|
HOME | GREEK LANGUAGE |
LIBRARIES |
BLOG | HELP | SEARCH | BOOKSTORE | FREEWARE |
|
|
Translated by Cardinal Newman.
St Athanasius the Great Resources Online and in Print
|
This Part: 128 Pages
Page 79
4. As then, when we read this, we interpret it fairly, without accounting Solomon a servant because we hear him so called, but a son natural and genuine, so also, if, concerning the Saviour, who is confessed to be in truth the Son, and to be the Word by nature, the saints say, 'Who was faithful to Him that made Him,' or if He say of Himself, 'The Lord created me,' and, 'I am Thy servant and the Son of Thine handmaid [2233] ,' and the like, let not any on this account deny that He is proper to the Father and from Him; but, as in the case of Solomon and David, let them have a right idea of the Father and the Son. For if, though they hear Solomon called a servant, they acknowledge him to be a son, are they not deserving of many deaths [2234] , who, instead of preserving the same explanation in the instance of the Lord, whenever they hear 'Offspring,' and 'Word,' and 'Wisdom,' forcibly misinterpret and deny the generation, natural and genuine, of the Son from the Father; but on hearing words and terms proper to a work, forthwith drop down to the notion of His being by nature a work, and deny the Word; and this, though it is possible, from His having been made man, to refer all these terms to His humanity? And are they not proved to be 'an abomination' also 'unto the Lord,' as having 'diverse weights [2235] ' with them, and with this estimating those other instances, and with that blaspheming the Lord? But perhaps they grant that the word 'servant' is used under a certain understanding, but lay stress upon 'Who made' as some great support of their heresy. But this stay of theirs also is but a broken reed; for if they are aware of the style of Scripture, they must at once give sentence against [2236] themselves. For as Solomon, though a son, is called a servant, so, to repeat what was said above, although parents call the sons springing from themselves 'made' and 'created' and 'becoming,' for all this they do not deny their nature. Thus Hezekiah, as it is written in Isaiah, said in his prayer, 'From this day I will make children, who shall declare Thy righteousness, O God of my salvation [2237] .' He then said, 'I will make;' but the Prophet in that very book and the Fourth of Kings, thus speaks, 'And the sons who shall come forth of thee [2238] .' He uses then 'make' for 'beget,' and he calls them who were to spring from him, 'made,' and no one questions whether the term has reference to a natural offspring. Again, Eve on bearing Cain said, 'I have gotten a man from the Lord [2239] ;' thus she too used 'gotten' for 'brought forth.' For, first she saw the child, yet next she said, 'I have gotten.' Nor would any one consider, because of 'I have gotten,' that Cain was purchased from without, instead of being born of her. Again, the Patriarch Jacob said to Joseph, 'And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which became thine in Egypt, before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine [2240] .' And Scripture says about Job, 'And there came to him seven sons and three daughters [2241] .' As Moses too has said in the Law, 'If sons become to any one,' and 'If he make a son [2242] .' Here again they speak of those who are begotten, as 'become' and 'made,' knowing that, while they are acknowledged to be sons, we need not make a question of 'they became,' or 'I have gotten,' or 'I made [2243] .' For nature and truth draw the meaning to themselves.
[2233] Ps. cxvi. 16.
[2234] pollakis apololenai dikaioi, vid. infr. S:28.
[2235] Prov. xx. 23.
[2236] Apol. c. Ar. 36.
[2237] Is. xxxviii. 19, LXX.
[2238] 2 Kings xx. 18; Is. xxxix. 7.
[2239] Gen. iv. 1, and infr. 44. note on Qana.
[2240] Gen. xlviii. 5, LXX.
[2241] Job i. 2, LXX.
[2242] Cf. Deut. xxi. 15; vid. Lev. xxv. 21, LXX.
[2243] Serap. ii. 6. b.
Reference address : https://www.elpenor.org/athanasius/discourses-against-arians.asp?pg=79
