Theological Oration 4: On the Son

Contents

Translation in progress.

Reading pages: 1–18 · 19–21

1. 1Gregory announces that he will answer, one by one, the biblical texts the Eunomians use against the Son’s Godhead.
2. 2Prov 8:22, “The Lord created me,” refers to Christ’s humanity, which has a cause, our salvation; “he begets me” refers to his uncaused Godhead.
3. 3Christ is called “servant” because of the humanity he took on; that humanity was exalted by union with God.
4. 4“He must reign until…” does not mean Christ’s reign will end; his universal kingship is endless, while his work of bringing us into subjection is completed.
5. 5Christ’s “subjection” and his cry of forsakenness express his taking our rebellion and abandonment upon himself, not any inferiority of his Godhead.
6. 6Christ’s learning obedience and his prayers belong to his servant form and are for our sake; “God all in all” describes our final perfection, not the Son’s absorption into the Father.
7. 7The Father is “greater” as the Son’s cause, while the Son is equal to him in nature.
8. 8The Father is “God” of Christ’s humanity and “Father” of the divine Word; confusing these names leads the heretics astray.
9. 9What Christ is said to “receive” belongs to his humanity, or to his Godhead by nature from the beginning.
10. 10Gregory distinguishes the many senses of “cannot” in Scripture before explaining John 5:19.
11. 11The Son cannot act apart from the Father because they share one being and authority; he does the Father’s works not by copying but with equal power.
12. 12When the Son says he came not to do his own will, he means that he has no will separate from the Father’s; they share one Godhead and one will.
13. 13“The only true God” and “no one is good but God” exclude false gods and address a questioner, not the Son; otherwise similar texts would exclude the Father.
14. 14Christ’s intercession is his continuing mediation as man, not a slavish pleading before the Father.
15. 15The Son’s not knowing the last day refers to his human nature; as God and Wisdom he knows all things.
16. 16Gregory adds that the Son’s knowledge is referred to the Father as its source, and that his obedience and sufferings concern his human nature; he turns to the Son’s titles.
17. 17God’s substance cannot be named; the best theologian gathers the fullest partial image of the truth from God’s works.
18. 18“He who is” is the most proper name of God, since it expresses being in itself, while “God” and “Lord” are relative terms.
19. 19God’s common titles express his authority or his saving plan; the proper names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit distinguish the three.
20. 20Gregory explains the Son’s divine titles, Son, Only-begotten, Word, Wisdom, Power, Truth, Image, Light, Life, Righteousness, Sanctification, Redemption, Resurrection.
21. 21Gregory explains the titles Christ bears as man, Man, Son of Man, Christ, Way, Door, Shepherd, Lamb, High Priest, Melchizedek, and closes with Heb 13:8.