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28. Yet unless the very same were the Son of man on account of the
form of a servant which He took, who is the Son of God on account of
the form of God in which He is; Paul the apostle would not say of
the princes of this world, "For had they known it, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory." For He was crucified after the
form of a servant, and yet "the Lord of glory" was crucified. For
that "taking" was such as to make God man, and man God. Yet what
is said on account of what, and what according to what, the
thoughtful, diligent, and pious reader discerns for himself, the
Lord being his helper. For instance, we have said that He glorifies
His own, as being God, and certainly then as being the Lord of
glory; and yet the Lord of glory was crucified, because even God is
rightly said to have been crucified, not after the power of the
divinity, but after the weakness of the flesh: just as we say, that
He judges as God, that is, by divine power, not by human; and yet
the man Himself will judge, just as the Lord of glory was crucified:
for so He expressly says, "When the Son of man shall come in His
glory, and all the holy angels with Him, and before Him shall be
gathered all nations;" and the rest that is foretold of the future
judgment in that place even to the last sentence. And the Jews,
inasmuch as they will be punished in that judgment for persisting in
their wickedness, as it is elsewhere written, "shall look upon Him
whom they have pierced." For whereas both good and bad shall see the
Judge of the quick and dead, without doubt the bad will not be able to
see Him, except after the form in which He is the Son of man; but
yet in the glory wherein He will judge, not in the lowliness wherein
He was judged. But the ungodly without doubt will not see that form
of God in which He is equal to the Father. For they are not pure in
heart; and "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see
God." And that sight is face to face, the very sight that is
promised as the highest reward to the just, and which will then take
place when He "shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father;" and in this "kingdom" He means the sight of His own form
also to be understood, the whole creature being made subject to God,
including that wherein the Son of God was made the Son of man.
Because, according to this creature, "The Son also Himself shall
be subject unto Him, that put all things under Him, that God may be
all in all." Otherwise if the Son of God, judging in the form in
which He is equal to the Father, shall appear when He judges to the
ungodly also; what becomes of that which He promises, as some great
thing, to him who loves Him, saying, "And I will love him, and
will manifest myself to him?" Wherefore He will judge as the Son of
man, yet not by human power, but by that whereby He is the Son of
God; and on the other hand, He will judge as the Son of God, yet
not appearing in that [unincarnate] form in which He is God equal to
the Father, but in that [incarnate form] in which He is the Son of
man.
29. Therefore both ways of speaking may be used; the Son of man
will judge, and, the Son of man will not judge: since the Son of
man will judge, that the text may be true which says, "When the Son
of man shall come, then before Him shall be gathered all nations;"
and the Son of man will not judge, that the text may be true which
says, "I will not judge him;"" and, "I seek not mine own
glory: there is One that seeketh and judgeth." For in respect to
this, that in the judgment, not the form of God, but the form of the
Son of man will appear, the Father Himself will not judge; for
according to this it is said, "For the Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son." Whether this is said
after that mode of speech which we have mentioned above, where it is
said, "So hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself,"
that it should signify that so He begat the Son; or, whether after
that of which the apostle speaks, saying, "Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every
name:" (For this is said of the Son of man, in respect to whom the
Son of God was raised from the dead; since He, being in the form of
God equal to the Father, wherefrom He "emptied" Himself by taking
the form of a servant, both acts and suffers, and receives, in that
same form of a servant, what the apostle goes on to mention: "He
humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross; wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given
Him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, in the Glory of God the Father:" whether then
the words, "He hath committed all judgment unto the Son," are said
according to this or that mode of speech; it sufficiently appears from
this place, that if they were said according to that sense in which it
is said, "He hath given to the Son to have life in Himself," it
certainly would not be said, "The Father judgeth no man." For in
respect to this, that the Father hath begotten the Son equal to
Himself, He judges with Him. Therefore it is in respect to this
that it is said, that in the judgment, not the form of God, but the
form of the Son of man will appear. Not that He will not judge, who
hath committed all judgment unto the Son, since the Son saith of
Him, "There is One that seeketh and judgeth:" but it is so said,
"The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the
Son;" as if it were said, No one will see the Father in the
judgment of the quick and the dead, but all will see the Son: because
He is also the Son of man, so that He can be seen even by the
ungodly, since they too shall see Him whom they have pierced.
30. Lest, however, we may seem to conjecture this rather than to
prove it clearly, let us produce a certain and plain sentence of the
Lord Himself, by which we may show that this was the cause why He
said, "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment
unto the Son," viz. because He will appear as Judge in the form of
the Son of man, which is not the form of the Father, hut of the
Son; nor yet that form of the Son in which He is equal to the
Father, but that in which He is less than the Father; in order
that, in the judgment, He may be visible both to the good and to the
bad. For a little while after He says, "Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent
me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but
shall pass from death unto life." Now this life eternal is that sight
which does not belong to the bad. Then follows, "Verily, verily,
I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live."
