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1. Give close attention, and try to understand, beloved; for while
it is we who speak it is He Himself who never withdraweth His
presence from us who is our Teacher. The Lord saith, what you have
just heard read "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of
myself: but the Father, that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works."
Even His words, then, are works? Clearly so. For surely he that
edifies a neighbor by what he says, works a good work. But what mean
the words, "I speak not of myself," but, I who speak am not of
myself? Hence He attributes what He does to Him, of whom He,
that doeth them, is. For the Father is not God [as born, etc.]
of any one else, while the Son is God, as equal, indeed, to the
Father, but [as born] of God the Father. Therefore the former is
God, but not of God; and the Light, but not of light: whereas the
latter is God of God, Light of Light.
2. For in connection with these two clauses, the one where it is
said, "I speak not of myself;" and the other, which runs, "but
the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works," we are opposed
by two different classes of heretics, who, by each of them holding
only to one clause, run off, not in one, but opposite directions,
and wander far from the pathway of truth. For instance, the Arians
say, See here, the Son is not equal to the Father, He speaketh
not of Himself. The Sabellians, or Patripassians, on the other
hand, say, See, He who is the Father is also the Son; for what
else is this, "The Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the
works," but I that do them dwell in myself? You make contrary
assertions, and that not only in the sense that any one thing is
false, that is, contrary to truth, but in this also, when two things
that are both false contradict one another. In your wanderings you
have taken opposite directions; midway between the two is the path you
have left.
You are a far longer distance apart from each other than from the very
way you have both forsaken. Come hither, you from the one side, and
you from the other: pass not across, the one to the other, but come
from both sides to us, and make this the place of your mutual meeting.
Ye Sabellians, acknowledge the Being you overlook; Arians, set
Him whom you subordinate in His place of equality, and you will both
be walking with us in the pathway of truth. For you have grounds on
both sides that make mutual admonition a duty. Listen, Sabellian:
so far is the Son from being the same as the Father, and so truly is
He another, that the Arian maintains His inferiority to the
Father. Listen, Arian: so truly is the Son equal to the Father,
that the Sabellian declares Him to be identical with the Father. Do
thou restore the personality thou hast abstracted, and thou, the full
dignity thou hast lowered, and both of you stand together on the same
ground as ourselves: because the one of you [who has been an
Arian], for the conviction of the Sabellian, never lets out of
sight the personality of Him who is distinct from the Father, and the
other [who has been a Sabellian] takes care, for the conviction of
the Arian, of not impairing the dignity of Him who is equal with the
Father. For to both of you He cries, "I and my Father are
one." When He says "one," let the Arians listen; when He
says, "we are," let the Sabellians give heed, and no longer
continue in the folly of denying, the one, His equality [with the
Father], the other, His distinct personality. If, then, in
saying, "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of
myself," He is thereby accounted of a power so inferior, that what
He doeth is not what He Himself willeth; listen to what He also
said, "As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even
so the Son quickeneth whom He will." And so likewise, if in
saying, "The Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works,"
He is on that account not to be regarded as distinct in person from the
Father, let us listen to His other words, "What things soever the
Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise;" and He will be
understood as speaking not of one person twice over, but of two who are
one. But just because their mutual equality is such as not to
interfere with their distinct personality, therefore He speaketh not
of Himself, because He is not of Himself and the Father also, that
dwelleth in Him, Himself doeth the works, because He, by whom and
with whom He doeth them, is not, save of [the Father] Himself.
And then He goes on to say, "Believe ye not that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me? Or else believe me for the very
works' sake." Formerly it was Philip only who was reproved, but
now, it is shown that he was not the only one there that needed
reproof. "For the very works' sake," He says, "believe ye that
I am in the Father, and the Father in me:" for had we been
separated, we should have been unable to do any kind of work
inseparably.
3. But what is this that follows? "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also;
and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my
Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do,
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask
anything in my name, I will do it." And so He promised that He
Himself would also do those greater works. Let not the servant exalt
himself above his Lord, or the disciple above his Master. He says
that they will do greater works than He doeth Himself; but it is all
by His doing such in or by them, and not as if they did them of
themselves. Hence the song that is addressed to Him, "I will love
Thee, O Lord, my strength." But what, then, are those greater
works? Was it that their very shadow, as they themselves passed by,
healed the sick? For it is a mightier thing for a shadow, than for
the hem of a garment, to possess the power of healing. The one work
was done by Christ Himself, the other by them; and yet it was He
that did both. Nevertheless, when He so spoke, He was commending
the efficacious power of His own words: for it was in this sense He
had said, "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of
myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works."
What works was He then referring to, but the words He was speaking?
They were hearing and believing, and their faith was the fruit of
those very words: howbeit, when the disciples preached the gospel, it
was not small numbers like themselves, but nations also that believed;
and such, doubtless, are greater works. And yet He said not,
Greater works than these shall ye do, to lead us to suppose that it
was only the apostles who would do so; for He added, "He that
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do." Is the case then so, that he that
believeth on Christ doeth the same works as Christ, or even greater
than He did? Points like these are not to be treated in a cursory
way, nor ought they to be hurriedly disposed of; and, therefore, as
our present discourse must be brought to a close, we are obliged to
defer their further consideration.
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