body." And when he performs the office of priest for us, he was most truly made Christ—above all as our defender and advocate, always standing by for us, interceding also with the Father, as the only most pure priest, so that, the stain of our wrongdoing being expiated, we may be preserved by his divine propitiation. Through these things, then—that Jesus was made Christ and Lord—not so much is anything conferred on his divine substance, as provision is made for those on whom the power of his kingdom, priesthood, and lordship is conferred as a saving gift. It does not seem absurd if you understand in the same way what he says: "But I have been established king by him upon Zion, his holy mountain"; for although he is said to have been established king, yet when he added, "upon Zion, his holy mountain," it is shown that he is not speaking of that kingdom of his which he had even before he was established king upon Zion, his holy mountain. For he is king before all the ages of ages, holding together (by his power every creature he made; hence he is also) proved almighty, because he can hold together all things that have been made.

On Solomon's saying: "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works."

I. Let us touch, last of all, that question too which you added among the others: "The Lord," it says, "created me the beginning of his ways for his works." The heretic says: "You see that wisdom is a creature, and wisdom, by the interpretation of the apostle Paul, is certainly Christ. Therefore Christ, who is wisdom, is not a true son, but, made a creature, is son by adoption." This is the poison of the Arians. But oh, how blind impiety is to see what is pious! Once, as it is written, they "have hated the wisdom of the Lord and have not received the word," they see in it nothing of its most sincere beauty—just as bleary eyes have no sight of the truth, since their view reports otherwise than things truly are; and one whose own taste has been spoiled by the overflowing bitterness of his gall, if he tastes sweet honey, slanders the sweetness of the honey as bitter, not recognizing the evil of his own bitterness. But, wretched heretic, what can you see of the true light, when you are blind, or walk in the ways of darkness, devising all things of impiety? That spiritual man may cry out, inviting by the most delightful experience of the divine banquet: "Taste and see how sweet the Lord is"; but if you taste, nothing sweet is perceived by you in the Lord, because, as it is written, "the poison of asps is under your lips," because "your mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." In short, although Solomon himself proclaimed countless things about the wisdom of God, and pursued them so divinely that nothing else might be believed in it than what is in the nature of God, in all those things the blind heretic believed he saw only this, by which to prove that it is a creature. "But it is written," he says, "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works." But we will not go further afield, nor bring forward from the other books of Solomon what supports the everlasting wisdom of God. It is enough now if the opposing party is overcome from the very passage from which it brought its testimony.

II. You say, heretic, that it is written, "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works"; but notice that this same wisdom nonetheless says: "But before all the hills he begot me." How then does this same wisdom say in the same passage both that it was created and that it was begotten? We must first see which is first: that it was begotten, or that it was created. Although it said first, "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works," yet, so that you would not think it a creature, it goes back to what is prior, saying in what follows, "But before all the hills he begot me." See that you do not think it begotten later because it put first that it was created. For although in the order of the words its being created is placed first and then its being begotten, yet the sense judges that it was begotten before it was created; so that the sense of wisdom speaking is this: "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works; but lest anyone think that I am therefore a creature, or that I first began to be when he created me the beginning of his ways for his works, I go on and say: But before all the hills he begot me—so that you may know that I was begotten before I was created." For when it says, "But before all the hills he begot me," it makes its being created come afterward, so that its being begotten precedes and is earlier. If, then, it was created in such a way that it had been begotten before, the sense of impiety is excluded, by which he had called it created, so that wisdom might be believed to have first come into being when it reported that it was created by the Lord the beginning of his ways for his works. For see, the sense makes plain that wisdom existed even before it was created, since it was begotten before it was created.

III. But this catholic sense will be commended more if the very words by which wisdom reports itself begotten or created are also examined, as far as we can. "The Lord," it says, "created me the beginning of his ways for his works." Notice that when it had said, "The Lord created me," it was not silent, lest it be thought truly a creature, but goes on explaining what it was created as, and for what reason it was created. For it says, "he created me the beginning of his ways"; and when there follows, "for his works," it is plain that it shows the reasons why it was created the beginning of the Lord's ways. Wisdom, then, was not created, as though it did not exist, in order that it might exist; but, since it always existed substantially, it was then created, according to the dispensation, the beginning of the Lord's ways, and it was created for the Lord's works. Wisdom, then, was created the beginning of the Lord's ways and was created for the Lord's works; yet wisdom was not created because it did not exist substantially before. But when it says that it was begotten before all the hills, it does not say that it was begotten for the sake of anything; but, existing always as the everlasting offspring of the Father, it says that it was created for certain reasons, the beginning of the Lord's ways, that is, for the Lord's works. From this too, then, it is plain that wisdom is not a creature, which was created for something else, that is, for the Lord's works, since it was itself begotten not for works but of the Father, existing, as we said, as his everlasting offspring.

IV. And this too must be noticed: that it is one thing to say that wisdom is created and another to say that it is a creature. For although we read that wisdom was created, we nowhere read that it is a creature. For not everything that has been created must therefore be called a creature, although every creature has been created; just as not everything that has been made is to be declared a thing made, although every thing made has been made. If this seems obscure, I will make it clear by an example. We read of someone giving thanks and saying to God: "But I will sing of your power, and in the morning I will extol your mercy, because you have been made my upholder and my refuge in the day of my trouble." See, God was made upholder and refuge; yet God is not a thing made; and this is what I said: not everything that has been made is to be called a thing made. For God, who is not a thing made, who always is, was made upholder and refuge to man in the day of trouble; so that what he became—upholder and refuge to man in the day of trouble—may be seen as what he conferred; yet because he became upholder and refuge to man, God is not to be believed also a thing made, whose divine substance is everlasting. Likewise wisdom, if it is said to be created, is still not a creature, since it always is; but, while always existing, it is created for something, in order to be of use, not so as to be called a creature, as if made when it was not. For the wisdom of God was inseparable from God; and this very wisdom, existing as the everlasting offspring of God, was created the beginning of the Lord's ways.

V. But I will explain still more plainly. Certainly the wisdom of God is the same as that which is written to be the Word, as was shown above. And because it is written of the Word of God, "And the Word became flesh," do we therefore assert that the Word is a thing made, as if it first began to be when it became flesh? But it is well, since it has been shown most plainly that all things were made through the Word, and that in the last times this very Word became flesh. The Word of God, then, is not a thing made, although it is said to have become flesh; so too wisdom, although it is said to have been created the beginning of the ways and for (his) works, is still not a creature, since it is established that it is before every creature, inasmuch as all things were made in wisdom. I add this too: not everything that is said to be created is to be understood as made in its substance. In short, a certain man, seeing his heart infected with certain impurities, poured out a prayer to the Lord, saying: "Create in me a clean heart, O God"; he was certainly not praying that the substance of a heart be made in him, but that this very heart existing in him, which was unclean to him, be created clean. Not everything that is said to be created, then, is at once to be understood as made according to substance, since he was praying that the very heart that existed be created clean by the Lord. So too, when wisdom is said to be created, it is not so much that its substance was made, as though it did not exist; but, itself existing, as has often been said, it was created the beginning of the ways for his works. Understand, then, that wisdom's being created refers to the mystery either of things to be created or of the human dispensation, which the wisdom of God graciously assumed and so is said to be created; but its saying that it was begotten means that you should recognize in it nothing less of divinity than he has who begot it. For it is most impious to believe that God was ever without his wisdom. Hence, because wisdom was truly begotten of God, existing according to substance (the same) as he who begot it, and wisdom itself is Christ, therefore Christ, who is wisdom, is not son by adoption but true Son, existing as God's offspring and not a thing made.