(3) But if the Lord had spoken in this sense, then He would have to say not thus: I am in the Father, 372 and the Father in Me, but rather: I am also in the Father, and also the Father is in Me, so that this would show not His own and exclusive relation to the Father as the Son, but His common grace with all. But it is not said as the heretics think. Not acknowledging that He is the most sincere Son from the Father, they slander the most sincere Son, to Whom alone it is fitting to say of Himself: I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me. The Son is in the Father, as far as this can be comprehended, because the entire being of the Son actually belongs to the Father's essence, the Son is from the Father, as radiance from light, as a stream from a source. Therefore, whoever sees the Son, sees and represents what belongs to the Father. Thus, the being of the Son, being from the Father, is in the Father. And the Father is in the Son. For what is actually from the Father, that is, the Son. He is in the Son, as the sun is shining, as the mind is in the word, as the fountain is in the stream. Thus, whoever sees the Son sees and represents the essence proper of the Father, because the Father is in the Son. Since the existence of the Son is the Father's image and the Father's Divinity, it follows that the Son is in the Father, and the Father is in the Son. Therefore the Saviour, having rightly said before: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30), added: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me," in order to show the identity of the Godhead and the unity of essence.

(4) They are one, not in the sense that the one is divided into two parts, which are one, nor in the sense that the one is named twice, so that one and the same is sometimes the Father, and sometimes the Son of himself; Savely, who thought so, was recognized as a heretic. On the contrary, the two are in number, because the Father is the Father, and He is not the Son, and the Son is the Son, and He is not the Father, but the nature is one, because the Birth is not unlike Him who begat and is His image, and everything that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son. Therefore the Son is not another God, for he did not invent it on his own. Otherwise, without a doubt, there would be many gods, if an alien Divinity were invented, except for the Divinity of the Father. If the Son is anything other than begotten, then He is the same as God. He and the Father are one, as it is said by the nature and affinity of nature and by the identity of the one Godhead. For the radiance is light, and not the second thing after the sun, not another light, not light according to the communion of light, but its own creation. Such a generation is necessarily one light, and no one will say that these are two lights, but although the sun and the radiance are two, yet one is the light from the sun, shining everywhere in radiance. In the same way, the Divinity of the Son is the Divinity of the Father, and therefore it is indivisible, and thus God is one, and there is none else besides Him.

Since They are one, and the Godhead is one and the same, then, apart from the name "Father," the same is said of the Son, as is said of the Father; thus, for example, the Son is called God: and God is the Word, — the Almighty: this saith Who was, and this, and is coming, the Almighty (Apoc. 1:8), — the Lord: there is one Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6). It is said that the Son is light: "I am light" (John 8:12), he blots out sins: but let it be known, it is said, that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins (Luke 5:24). And you will find many other things. For the Son Himself says, "Everything that the Father has is mine" (John 17:15), and again, "Mine is "Yours" (v. 10).

5) Whoever hears that what is proper to the Father is said about the Son, he will also see the Father in the Son, and he will also see the Son in the Father, when the saying about the Son is also said about the Father. Why, then, is it said of the Son 374 that which is proper to the Father? Is it not because the Son is the Father's birth? Why then does that which is proper to the Son belong to the Father? Is it not because the Son is the Father's own begetting? Being the Father's own begetting, the Son rightly calls His own that which belongs to the Father.

Wherefore it is fitting and in accordance with what has been said, "I and the Father are one," he added, "That ye may understand that I am in the Father, and the Father in me," and before that he also said, "He who has seen me is in the sight of the Father" (14:9). And these three sayings have the same meaning. Thus, whoever understands that the Son and the Father are one, knows that the Son is in the Father, and the Father in the Son, because the Divinity of the Son is the Divinity of the Father, and it is the same in the Son. And whoever has comprehended this believes that he who has seen the Son is in the form of the Father, because in the Son the Divinity of the Father is contemplated.

