On “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1) (complete)

Yesterday our discourse ended with the contemplation of the great eagle, the truly great eagle, who in spirit soared above heaven and the supramundane powers and began from the very summit of all things. For John proclaimed to us, “In the beginning was the Word,” and discoursed on the uncreated nature. He surpassed all creation, beyond the whole nature of the eagle, and surpassed also every sound of thunder, he alone proclaiming the eternal and supramundane philosophy. For thunder, beloved, both frightens and waters: it waters through the clouds, and it frightens and astounds by its sound. So the voice of John too is divided, watering the church and astounding the bands of the heretics. For when they say vain things, when, knowing what is, they dare to say it is not, when they marshal human speech against divine Scripture, then John cries out “was” before “was not”: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” astounding the opponents with his voice, while David bears witness and says, “At your rebuke they will flee; at the sound of your thunder they will be afraid.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” For since the begetting of the Word is impassible, he says “Word,” to teach you from what is in you the things that are above you: that just as the mind, begetting speech, does not beget by passion, is not cut, does not flow, nor undergo anything else bodily, so too the divine and impassible begetting is inexpressible and incomprehensible, not cut, not divided, but wickedly cut by the impious and unbelieving heretics and rightly united by piety. Why did the evangelist avoid this and not say, “In the beginning was the Son”? So that the name of Son might not introduce a begetting with passion; but he calls him Word, to present the impassibility of the begetting. And so that you might not think him a spoken word, he added, “And the Word was God,” so that from “Word” you might understand the impassibility, and from “God” the dignity. Then, having set forth what concerns his begetting, he introduces also the dignity of the power of creation: “All things came into being through him,” all the things that came into being; not as the children of the heretics, who dare to include the worshipful Spirit too in this word, saying, “All things came into being through him, and without him nothing came into being that came into being …” If, then, anything came into being in him, it is not the uncreated nature of the Spirit. “But it says ‘all things,’” he says. But the word “all things” does not include the uncreated nature together with the created. And if, attending to the word “all,” you have dared to attack the holy nature, what would you say when you hear the Lord saying, “All who came before me were thieves and robbers”? That Moses was a robber? For “all who came before me,” he says, “were thieves and robbers.” But the sense distinguishes both about whom the word is spoken and to whom. Here too the word is about creation, and it says that creation came into being through him, not the substance of the Spirit, which knows the things of God as the spirit of a man knows what is in him, as Paul says: “No one knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that dwells in him.” If, then, my spirit is foreign to my nature, the Spirit of God too is foreign to the nature of God. “For the Spirit,” he says, “searches all things, even the depths of God.” But the heretic hears “searches” and takes the sense wrongly. “For if the Spirit knew,” he says, “the things in God, he would not search; for the searching testifies to his ignorance.” If, then, the Spirit’s searching the depths of God brings an accusation of ignorance on him, when you see God searching the hearts of men, will you condemn him of ignorance? Hear Paul, then: as he said of the Spirit, “The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God,” so too, discoursing about God, Paul says, “He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit.” If, then, God searches in ignorance, the Spirit too searches in ignorance. But so that you may learn that searching belongs not to one who is ignorant but to one who knows, he added, “So also no one has known the things of God except the Spirit of God”; and he ascribes knowledge to the Spirit, not a comprehension gained by inquiry, but the recognition that comes from nature. Do not divide, then, the undivided nature; do not cut the indivisible substance; but rather recognize the power exactly. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are called one. For of the Father the Son says, “When you see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power”; and having said “Power,” he set forth the glory, so that you might wonder at the sense. Hence, calling the Father himself and God “Power,” when speaking with Caiaphas he said, “When you see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power.” The Father, then, is Power; and the Son too is Power, as Paul says, “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God”; and the Holy Spirit too is Power, for the Saviour says to the disciples, “Stay in Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.” Knowing, then, beloved, this like power in Father and Son and Holy Spirit, keep the faith unshaken; do not divide the incomprehensible glory, but recognize the covenants of illumination. See the sons of grace who have blossomed through the great high priest; see the children of light running to the heralds of light; for those reborn from illumination must run to those who regenerated the world. Let us too say with the prophet: “[Lift up your eyes round about] and see your children gathered”; and again: “As I live, says the Lord, you shall put them all on as a bride’s ornament.” Isaiah stands today, then, speaking to the multitudes of the illuminated, those born of the Holy Spirit, those renewed all at once, those changed in a single moment, those transformed from an earthly condition into a heavenly image; for Isaiah is astonished, saying, “Who has seen, who has heard such things, that the earth bore its children in one day, and a nation was born at once?” For the rebirth of the Spirit is swift; it does not wait for time, it is not a slave to seasons and generations, but as soon as he wills, the one being reborn is born. It was fitting for the sons of