Christ: God of God

The list of quotes cited here is taken from David W. Bercot’s A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, published by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts in 1998.

The author will mention the particular volume and page number of the ten-volume set of The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, 1885–1887, reprinted by Hendrickson in 1994). For instance, this 1.144 means volume 1, p. 144. Bercot will also signify whether the Christian writer is an eastern and/or western theologian/apologist.

Here are the links where this set can be accessed online:

Early Church Fathers

The Early Christian Church Fathers.38Volumes.

All emphasis will be mine.

I. Divinity of the Son

He is Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, “Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness.” Barnabas (c. 70130, E), 1.139.

Let us reverence the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was given for us. Clement of Rome (c. 96, W), 1.11.

God Himself was manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life. Ignatius (c. 105, E), 1.58.

Continue in intimate union with Jesus Christ, our God. Ignatius (c. 105, E), 1.68.

I pray for your happiness forever in our God, Jesus Christ. Ignatius (c. 105, E), 1.96.

The Christians trace the beginning of their religion to Jesus the Messiah. He is called the Son of the Most High God. It is said that God came down from heaven. He assumed flesh and clothed Himself with it from a Hebrew virgin. And the Son of God lived in a daughter of man. Aristides (c. 125, E), 9.265.

Truly God Himself, who is Almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible, has sent from heaven, and placed among men, the One who is the truth, and the holy and incomprehensible Word. . . . God did not, as one might have imagined, send to men any servant, angel, or ruler. . . . Rather, He sent the very Creator and Fashioner of all things—by whom He made the heavens. . . . As a king sends his son, who is also a king, so God sent Him. He sent Him as God. Letter to Diognetus (c. 125–200), 1.27.

Brethren, it is fitting that you should think of Jesus Christ as of God—as the Judge of the living and the dead. Second Clement (c. 150), 7.517.

We reasonably worship Him, having learned that He is the Son of the true God Himself, and holding Him in the second place. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.166.

The Word, . . . He is Divine. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.166.

The Father of the universe has a Son. And He, being the First-Begotten Word of God, is even God. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.184.

Next to God, we worship and love the Word who is from the unbeggoten and ineffable God. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.193.

For Christ is King, Priest, God, Lord, Angel, and Man. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.211.

[TRYPHO, A JEW:] You utter many blasphemies, in that you seek to persuade us that this crucified man was with Moses and Aaron, and spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.213.

Moses . . . declares that He who appeared to Abraham under the oak in Mamre is God. He was sent with the two angels in His company to judge Sodom by another One, who remains ever in the supercelestial places, invisible to all men, holding personal contact with no one. We believe this other One to be the Maker and Father of all things. . . . Yet, there is said to be another God and Lord subject to the Maker of all things. And He is also called an Angel, because he announces to men whatsoever the Maker of all things above whom there is no other God—wishes to announce to them. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.223.

He deserves to be worshipped as God and as Christ. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.229.

David predicted that He would be born from the womb before the sun and moon, according to the Father’s will. He made Him known, being Christ, as God, strong and to be worshipped. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.237.

The Son ministered to the will of the Father. Yet, nevertheless, He is God, in that He is the First-Begotten of all creatures. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.262.

If you had understood what has been written by the prophets, you would not have denied that He was God, Son of the Only, Unbegotten, Unutterable God. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.263.

“Rejoice, O you heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship Him” [Deut. 32:43]. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.264.

He is forever the first in power. For Christ, being the First-Born of every creature, became again the chief of another race regenerated by Himself through water, faith, and wood. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.268.

Then did the whole creation see clearly that for man’s sake the Judge was condemned, and the Invisible was seen, and the Illimitable was circumscribed, and the Impassible suffered, and the Immortal died, and the Celestial was laid in the grave. Melito (c. 170, E), 8.756.

God was put to death, the King of Israel slain! Melito (c. 170, E), 8.758.

There is the one God and the Logos proceeding from Him, the Son. We understand that the Son is inseparable from Him. Athenagoras (c. 175, E), 2.137.

God by His own Word and Wisdom made all things. Theophilus (c. 180, E), 2.91.

“Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of Your kingdom is a right scepter. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, Your God, has anointed You.” For the Spirit designates by the name of God both Him who is anointed as Son, and He who anoints, that is, the Father. And again, “God stood in the congregation of the gods; He judges among the gods.” Here he refers to the Father and the Son, and those who have received the adoption. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.419.

For He fulfills the bountiful and comprehensive will of His Father, inasmuch as He is Himself the Savior of those who are saved, and the Lord of those who are under authority, and the God of all those things that have been formed, the Only-Begotten of the Father. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.443.

I have shown from the Scriptures that none of the sons of Adam are, absolutely and as to everything, called God, or named Lord. But Jesus is Himself in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, Lord, King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word. . . . He is the Holy Lord, the Wonderful, the Counselor, the Beautiful in appearance, and the Mighty God. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.449.

