Early Church Fathers
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417 Matt. iii. 17; Matt. xvi. 16.
418 This passage is imitated by Theodoret. in Coloss. i. 15, but the passages from the Fathers referable to these Orations are too many to enumerate.
419 This passage is imitated by Theodoret. in Coloss. i. 15, but the passages from the Fathers referable to these Orations are too many to enumerate.
420 We now come to a third and wider sense of prwtotokoj, as found (not in Rom. viii. 29, and Col. i. 18, but) in Col. i. 15, where by `creation' Athan. understands `all things visible and invisible.' As then `for the works' was just now taken to argue that `created' was used in a relative and restricted sense, the same is shewn as regards 'first-born by the words `for in Him all things were created.'
422 apolelumenwj; supr. i. 56, note 6, and §§53, 56, and so apolutwj Theophylact to express the same distinction in loc. Coloss.
425 It would be perhaps better to translate `first-born to the creature,' to give Athan.'s idea; thj ktisewj not being a partitive genitive, or prwtotokoj a superlative (though he presently so considers it), but a simple appellative and thj kt. a common genitive of relation, as `the king of a country,' `the owner of a house.' `First-born of creation' is like `author, type, life of creation.' Hence S. Paul goes on at once to say, `for in Him all things were made,' not simply `by and for,' as at the end of the verse; or as Athan. says here, `because in Him the creation came to be.' On the distinction of dia and en, referring respectively to the first and second creations, vid. In illud Omn. 2. (Supr. p. 88.)
426 To understand this passage, the Greek idiom must be kept in view. Cf. Milton's imitation `the fairest of her daughters Eve.' Vid. as regards the very word prwtoj, John i. 15; and supr. §30, note 3, also pleisthn h emprosqen 3 Maccab. 7, 21. Accordingly as in the comparative to obviate this exclusion, we put in the word `other.' (ante 'alios immanior omnes), so too in the Greek superlative, `Socrates is wisest of "other" heathen.' Athanasius then says in this passage, that `first-born of creatures' implies that our Lord was not a creature; whereas it is not said of Him `first-born of brethren,' lest He should he excluded from men, but first-born "among" brethren,' where `among' is equivalent to `other.'
427 Gen. xlix. 3, LXX. Vid. also contr. Gent. 41 sq. where the text Col. i. 15 is quoted.
431 Rom. viii. 19, Rom. viii. 21. Thus there are two senses in which our Lord is `first-born to the creation;' viz. in its first origin, and in its restoration after man's fall; as he says more clearly in the next section.
435 He does not here say with Asterius that God could not create man immediately, for the Word is God, but that He did not create him without at the same time infusing a grace or presence from Himself into his created nature to enable it to endure His external plastic hand; in other words, that he was created in Him, not as something external to Him (in spite of the dia supr. 63, n. 1. vid. supr. de Decr. 19. 3. and Gent. 47. where the sugkatabasij is spoken of.
436 As God created Him, in that He created human nature in Him, so is He first-born, in that human nature is adopted in Him. Leo Serm. 63. 3.
438 Thus he considers that `first-born' is mainly a title, connected with the Incarnation. and also connected with our Lord's office at the creation (vid. parallel of Priesthood, §8, n. 4). In each economy it has the same meaning; it belongs to Him as the type, idea, or rule on which the creature was made or new-made, and the life by which it is sustained. Both economies are mentioned Incarn. 13, 14. Orat. i. 51. iii. 20. infr. 76. init. He came thn tou arxetupou plasin anasthsasqai eautw contr. Apoll. ii. 5. And so again, h idea oper logon eirhkasi. Clem. Strom. v. 3. idean idewn kai arxhn lekteon ton prwtotokon pashj ktisewj Origen. contr. Cels. vi. 64. fin. `Whatever God was about to make in the creature, was already in the Word, nor would be in the things, were it not in the Word.' August. in Psalm xliv. 5. He elsewhere calls the Son, `ars quaedam omnipotentis atque sapientis Dei, plena omnium rationum viventium incommutabilium.' de Trin. vi. 11. And so Athan. infr. iii. 9. fin. Eusebius, in commenting on the very passage which Athan. is discussing (Prov. viii. 22), presents a remarkable contrast to these passages, as making the Son, not the ???, but the external minister of the Father's idea. de Eccl. Theol. pp. 164, 5. vid. supr. §31, n. 7.
444 Vid. Or. i. §48, 7, i. 51, 5, supr. 56, 5. Irenaeus, Hoer. iii. 19, n. 1. Cyril. in Joan. lib. ix. cir. fin. This is the doctrine of S. Athanasius and S. Cyril, one may say, passim.
448 Athanasius here says that our Lord's body was subject to death; and so Incarn. 20, e. also 8, b. 18. init. Orat. iii. 56. And so ton anqrwpon saqrwqenta. Orat. iv. 33. And so S. Leo in his Tome lays down that in the Incarnation, suscepta est ab aeternitate mortalitas. Ep. 28. 3. And S. Austin, Utique vulnerabile atque mortale corpus habuit [Christus] contr. Faust. xiv. 2. A Eutychian sect denied this doctrine (the Aphthartodocetae), and held that our Lord's manhood was naturally indeed corrupt, but became from its union with the Word incorrupt from the moment of conception; and in consequence it held that our Lord did not suffer and die, except by miracle. vid. Leont. c. Nest. ii. (Canis. t. i. pp. 563 4, 8.) vid. supr. i. 43 and 44, notes; also infr. 76, note. And further, note on iii. 57.
