Chapter 20. God Formed the World through His Wordand Spirit. To Us in This World He Is Invisible, but Not Unknown.
Chapter 20
1. It is, therefore, not possible to know God according to his greatness, because it is impossible for the Father to be measured. However, according to his love [it is possible]. For it is that love which leads us to God through the Word. By obeying him we always learn that he is so great a God, and that it is he who through himself created and adorned and contains all things. Now, “all things” includes us and this world of ours. And so we too, together with all things the world contains, were made by him. Of this Scripture speaks, And God formed man, taking dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And so the angels did not create or fashion us; nor could the angels have made an image of God; nor could anyone else besides the Word of God; nor could a Power far distant from the Father of all things. Really, God had no need of these things to make the things that he had decreed beforehand with himself, as if he did not have his hands. Surely, the Word and the Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, were always present with him. Through these and in these he created all things freely and autonomously. It was these he addressed when he said, Let us make man to our image and likeness. He himself took from himself the substance of the creatures, and the exemplar of the things made, and the shape of the ornaments in the world.
2. Correctly, then, has the writing expressed itself that says, “First of all believe that there is one God, who established all things and adorned them, having created all things out of nothing that they might have existence. He comprehends all things but is comprehended by no one.” Correctly, too, did Malachi in the Prophets say, Has not one God created us? Have we not all one Father? In keeping with that, the Apostle, too, says, One God and Father who is above all, and in us all. Likewise, the Lord, on his part, says, All things have been delivered to me by my Father, clearly by him who made all things. Surely, he did not give him another’s possessions, but his own. Now in “all things” nothing has been left out, and so he is judge of the living and the dead. For he has the key of David, he opens and no one shall shut, he shuts and no one shall open. For no one else, in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll of his Father, or to look into it, except the Lamb who had been slain, and who ransomed us by his blood. From the God who made all things by his Word and adorned them by his wisdom he received the power over all things when the Word became flesh, in order that he who, as the Word of God, has sovereign power in the heavens might have sovereign power also on earth, as a holy Man, who committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips; and in order that he might have sovereign power over the things under the earth, having himself been made The Firstborn of the dead; in order, too, that all things might see their King, as we have already said; and that the Father’s light might fall upon the flesh of Our Lord, and might from his resplendent flesh come into us; and thus man, having been clothed with the Father’s light, might arrive at imperishability.
3. We have shown by many arguments that the Word, that is, the Son, was always with the Father. Now, that Wisdom, who is the Spirit, was with him before all creation, he tells us through Solomon: God by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by wisdom the deeps broke forth, and the clouds drop down the dew. And again: The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works, and before the ages he made me; in the beginning before he made the earth, before he made the depths; and before the springs of waters had sprung up, before the mountains were established; moreover, before all the hills, I was brought forth. And again: When he established heaven, I was there with him, and when he established the fountains of the deep, when he fortified the foundations of the earth, I was beside him shaping up [all things]. I was his delight; every day I rejoiced in his presence always, when he rejoiced in his finished world, and delighted in the sons of men.
4. There is, therefore, one God who created and shaped up all things through his Word and Wisdom. But he is the Creator who in turn gave this world to the human race. By reason of his greatness he is unknown to all his creatures—for no one has probed his depths, neither the ancients who have gone to rest, nor the people living now—but by reason of his love he is always known through him by whom he made all things. Now, this is his Word, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who in these last times was made man among men, that he might join the end to the beginning, that is, man to God. Therefore, the Prophets, having received the gift of prophecy from the same Word, foretold his coming in the flesh, by which the mingling and communion of God and man was wrought according to the Father’s good pleasure. The Word of God proclaimed from the beginning that God would be seen by men; that he would converse with them upon earth, and speak with them, and be present with his handiwork, saving it, and allowing himself to be received by it, and freeing us from the hand of all who hate us,—namely, from every spirit of transgression—and causing us to serve him in holiness and righteousness all our days, in order that man might embrace God’s Spirit and enter into the Father’s glory.
5. The Prophets pointed out these things in prophecy, but not in the sense that some [heretics] assert, namely, that, since the Father of all things is invisible, the God who was seen by the Prophets was a different one. Such an assertion is made by men who are totally ignorant of what prophecy is. In truth, prophecy is the prediction of future things; that is, the pointing out beforehand of things that will happen later. The Prophets, then, pointed out beforehand that God would be seen by men; as also the Lord said, Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Yet, in respect to his greatness and ineffable glory, no one shall see God and live, for the Father is incomprehensible.
On the other hand, in keeping with [his] love and kindness and omnipotence, he grants to those who love him this: to see God, which also the Prophets foretold. For things that are impossible with men, are possible with God. For man, of himself, cannot see God. But when he wills, he can be seen by men; namely, by whom he wills, when he wills, and in what manner he wills, because God is all-powerful. He was seen in the past by prophecy through the Spirit; he is seen at present by adoption through the Son; he will be seen as Father in the kingdom of heaven. In this, the Spirit prepares man for God’s Son, then the Son leads man to the Father, finally, the Father bestows imperishability for eternal life, which comes to everyone by the fact that he sees God.