The same can be seen more closely by some in the likeness of the royal image, because in the image there is the form and image of the king, and in the king there is the appearance of the image represented in the image, the likeness of the king represented in the image is not different from him, which is why whoever looks at the image sees the king in it, and vice versa, whoever looks at the king recognizes that he is represented in the image. And because of this indifference of similarity, one who wants to see the king after the image can say: "I and the king are one and the same, I am in him, and he is in me. What you see in me, you will see in him, and what you saw in him, you will see in me." For this reason, whoever worships the image worships the king in it, because the image is his image and appearance. Thus, since the Son is the image of the Father, it is necessary to imagine that the Divinity of the Father and what is proper to Him is the being of the Son. This is what it means: Who is in the image of God, and the Father is in Me. 375

6) And not only in part the image of the Godhead, but the fullness of the Father's Godhead is the being of the Son, and the Son is the whole God. Wherefore, being equal to God, not by the rapture of not being equal to God (Phil 2:6). And again, since the Divinity and the image of the Son belong not to anyone else, but to the Father, this is the meaning of what is said: I am in the Father. Thus, God is in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). For the Son is the property of the Father's essence, in Him the creature is reconciled to God. So what the Son did, all that is, the works of the Father. For the Son is the image of the Father's Godhead, Who has done works. Thus, whoever looks at the Son sees the Father, for in the Father's Godhead the Son is and is contemplated, and the Father's image in the Son shows the Father in Him, and thus the Father in the Son. And the Divinity proper to the Father in the Son shows the Son in the Father, and that the Son is always not separated from the Father. And whoever hears or sees the predicate of the Father as also of the Son, not in the sense that by grace or by communion it has been brought into the essence of the Son, but in the sense that the very existence of the Son is the Father's own birth, he, according to what has been noted above, will well understand what is said: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, and I and the Father are one. The Son is the same as the Father, because He has everything that belongs to the Father, and therefore is implied with the name of the Father, no one will call him Father when there is no Son. Whoever calls God the Creator does not necessarily mean the created, because the Creator is before creatures, but whoever calls God Father, together with the Father, gives us to understand the existence of the Son. Therefore whoever believes in the Son believes in the Father, because he believes in the proper nature of the Father. And thus, there is only faith in One God. Whoever worships the Son and honors Him, in 376 the Son worships the Father and honors the Father, because the Godhead is one. Therefore there is one honor and one worship, namely that which is given to the Father in the Son and through Him, and he who worships so worships the One God, because God is one, and there is none else besides Him.

Wherefore, when one Father is called God, and it is said that God is one, I am, and there is no God except me (Deuteronomy 32:39), and I am the first, and I am after these (Isaiah 44:6), then this is beautifully said, because there is one God, the only and the first. But this is not said in denial of the Son. Let it not be so! For He is also in the one, and in the first, and in the only, as the only Word of the one, and the first, and the only, His Wisdom and radiance. But He Himself is the first and fulfillment of the first and only Godhead, the all-complete and perfect God. Therefore this is not said for His sake, but shows that there is no other like the Father, and like His Word. And this meaning of the prophetic words is clear and obvious to everyone.

(7) But the wicked, even by showing this out, blaspheme the Lord and reproach us, saying: "Behold, God is called one, the only and the first, how then do you say that the Son is God? If the Son were God, then God Himself would not have said: I am the only one, or: God is one." Therefore, it is necessary, as much as possible, to explain the meaning of these sayings, so that from this everyone will understand that the Arians are truly atheists.

If the Son has a rivalry with the Father, then let them hear such words. Or if, as David heard about Adonijah and Absalom, so the Father looks to the Son, let him speak to himself and pronounce such words, so that the 377 Son, calling himself the Son, does not distract others from the Father. But if anyone knows the Son, he knows the Father better, because the Son Himself reveals the Father to him, and he, as it is said, will see the Father better in the Word; And the Son, when he came, glorified not himself, but the Father, when he said to him who came to him, "Why do you say good things to me?" No one is good, but God alone (Matthew 19:17), and to him who asked, "What is the greatest commandment in the law?" (22:36) He answered, "Hear, O Israel; The Lord thy God the Lord is one (Mark 12:29), and He said to the people, "I have come down from heaven, not that I may do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38), and He taught the disciples, "My Father is greater than Me" (14:28), and "Whoever honors Me honors Him who sent Me" (5:23), if I say that the Son is such to His Father, then what opposition is there between Them, that such a suspicion should be deduced from such utterances? On the other hand, if the Son is the Word of the Father, then who, except for the Christ-fighters, will have the folly to think that God spoke such words in slander, and denial of His Word? This is not a Christian thought. Let it not be so. This was not written for the sake of the Son, but for the deposition of falsely named gods invented by men. And this meaning of their utterances has a good reason.