455 anq' hmwn thn ofeilhn apodidouj, and so the Lord's death lutron pantwn. Incarn. V.D. 25. lutron kaqarsion. Naz. Orat. 30, 20. fin. also supr. 9, 13, 14, 47, 55, 67. In Illud. Omn. 2 fin.
459 Vid. de Decr. 10, 2. 4; Or. i. 49, §16, n. 7. Iren. Hoer. iii. 20.
460 Cf. infr. Orat. iv. 6. vid. also iii. 33 init. August. Trin. xiii. 18. Id. in Psalm 129, n. 12. Leon. Serm. 28, n. 3. Basil. in Psalm 48, n. 4. Cyril. de rect. fid. p. 132. vid. also Procl. Orat. i. p. 63. (ed. 1630.) Vigil. contr. Eutych. v. p. 529, e. Greg. Moral xxiv. init. Job. ap. Phot. 222. p. 583.
464 Vid. also Incarn. 44. In this statement Athan. is supportedby Naz. Orat. 19, 13. Theodor. adv. Gent. vi. p. 876, 7. August. de Trin. xiii. 13. It is denied in a later age by S. Anselm, but S. Thomas and the schoolmen side with the Fathers. vid. Petav. Incarn. ii. 13. However, it will be observed from what follows that Athan. thought the Incarnation still absolutely essential for the renewal of human nature in holiness. Cf. de Incarn. 7. That is, we might have been pardoned, we could not have been new-made, without the Incarnation; and so supr. 67.
467 `Was it not in His power, bad He wished it, even in a day to bring on the whole rain [of the deluge]? in a day, nay in a moment?' Chrysost. in Gen. Hom. 24, 7. He proceeds to apply this principle to the pardon of sin. On the subject of God's power as contrasted with His acts, Petevius brings together the statements of the Fathers, de Deo, v. 6.
469 Athan. here seems to say that Adam in a state of innocence had but an external divine assistance, not an habitual grace; this, however, is contrary to his own statements already referred to, and the general doctrine of the fathers. vid. e.g. Cyril. in Joan. v. 2. August. de Corr. et Grat. 31. vid also infr. §76, note
473 diameinwsin, §63, n. 8; §73, Gent. 41, Serm. Maj. de Fid. 5.
474 John xiv. 30. exei t. rec. euriskei Ath et al.
478 Gal. vi. 15; Gal. iii. 28.
479 en eautw qeopoihsn. supr. p. 65, note 5. vid. also ad Adelph. 4. a. Serap. i. 24, e. and §56, note 5. and iii. 33. De Decr. 14. Orat. i. 42. vid. also Orat. iii. 23. fin. 33. init. 34. fin. 38, b. 39, d. 48. fin. 53. For our becoming qeoi vid. Orat. iii. 25. qeoi kata xarin. Cyr. in Joan. p. 74. qeoumeqa. Orat. iii. 23, c. 41, a. 45 init. xristoforoi. ibid. qeoumeqa. iii. 48 fin. 53. Theodor. H.E. i. p. 846. init.
481 Vid. also Athan. in Luc. (Migne xxvii. 1393 c). This title, which is commonly applied to S. Mary by later writers, is found Epiph. Hoer. 78, 5. Didym. Trin. i. 27. p. 84. Rufin. Fid. i. 43. Lepor. ap Cassian Incarn. i. 5. Leon. Ep. 28, 2. Caesarius has aeipaij. Qu. 20. On the doctrine itself vid. a letter of S. Ambrose and his brethren to Siricius, and the Pope's letter in response. (Coust. Ep. Pont. p. 669-652.) Also Pearson On the Creed, Art. 3. [§§9, 10, p. 267 in Bohn's ed.] He replies to the argument from `until' in Matt. i. 25, by referring to Gen. xxviii 15. Deut. xxxiv. 6. 1 Sam. xv. 35. 2 Sam. vi. 23. Matt. xxviii 20. He might also have referred to Psalm cx. 1. 1 Cor. xv. 25. which are the more remarkable, because they were urged by the school of Marcellus as a proof that our Lord's kingdom would have an end, and are explained by Euseb. Eccl. Theol. iii. 13, 14. Vid. also Cyr. Cat. 15, 29; where the true meaning of `until' (which may be transferred to Matt. i. 25), is well brought out. 'He who is King before He subdued His enemies, how shall He not the rather be King, after He has got the mastery over them?
495 qeologoumenoj. vid. de Decr. 31, n. 5. also Incarn. c. Ar. 3. 19, Serap. i. 28. 29. 31. contr. Sab. Greg. and passim ap. Euseb. contr. Marcell. e.g. p. 42, d. 86, a. 99, d. 122, c. 124, b. &c. kuriologein, In Illud. Omn. 6, contr. Sab. Greg. §4, f.
500 John viii. 35, John viii. 36.