To illustrate, those who see the light are within the light and partake of its splendor; so those who see God are within God and partake of his splendor. But this splendor gives them life. And for this reason, he who cannot be received and comprehended and seen offers himself so he can be seen and comprehended and received by men, in order that he might give life to those who receive and see him through faith. For, just as his greatness is unsearchable, so his goodness, because of which he is seen and bestows life on those who see him, is ineffable. For to live without life is impossible; but the support of life comes from participating in God; participating in God, however, is to know God and to enjoy his goodness.
6. Men, therefore, will see God in order that they may live, having been made immortal by the vision and having attained even unto God. As we have said, the Prophets manifested by types that God would be seen by men who bear his Spirit and always wait for his coming. Moses spoke of this in Deuteronomy, In that day we shall see God speaking with men, and yet man will live. In fact, some of them saw the prophetic Spirit and his workings that were poured out for all kinds of charisms. Others saw the Lord’s coming and the economy, which existed from the beginning, by which he fulfilled the will of his Father, both as it is in heaven and as it is on earth. Still others saw the Father’s glories fitted, according to the times, to both who at that time saw and heard, and who would hear in the future. That is how God was manifested; for through all these things the Father is revealed: the Spirit works and the Son ministers and the Father approves, and so man is perfected unto salvation. This is expressed through the Prophet Hosea: It was I who multiplied visions, he says, and through the Prophets gave parables. And the Apostle explained the same thing when he said: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but the same God, who inspires all things in all. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. But since he who works all things in all is God, he is in his nature and greatness invisible and ineffable to his creatures, but by no means unknown—for all things learn through his Word that there is one God the Father, who contains all things, and gives existence to all, as the Lord said: No one has ever seen God; except the Only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
7. So the Father’s Son reveals him from the beginning, since, of course, he is with the Father from the beginning. He consistently and harmoniously and in a timely manner showed the human race prophetic visions and diversity of graces and his own ministrations and the Father’s glorification, so as to be useful. For where consistency is, there too is harmony; and where harmony, there too timeliness; and where timeliness, there too is usefulness. For this reason the Word was made the Dispenser of the Father’s glory for the usefulness of men for whose sake he made such great economies by which he showed God to men and presented man to God. He guarded the invisibility of the Father, lest man become a despiser of God, and that he might always possess something toward which he might make progress. On the other hand, he showed God to men as visible by means of many economies, lest man, defecting from God entirely, would cease to exist. For living man is the glory of God, while the vision of God is the life of a man. To be sure, if the revelation of God through the creation bestows life on all who live on earth, much more does the manifestation of the Father through the Word bestow life on those who see God.
8. Since, therefore, God’s Spirit pointed out future things through the Prophets, preparing and fitting us beforehand, so that we might be subject to God; and since man was supposed to see God through the good pleasure of the Holy Spirit, it was necessary that those through whom the future was foretold would themselves see the God whom they predicted men would see. The purpose of this was that “God” and “God’s Son” and “the Son and the Father” might not only be spoken of prophetically, but might be seen by all the members who had been sanctified and instructed in the things of God, that man might be prepared and disciplined beforehand to apply himself to the glory that would later be revealed to those who love God. For the Prophets prophesied not only by word but also by vision, conduct, and the actions that they performed, according as the Spirit would suggest. In keeping with this, therefore, they saw the invisible God, as Isaiah said: With my eyes I have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. They signified that man saw God with his eyes and heard his voice. According to this, then, they saw also God’s Son as Man conversing with men, and while they prophesied of him who was to come, they spoke of him who was not yet present, and they announced the impassible as passible; and he who was then in heaven, they affirmed had descended into the dust of death. And of the rest of the economies of the recapitulation, some they saw by means of visions; some they preached by word; some they pointed out symbolically by action. The things that were to be seen, they saw visibly; the things that were to be heard, they preached by word; the things that were to be acted out, they carried out by action. Yet all things they announced prophetically. Consequently, to the people who had transgressed the Law, Moses said that God was fire when he threatened that a day of fire would be brought upon them by God. But to those who had the fear of God, he said: The Lord God, merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping justice and steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquities and transgressions and sins.
9. And the Word spoke with Moses, appearing before him just as one speaks with his friend. But Moses longed to see openly him who spoke with him. So he was told: You shall stand on the top of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand. And while my glory passes by you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. For man shall not see my face and live. Thus he pointed out two things: that it is impossible for man to see God; and that man will see God in these last times through God’s wisdom, on the top of the rock, that is, on his coming as Man. And for this reason, [the Lord] conversed with him face-to-face on the top of the mountain, with Elijah assisting, as the Gospel relates. Thus, in the end, he fulfilled the pristine promise.
10. So the Prophets did not see God’s very face openly but the economies and mysteries by which man would see God. So was it told to Elijah: Go forth, tomorrow, and stand before the Lord. And behold, the Lord will pass by, and behold a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a voice of a gentle air. By such ways the Prophets too, who were very indignant because of the people’s transgressions and because of the killing of the Prophets, were taught to act more gently; and the Lord’s coming, which would come after the Law given by Moses, was pointed out—[a coming] that would be gentle and tranquil, in which he neither broke the bruised reed, nor quenched the dimly burning flax. The gentle and peaceful rest of his kingdom was, likewise, manifested. For after the wind that makes the mountains crumble, and after the earthquake, and after the fire, tranquil and peaceful times of his kingdom are coming. Then God’s Spirit gives life to man with all tranquility and lets him grow.