8) Since those who are devoted to falsely named gods deviate from the true God, then, as a good and benevolent God for people, calling out to those who have gone astray, He says: I am God alone, and I am, and there is no God except Me (Deuteronomy 32:39), and with similar words, in order to put to shame what does not exist, but to turn all to Himself. And as if a man in the middle of the day, and in the light of the sun, were to paint a mere tree, which has no ghost of light in it, and were to say that this image is the cause of the light, and the sun, looking at it, 378 would say, "I alone am the light of day, and there is no other daylight besides me," it will say this, meaning not its own radiance, but the deception produced by the image of a tree and the dissimilarity of the empty inscription. In the same way, the sayings "I am" and "I am one God, and are I not" spoken in order to turn people away from falsely named gods and to teach them to finally know the true God. Without a doubt, God spoke this through His Word, unless the Jews of today would add that God did not speak this through the Word. But although these children of the devil are possessed, so it is said in the Scriptures, for the word of the Lord was to the prophet, and he heard it. But if the Word was the Lord's, and the Lord spoke it through the Word, and what God says and does, He says and does not otherwise than in the Word, then of course, God-fighters, this was not said for His sake, but because of those who are alien and do not exist from Him. For even according to the likeness said above, if the sun had spoken the words mentioned before, it would not have its radiance outside, but in its radiance, revealing its light, it would have rebuked error and spoken what had been said. Consequently, such sayings are not used to deny the Son and not for His sake, but to overthrow falsehood.

God did not speak such words to Adam in the beginning, although the Word was with Him, which was all things. There was no need then, because there were no idols. But when men rebelled against the truth and named to themselves what gods they wanted, then there arose the need for such utterances to depose the bearing gods. And I would add that such utterances were spoken in advance to bring to their senses the folly of the Christ-fighters, so that they might know that the god they invent outside of the Father's essence is not the true one, nor is he the image and son of the only and first God. 379

(9) Therefore, if the Father is called the only true God, it is not in denial of Him Who said, "I am the truth" (John 14:6), but again in denial of those who do not have the property of being true as the Father and as His Word. For the Lord Himself directly added: "And Him hast thou sent Jesus Christ" (17:3). And if He had been a creature, He would not have added Himself and would not have numbered Himself among Him Who created Him. For what fellowship hath the true with the untrue? Now, having united Himself to the Father, He showed that He was the Father of nature, and He gave us to understand that the true He is the birth of the true Father. Understanding this, John also taught us, writing in the epistle: "And let us be in truth, in His Son Jesus Christ." This is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20). And since the prophet says of creation, "The heavens are one" (Job 9:8), and God Himself, "I have spread out the heavens one" (Isaiah 44:24), it has become evident to everyone that by the word "one" is also signified the Word of the One, in Whom all things were, and without Him there was nothing (John 1:3). Thus, if the creation came into being by the Word, God says: I am one, then together with the One there is also the Son, by Whom the heavens were created. Thus, if it is said: God is one, and I am one, and I am first, then the Word is understood to be co-existent in the One, the only and the first, as radiance in the light. And this cannot be understood of anyone other than the one Word, because all other things are produced by the Son out of nothing, and are far removed by nature. And the Son Himself, by nature of the Father, is the true birth.

Therefore the saying of Az the first, which these foolish ones thought to present in defense of their heresy, more denounces their wickedness. God says: Az 380 is the first, and Az is after these. If, therefore, as one who is numbered among the creatures that follow Him, He is called the first of them, and therefore the creatures are second to Him, then in your opinion He Himself will surpass the creatures only in one time. And this alone is above all wickedness. If, in order to signify that He is not from anyone else, that there is nothing before Him, but that He Himself is the beginning and cause of all things, and in refutation of the Hellenic fables, He said: I am the first, then it is evident that when the Son is called the firstborn, He is called the firstborn, not because He is numbered among the creatures, but in testimony that all are created and adopted through the Son. For as the Father is the first, so is the Son, inasmuch as He is the image of the First and the first abides in Him, is the first, but also is born of the Father, and in Him every creature is created and adopted as sons.