And this is proper to the godly, who so hear of His incarnation, as
to believe that He is the Son of God, that is, who so receive
Him, as made for their sakes less than the Father, in the form of a
servant, that they believe Him equal to the Father, in the form of
God. And thereupon He continues, enforcing this very point, "For
as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to
have life in Himself." And then He comes to the sight of His own
glory, in which He shall come to judgment; which sight will be common
to the ungodly and to the just. For He goes on to say, "And hath
given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son
of man." I think nothing can be more clear. For inasmuch as the
Son of God is equal to the Father, He does not receive this power
of executing judgment, but He has it with the Father in secret; but
He receives it, so that the good and the bad may see Him judging,
inasmuch as He is the Son of man. Since the sight of the Son of man
will be shown to the bad also: for the sight of the form of God will
not be shown except to the pure in heart, for they shall see God;
that is, to the godly only, to whose love He promises this very
thing, that He will show Himself to them. And see, accordingly,
what follows: "Marvel not at this," He says. Why does He forbid
us to marvel, unless it be that, in truth, every one marvels who does
not understand, that therefore He said the Father gave Him power
also to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man; whereas, it
might rather have been anticipated that He would say, since He is the
Son of God? But because the wicked are not able to see the Son of
God as He is in the form of God equal to the Father, but yet it is
necessary that both the just and the wicked should see the Judge of the
quick and dead, when they will be judged in His presence; "Marvel
not at this," He says, "for the hour is coming, in the which all
that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth;
they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that
have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." For this
purpose, then, it was necessary that He should therefore receive that
power, because He is the Son of man, in order that all in rising
again might see Him in the form in which He can be seen by all, but
by some to damnation, by others to life eternal. And what is life
eternal, unless that sight which is not granted to the ungodly?
"That they might know Thee," He says, "the One true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." And how are they to know
Jesus Christ Himself also, unless as the One true God, who will
show Himself to them; not as He will show Himself, in the form of
the Son of man, to those also that shall be punished?
31. He is "good," according to that sight, according to which
God appears to the pure in heart; for "truly God is good unto
Israel even to such as are of a clean heart." But when the wicked
shall see the Judge, He will not seem good to them; because they
will not rejoice in their heart to see Him, but all "kindreds of the
earth shall then wail because of Him," namely, as being reckoned in
the number of all the wicked and unbelievers. On this account also He
replied to him, who had called Him Good Master, when seeking advice
of Him how he might attain eternal life, "Why askest thou me about
good? there is none good but One, that is, God." And yet the
Lord Himself, in another place, calls man good: "A good man,"
He says, "out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good
things: and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart,
bringeth forth evil things." But because that man was seeking eternal
life, and eternal life consists in that contemplation in which God is
seen, not for punishment, but for everlasting joy; and because he did
not understand with whom he was speaking, and thought Him to be only
the Son of man: Why, He says, askest thou me about good? that
is, with respect to that form which thou seest, why askest thou about
good, and callest me, according to what thou seest, Good Master?
This is the form of the Son of man, the form which has been taken,
the form that will appear in judgment, not only to the righteous, but
also to the ungodly; and the sight of this form will not be for good to
those who are wicked. But there is a sight of that form of mine, in
which when I was, I thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
but in order to take this form I emptied myself. That one God,
therefore, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who will
not appear, except for joy which cannot be taken away from the just;
for which future joy he sighs, who says, "One thing have I desired
of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the
Lord:" that one God, therefore, Himself, I say, is alone
good, for this reason, that no one sees Him for sorrow and wailing,
but only for salvation and true joy. If you understand me after this
latter form, then I am good; but if according to that former only,
then why askest thou me about good? If thou art among those who
"shall look upon Him whom they have pierced," that very sight itself
will be evil to them, because it will be penal. That after this
meaning, then, the Lord said, "Why askest thou me about good?
there is none good but One, that is, God," is probable upon those
proofs which I have alleged, because that sight of God, whereby we
shall contemplate the substance of God unchangeable and invisible to
human eyes (which is promised to the saints alone; which the Apostle
Paul speaks of, as "face to face;" and of which the Apostle John
says, "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is;"
and of which it is said, "One thing have I desired of the Lord,
that I may behold the beauty of the Lord," and of which the Lord
Himself says, "I will both love him, and will manifest myself to
him;" and on account of which alone we cleanse our hearts by faith,
that we may be those "pure in heart who are blessed for they shall see
God:" and whatever else is spoken of that sight: which whosoever
turns the eye of love to seek it, may find most copiously scattered
through all the Scriptures), that sight alone, I say, is our chief
good, for the attaining of which we are directed to do whatever we do
aright. But that sight of the Son of man which is foretold, when all
nations shall be gathered before Him, and shall say to Him,
"Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, or thirsty, etc.?" will
neither be a good to the ungodly, who shall be sent into everlasting
fire, nor the chief good to the righteous. For He still goes on to
call these to the kingdom which has been prepared for them from the
foundation of the world. For, as He will say to those, "Depart
into everlasting fire;" so to these," Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you." And as those will go
into everlasting burning; so the righteous will go into life eternal.
But what is life eternal, except "that they may know Thee," He
says, "the One true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent?" but know Him now in that glory of which He says to the
Father, "Which I had with Thee before the world was." For then
He will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that the
good servant may enter into the joy of his Lord, and that He may hide
those whom God keeps in the hiding of His countenance from the
confusion of men, namely, of those men who shall then be confounded by
hearing this sentence; of which evil hearing "the righteous man shall
not be afraid" if only he be kept in "the tabernacle," that is, in
the true faith of the Catholic Church, from "the strife of
tongues," that is, from the sophistries of heretics. But if there
is any other explanation of the words of the Lord, where He says,
"Why asketh thou me about good? there is none good, but One, that
is, God;" provided only that the substance of the Father be not
therefore believed to be of greater goodness than that of the Son,
according to which He is the Word by whom all things were made; and
if there is nothing in it abhorrent from sound doctrine; let us
securely use it, and not one explanation only, but as many as we are
able to find. For so much the more powerfully are the heretics proved
wrong, the more outlets are open for avoiding their snares. But let
us now start afresh, and address ourselves to the consideration of that
which still remains.
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