Through Ezekiel, moreover, it was made still clearer that the Prophets saw God’s economies partly, but they did not see God himself perfectly. For when this [Prophet] had seen the appearance of God and the cherubim and the wheels, and when he had related the mystery of the entire movement, and when he had seen the likeness of a throne above them, and on the throne a likeness as of a man’s appearance, and the things that were on his loins as the appearance of amber; and when he had manifested the things below as the appearance of fire and all the rest of the vision of the throne, he added, This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, lest anyone should think that he saw God perfectly in these things.
11. If neither Moses, therefore, nor Elijah, nor Ezekiel, all of whom saw many things of the heavenly regions, saw God, but saw the likeness of God’s glory and the prophecies of the future things, it is evident that the Father is invisible. Of him the Lord, too, said, No one has ever seen God. But his Word, just as he willed and for the benefit of those who saw, revealed the Father’s glory and unfolded the economies. This, too, the Lord said, The Only-begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. And so the Revealer of the Father, the Word himself, being rich and bountiful, was not seen by those who saw him in one type, or in one feature, but according to the purposes of his economies. So it was written in Daniel. At one time he was seen by the company of Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, assisting them in the fiery furnace and in the oven and saving them from the fire. He says, The appearance of the fourth is like a son of God. At another time [he was seen] as a stone cut out of the mountain by no human hands, smiting the temporal kingdoms and winnowing them, and he himself fills the earth. Again, this same one is seen like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, and coming to the Ancient of Days, and accepting from him universal dominion and glory and kingdom. And his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed.
John, too, the Lord’s disciple, saw, in the Apocalypse, the priestly and glorious coming of his reign. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands One like a son of man, clothed with a long robe, and with a golden girdle round his breast. His head and his hair were white as wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of many waters; in his right hand he held seven stars; from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. Now, among these things he points out first the glory from the Father, as the head, and the priestly feature, as the long robes;—for this reason Moses vested the high priest according to this type—second, the end [of the world] as the bronze refined in the fire, which denotes the firmness of faith and perseverance in prayers on account of the refining fire that will come at the end of time. John could not endure the vision, for he says, I fell at his feet as though dead. Thus was fulfilled the Scripture text, No one shall see God and live. And when the Lord had revived him [John] and reminded him that he is the one in whose bosom he had reclined at the Supper and asked who it is that would betray him, he said, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. After this he saw the same Lord in a second vision. He said, Between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Again, he said of the Lamb: Then I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is “The Rod of God.” And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations; and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh was inscribed “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” Thus the Word of God always possessed something resembling sketches of things to be done by himself, and he showed to men something resembling a form of the Father’s economies, teaching us about the things of God.
12. He was seen, however, by the Prophets not only through visions that were seen and sermons that were preached in advance, but also in actions, that he might prefigure and show forth in advance future things. On this account the Prophet Hosea took a wife of harlotry, thus prophesying by action that the land will forsake the Lord by great harlotry. This means those men who are on earth; yet from among such men it will please God to take the Church, which is to be sanctified by union with his Son, just as she [Hosea’s wife] was sanctified by union with the Prophet. That is why Paul said, The unbelieving wife is consecrated through her believing husband. Moreover, the Prophet named his children Not-pitied and Not-a-people, in order that, as the Apostle explained, He who was Not-a-people might become a people; and she who was Not-pitied might obtain mercy; and in the very place where it was said. Not-a-people, there they will be called “sons of the living God.” What had been done typically by action by the Prophet, the Apostle shows has truly been done by Christ in the Church.
Another example: Moses took an Ethiopian woman as wife, thus making her an Israelite, showing in advance that the wild olive is inserted in the tame olive and will partake of its richness. For, when Christ was born according to the flesh, he had to be sought out by [his] people to be killed, but to be freed in Egypt, that is, among the Gentiles, and to sanctify those who were infants there, whence he also formed for himself a Church. (For, Egypt was from the beginning Gentile, as was also Ethiopia.) On this account the nuptials of the Word were manifested by the nuptials of Moses; and by the Ethiopian spouse was manifested the Church, which is from among the Gentiles. Those who detract, accuse, and ridicule her shall not be clean. Indeed, they will be lepers and shall be cast out of the camp of the righteous.
Still another example. The harlot Rahab, though she condemned herself as a Gentile, guilty of all sins, welcomed three spies—namely, the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit—who were spying on the entire land, and hid them in her house. When the entire city in which she lived had fallen to ruins, at the sound of the seven trumpets, the harlot Rahab together with her whole house was saved by faith in the scarlet sign. The Lord referred to this when he said to those who did not admit his coming, namely, the Pharisees, and who nullify the sign of the scarlet, which was the Passover, the redemption, and the departure of the people from Egypt, The tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you.