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.

9) But the heretics are ready to object to this with their fabulous inventions, saying: "Not in the sense in which the Son and the Father are one and similar to one another, in which the Church preaches, but in whatever sense pleases us." For they say: "Since what the Father wills, the Son wills the same, and does not contradict the Father both in commands and in judgments, but on the contrary, agrees with Him in all things, observing the identity of the commands and teaching a teaching in accordance with and closely connected with the teaching of the Father, then in this sense He and the Father are one essence." And this some of the heretics dared not only to speak, but also to write. But can anything be said more incongruous and unreasonable? For if for this reason the Son and the Father are one, and in this sense alone the Word is like the Father, it follows that the angels and other beings higher than us, principalities, powers, thrones, dominions, even visible creatures, 381 the sun, moon, and stars, like the Son, are also sons, and of them it must be said that they and the Father are one, and each of these creatures is the image of God and the Word of God. For what God wills, they also will, they do not disagree either in judgment or in commands, but in everything they are subject to the Creator. They would not remain in their glory if they themselves did not desire what the Father wants. And to him who did not abide in this agreement, but neglected it, it is said, "How does the dawn of the morning fall from heaven" (Isaiah 14:12)? In the same case, why is this one the only-begotten Son, and Word, and Wisdom? And why, with so many like the Father, is He one image? For even among men there will be found many like the Father, many martyrs, and before them were the apostles and prophets, and even before these the patriarchs. Many even now have kept the commandment of the Saviour, having become merciful, as the Father who is in heaven (Luke 6:36), and have kept what is said: "Be ye imitators of God, as a beloved child: and walk in love, as Christ also loved to eat us" (Ephesians 5:1-2). Many were made like Paul, as he was like Christ (1 Corinthians 4:16). Yet none of them is the Word, nor Wisdom, nor the only-begotten Son, nor the Image, and none of them dared to say: I and the Father are one, or: I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. On the contrary, it is said of all, Who is like unto thee in God, O Lord, Psalm 85:8? Or: who will be like the Lord in the sons of God (88:7)? It is also said of Him that the one Son is the true and by nature the image of the Father. If we also are created in the image, and are called the image and glory of God (1 Corinthians 11:7), then again we have this grace of calling, not in ourselves, but because the image of God dwells in us, and the true glory of God, that is, the Word of God, which for our sake was finally made flesh.

11) Since even such wisdom of heretics turns out to be indecent and unreasonable, it is necessary to attribute likeness and unity to the very essence of the Son. But if it is not understood in this sense, then it will turn out, according to what has been said, that the Son is in no way superior to creatures, and He will not be like the Father, but will be like the commands of the Father and will be different from the Father, because the Father is the Father, and the commands and teachings are the Father's. Therefore, if the Son is like the Father only in command and teaching, then according to their words the Father will be the Father only in name, and the Son will not be indistinct, or rather, will not have any property or likeness to the Father at all. For what likeness and attribute does he have who is different from the Father? And Paul, who teaches like the Saviour, is not like Him in essence. For this reason heretics, by reasoning in this way, are deceived.

The Son and the Father are one in the sense in which it is said. The Son is like the Father and from the Father Himself, as only one can understand and conceive of the Son in relation to the Father, as one can understand radiance in relation to the sun. Since this is the existence of the Son, when the Son does what the Father also does, and when the Son comes to the saints, he who comes in the Son is the Father, as He Himself declared, saying, "Let us come, and the Father, and we will make our abode with him" (John 14:23). For in the Image the Father is contemplated, in radiance dwells light. Therefore, as we said a little above, when the Father gives grace and peace, the Son also gives them, as Paul expresses it, writing in every epistle: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. For there is one and the same grace given from the Father in the Son, as there is one light in the sun and radiance, and the sun shines by means of radiance. Thus again, praying for the Thessalonians, and saying, "May God and our Father Himself and the Lord Jesus Christ straighten our way to you" (1 Thessalonians 3:11), Paul preserved the unity of the Father and the Son. For He did not say that they should correct it as a twofold grace given by two, but that it should be corrected, desiring to show that the Father gives grace through the Son. Wicked heretics, although they could feel ashamed, do not want to.