light to parade through the whole marketplace, to glorify and acclaim him who came down for their sake, in order to lead the whole world up to himself. Christ came down from heaven; he came down without leaving heaven, and he went up without leaving the earth; for neither when he came down did he leave the heavens empty, nor when he went up did he leave the earth bereft of his care. It was fitting for the sons of light to carry the torch of the Word about the marketplaces; the mystery was not insulted, not … It was fitting for them too to sing hymns in the squares; for “Wisdom is hymned in the streets, in the squares she speaks boldly, and on the tops of the walls she is proclaimed.” Let us purify the air which the songs of harlots defiled, and which the shouts of the impious once stained, and the howls of those who perform the defilements of demons. By the word of light the air, the earth, and the heaven have been purified. For just as heaven and earth groan at the wickedness of the impious, so they rejoice again at the righteousness of those who do right. When a man sins, heaven is indignant, and the earth too is indignant, as Jeremiah says: “Heaven was astonished at this, and the earth shuddered, because the people committed two evils.” Do you see how heaven and earth shudder when people sin? But when they change themselves to piety, hear the prophet saying: “Let the heavens rejoice and the earth exult; let the mountains break forth into joy and the hills into exultation, for God has had mercy on his people.” And let the church, which abounds with so great a crowd and people, say: “I was once left alone; where were these for me? I was childless and a widow; who bore these for me?” And let the children of the church, pressed by the multitude, speak to God the words of the prophets: “The place is too narrow for me; make room for me, that I may dwell.” For when error flourished, when the pasture of heresy grazed over this city, the children of the church were consumed; and just as a locust coming upon the land under heaven consumes its fruits, so the corrupting teaching consumed the fruits of the true teaching and of piety. But today, beloved, the corrupting teaching has been driven out, and the saving grace has come in, regenerating the people and saying to it: “Now I will repay you for the years which …

“… the caterpillar and the locust and the blight ate.” Why do you strive, heretic, together with the Jews, to hide the glory of the Only-begotten? They hid the resurrection, as far as it lay with them; you hide the Godhead, as far as it lies with you. But neither do they cancel the truth, nor have you understood piety. Hear, then, the prophet saying: “His virtue covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.” Of his praise, not of comprehension; of faith, not of examination; of love, not of inquiry. We were not taught to inquire, but to believe … we are baptized. Do not let the bands of the heretics deceive you; for they have baptism, not illumination; they are baptized in body, but they are not illuminated in soul. For just as Simon was baptized but not illuminated, so they too are found to be. Let the spirits of the apostles exult, then, which with the spiritual net have caught this great people through the Holy Spirit. Now the prophetic voice has been fulfilled before our eyes: “In the last days, says God, they will no longer say, Behold the ark of the covenant of the Holy One of Israel,” that is, the old worship; “nor will the covenant of the ark come up into their heart.” Why? “Because behold, I send many hunters and fishers.” He set limits to the old ark and brought in the ark of the church, which does not perish. “I send many hunters and fishers.” O strange fishing! He who was caught yesterday is fishing today. For the earth has been filled with the glory of Christ, and the ends of the world are filled with faith. Do not, then, insult his dignity because of the economy. Among the Jews the word went out that the resurrection was sold, and the word went out that his disciples stole him. They pronounced death against the body; these, as far as it lies with them, … the theology. But among those error holds sway today, while in the church eternal life is preached. And, if you like, you have an ancient image too: just as, when his brothers plotted against Joseph, Jacob and his house mourned him greatly, but Egypt had him living and reigning (he was mourned as dead by Jacob, but in Egypt he reigned alive), so now too he is thought dead by the synagogue and in the madness of the heretics (for those who destroy faith and bring in inquiry make the theology dead), but among us he reigns alive and is worthily worshipped. But truly strong is the word of God, invincible the teaching of the apostles; so that the voice of Paul, pleading for the truth, does not labour in vain. Speak, then, blessed Paul, moved on behalf of the truth; be indignant on behalf of the faith, and in your indignation say to the heretics: Where did you learn the teachings of Aristotle? Who preferred Plato to the Gospels? Who drove out the preaching of faith and brought in faithless inquiry? Where did you learn “unbegotten” and “begotten”? You have abandoned “Father,” you have spat on the name of Son, you have thought the dignity of the Spirit unworthy, you turn to human words. Well did Jeremiah say: “Faith has perished from their mouth.” What did Peter say, that he was called blessed? “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” He did not say, “You are the offspring of the unbegotten,” but, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” … the Father revealed wisdom to him; did he not know how to grasp it? Could not Christ have said to the apostles, when he commanded them to baptize, “Go, baptize the nations in the name of the unbegotten and the begotten”? But he found a name wiser than … of the mystical traditions. You circumscribe divine things, destroy faith, and bring in inquiry. But fear, enemy: Peter holds the keys. For since he said, “You are the Christ, the Son of God,” he received the keys. Those whom Peter sees calling him Son, to them he opens the door of the kingdom; but all whom he finds calling him a creature and blaspheming, to them he shuts the door of the church. For he did not receive the keys until he said, “You are the Son of God”; then he too hears from him: “Blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah; to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” After the confession, the authority; after the faith, the handing over of the church and of the kingdom. But some campaign against the Son, and others are arrayed against the Holy Spirit; and there is no profit in those who confess Christ and set aside the Holy Spirit, just as there is no profit in those who confess the Father and set aside the Son. For the Jews too confess the Father while denying the Son, and they do not have eternal life. He who disregards the glory of the Son is not acceptable to the Father. Attend closely: Job’s friends took God’s side but condemned Job; and God did not accept even those who pleaded for him, but says, “Why did you speak against my servant Job?” If he did not accept the friends who spoke against Job while glorifying himself, will he ever accept those who set aside the Son while confessing himself? By no means. For “he who hates me,” he says, “hates my Father also.” Likewise, just as the Father does not accept honour paid to him when the Son is set aside, so neither do Father and Son when the Holy Spirit is set aside. Paul, then, found heretical tares that had received a beginning but never gained boldness. For in Ephesus of Asia he finds some who had been baptized, and says to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They said, “We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” Then the noble voice: “Into what, then, were you baptized?” … Peter … the church, and Paul … not to weave heretical disputations. Whence the ill-omened name of Eunomius? Whence the heretical seeds? Truly the truth has perished among the impious, and the Aristotelian teaching has prevailed. Do you take the definitions of human nature for the divine and unbegotten nature, and say “begotten”? “But you,” he says, “what do you call the Father?” I call him unbegotten, but not as you do: I call the Father unbegotten because he was not begotten. But I call Adam unbegotten too, since he was not begotten but formed. Do not astonish the hearers; these are fictions. The Father is unbegotten, and many other things are unbegotten. Everything that is not begotten is called unbegotten. Also called unbegotten is everything that is coming to be but has not yet come to be: the resurrection of the dead is now unbegotten, for it is coming to be but has not yet come to be, and it is unprepared, not yet brought forth. Also called unbegotten is what never comes to be nor ought to come to be, such as many unbegotten things; for the prophets, and Daniel, says: “I saw four beasts coming up out of the sea; and the first beast was like a lioness, and its wings like an eagle’s.” And where, tell me, have you seen a lioness beast with such a constitution? Where have you seen a beast with iron claws and bronze teeth? The prophet formed these for contemplation; they did not come to be, nor do they come to be, but that beast is unbegotten, never having come to be, but only named. What women ever came to be having wings, such as Zechariah saw bearing wings? Where have you seen a leopard with wings? All these blessed Daniel explains. Or where have you seen a statue made of gold and silver and bronze and iron and clay, such as Daniel saw? Each of these is unbegotten; for it did not come to be, but was written down as a figure and a vision. Do not think, then, that you bestow anything great on the Father by calling him unbegotten, since many other things that have not been begotten are called unbegotten. I know the discourse is deep; but I have come into these regions to refute the heretical wickedness. A man too is called unbegotten who was not begotten. “And if he was not begotten,” he says, “how is he spoken of?” I show you a man not begotten: the Saviour says of Judas the traitor, “Woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed; it would have been better for him if he had not been born.” And how would it have been better for him? For to what does not exist nothing is either beneficial or harmful. And Solomon too calls blessed the man not born, saying, “Blessed is the dead rather than the living, and above both he who was not born.” And if he was not born, how is he blessed? See the names of an unbegotten nature: he called blessed the man neither born nor formed. So the name “unbegotten” neither expresses the divine nature, nor, as you say, signifies an unbegotten substance, nor brings honour to the Father, since there are other names in the prophet, both unbegotten and begotten, as has been shown; it shows only what has not come to be. But let us say to them with David: “The lawless told me idle tales, but not as your law, O Lord.” Receive the voice of Peter and the teaching of Paul: “Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever.” We worship the Holy Spirit and speak of him as God, whether the enemies wish it or not; and Paul will bear me witness, saying, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God,” and who dwells in it? and, “The Spirit of God dwells in you.” The temple is one thing, and the one who dwells in it another. Did you not hear Peter saying, “Ananias, why has Satan tempted your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?”, and he added, “You have not lied to men but to God.” But the heretics say: “He did not call the Spirit God, but spoke so because the Spirit was sent from God. He who insults the Spirit,” he says, “insults God who sent the Spirit.” But, fool and senseless man (for no other name befits the godless but that of fool: “The fool said in his heart, There is no God”), he did not say it as you have understood. For if the insult to the Spirit went back to God as the one who sent him, he ought to have said, “You have not lied to the Spirit, but to God.” But so much for this; for we must give way to the apostolic choir, the holy triad which … proclaims: a triad of apostles, witness of the heavenly Trinity. Let us dance sincerely, then, and say, “Many are the children of the desolate, more than of her who has a husband”; that is, than every heresy which has a man for teacher, and not God. May it be granted, by the prayers and intercessions of our common father and teacher, that we all dwell with apostles and martyrs in the orthodox faith, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power with the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.