(12) If there were no unity, if the Word is not its own generation from the Father's essence, like radiance from light, and the Son is by nature far from the Father, then the Father alone would be sufficient to bestow grace without partaking of any of the creatures in what is given to the Creator. Now such a giving shows the unity of the Father and the Son. No one will pray for the reception of anything from the Father and from the angels or from any other creature, no one will say: God and the angel grant you, but asks of the Father and the Son because of unity and one giving. For what is given is given through the Son, and whatever the Father does, He does it all through the Son. Therefore he who receives has undoubted grace. And if the patriarch Jacob, blessing his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh, said, "God who nourishes me unto this day, the angel who delivereth me from all evil, that he may bless these offspring" (Gen. 48:15-16), then to Him who created them he added not one of the created and by nature angels, nor from the angel, and asked the blessing of his grandsons, forsaking God who nourishes him, but saying, "Who delivereth me from all evils," showing that he is not a created angel, but the Word of God, to whom he prayed 384 together with the Father, and through whom God delivers whom he wills. Knowing that He was also called the Angel of the great counsel of the Father, He called Him, and not someone else, to bless and deliver from evil. He did not desire God to bless him, but the angel to bless his grandchildren, but Whom he himself called, saying, "I will not let Thee go unless thou bless me" (32:26), and this was God, as Jacob himself says, "I saw God face to face" (v. 30), and he begged the same to bless the sons of Joseph. It is in the nature of an angel to serve God's command, and many times an angel precedes the people of God to drive out Amorite and is sent to guard the people on the way, but this is not his doing, but God who commanded him and sent him, Who alone can deliver whom He wills to deliver. Why did the Lord God Himself say to Jacob, "Behold, I am with thee, keep thee in every way; And if thou goest (28:15), again it was God who appeared to prevent Laban's wickedness, commanding Laban not to speak evil against Jacob (31:24), and Jacob himself called upon God to do no other, but to God, saying, "Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I fear him" (32:11), and conversing with the women, he said, "God will not allow Laban to do me evil" (31:7).

(13) For this reason David also besought God for deliverance: "To Thee, O Lord, I have cried out in sorrow, and Thou hast heard me." O Lord, deliver my soul from the walls of the unrighteous, and from the tongue of the flatterer (Psalm 119:1-2). To him he wrote thanksgiving, saying the words of the song in the seventeenth Psalm on the day, in which the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul, and said, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength, the Lord my strength, and my refuge, and my deliverer" (Psalm 17:1-3). And 385 Paul, having endured many persecutions, gave thanks to none other than God, saying, "The Lord has delivered me from all things, and will deliver me, in whom I trust" (2 Corinthians 1:10). None other than God blessed Abraham and Isaac. And Isaac, praying for Jacob, said, May my God bless thee, and increase thee, and multiply thee: and thou shalt be in the congregation of tongues. And may Abraham my father give thee the blessing (Genesis 28:3-4). If, however, to bless and deliver belongs to no one else, but to God, and the one who delivered Jacob was none other than the Lord Himself, and the patriarch called upon the grandchildren of Him who delivered him, then it is evident that in prayer he did not unite anyone else to God, but His Word, Which for this reason he also called an angel, because He alone reveals the Father to us.

The Apostle did the same, saying, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." For in this case the blessing was also reliable because of the inseparability of the Son from the Father, and because the grace bestowed is one and the same. Though the Father gives, it is given through the Son. Although the Son is called the giver, yet through the Son and in the Son the Father gives. I thank my God, says the Apostle in his Epistle to the Corinthians, always for you, for the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:4). The same thing can be seen in light and radiance. What illuminates the light illuminates the radiance, and what illuminates the radiance, that is, the illumination of the light itself. In the same way, when we see the Son, we also see the Father, because the Son is the Father's radiance. And thus the Father and the Son are one.

(14) But no one can say this about created things and creatures. When the Father does, none of the angels or any other creature does the same, none of the creatures is a creative cause, but they are all among the created. Moreover, they are separated and far from the One, they are different from Him by nature, and being themselves works, they cannot do what God does, they cannot, as I said before, give gifts when God bestows. Looking at the angel, no one will say that he has seen the Father. For the angels, as it is written, are the ministers of the spirits that are sent out to serve (Hebrews 1:14), and they proclaim the gifts given from God by the Word to those who receive. And the angel himself confesses of himself that he was sent by the Lord: thus, Gabriel himself confessed this to Zacharias and to the Theotokos Mary. Whoever sees the appearance of angels knows that he sees an angel, and not God. Zechariah saw the angel, and Isaiah saw the Lord. Manoe, the father of the Sampsons, saw an angel, and Moses saw God. Gideon saw an angel, and God appeared to Abraham. And whoever saw God did not say that he saw an angel, and whoever saw an angel did not think that he saw God. For there are many, or rather, completely different in nature between created beings and the God who created them.