Thus He indicates in clear terms that He is God, and that His advent was in Bethlehem. . . . God, then, was made man, and the Lord did Himself save us. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.451.

He is God, for the name Emmanuel indicates this. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.452.

Christ Himself, therefore, together with the Father, is the God of the living, who spoke to Moses, and who was also manifested to the fathers. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.467.

Now the father of the human race is the Word of God. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.505.

How can they be saved unless it was God who worked out their salvation upon earth? Or how shall man pass into God, unless God has first passed into man? Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.507.

It is plain that He was Himself the Word of God, who was made the son of man. He received from the Father the power of remission of sins. He was man, and He was God. This was so that since as man He suffered for us, so as God He might have compassion on us. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.545.

He is God in the form of man, stainless, the minister of His Father’s will, the Word who is God, who is in the Father, who is at the Father’s right hand. And with the form of God, He is God. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.210.

There is a suggestion of the divinity of the Lord in [Isaac’s] not being slain. Jesus rose again after His burial, having suffered no harm—just like Isaac was released from being sacrificed. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.215.

O the great God! O the perfect child! The Son in the Father and the Father in the Son. . . . God the Word, who became man for our sakes. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.215.

The Father of all is alone perfect, for the Son is in Him and the Father is in the Son. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.222.

Our Instructor is the holy God Jesus, the Word. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.223.

Nothing, then, is hated by God, nor yet by the Word. For both are one—that is, God. For He has said, “In the beginning the Word was in God, and the Word was God.” Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.225.

He who has the Almighty God, the Word, is in want of nothing. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.281.

Pointing to the First-Begotten Son, Peter writes, accurately comprehending the statement, “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.” And He is called Wisdom by all the prophets. This is He who is the Teacher of all created beings. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.493.

The best thing on earth is the most pious man. The best thing in heaven, the nearer in place and purer, is an angel, the partaker of the eternal and blessed life. But the nature of the Son, which is nearest to Him who is alone the Almighty One, is the most perfect, most holy, most potent, most princely, most kingly, and most beneficent. This is the highest excellence, who orders all things in accordance with the Father’s will and holds the helm of the universe in the best way. . . . The Son of God is never displaced . . . being always everywhere and being contained nowhere. He is complete mind, complete paternal light. He is all eyes, seeing all things, hearing all things, knowing all things. . . . All the host of angels and gods are placed in subjection to Him. He, the paternal Word, exhibits the holy administration for Him who put [all things] in subjection to Him. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.524.

The Son is the cause of all good things, by the will of the Almighty Father. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.525.

He is the true Only-Begotten, the express image of the glory of the universal King and Almighty Father, who impresses on the man of God the seal of the perfect contemplation, according to His own image. So that there is now a third divine image, made as far as possible like the Second Cause, the Essential Life. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.527.

Nor do we differ from the Jews concerning God. We must make, therefore, a remark or two as to Christ’s divinity. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.34.

Search, then, and see if the divinity of Christ is true. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.36.

To all He is equal, to all King, to all Judge, to all God and Lord. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.158.

Christ’s name is extending everywhere, believed everywhere, worshipped by all the above-enumerated nations, reigning everywhere. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.158.

This opens the ears of Christ our God. Tertullian (c. 200, W), 3.715.

We who believe that God really lived on earth, and took upon Him the low estate of human form, for the purpose of man’s salvation, are very far from thinking as those do who refuse to believe that God cares for anything. . . . Fortunately, however, it is a part of the creed of Christians even to believe that God did die, and yet that He is alive forevermore. Tertullian (c. 207, W), 3.309.

Christ is received in the person of Christ, because even in this manner is He our God. Tertullian (c. 207, W), 3.319.

He is not on this account to be regarded as an angel—as a Gabriel or a Michael. . . . Since He is the Spirit of God and the Power of the Highest, can He be regarded as lower than the angels? He who is truly God and the Son of God? Tertullian (c. 210, W), 3.534.

For so did the Father previously say to the Son: “Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.” Tertullian (c. 210, W), 3.549.

If God had willed not to be born, He would not have presented Himself in the likeness of man. Tertullian (c. 210, W), 3.522.

Christ never used that familiar phrase of all the prophets, “Thus saith the Lord.” For He was Himself the Lord, who openly spoke by His own authority, prefacing his words with the phrase, “Truly, truly, I say unto you.” Tertullian (c. 210, W), 3.534.

“Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord,” that is to say, the Son in the Father’s name. And as for the Father’s names—God Almighty, the Most High, the Lord of Hosts, the King of Israel, the One Who Is—the Scriptures teach us and we say that they belonged suitably to the Son also. We say that the Son came under these designations and has always acted in them and has thus manifested them in Himself to men. He says, “All things that the Father has are mine.” Then, why not His names also? Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.613.

How is it that the Son suffered, yet the Father did not suffer with Him? [The answer is that] the Father is separate from the Son, though not separated from Him as God. For example, a river flows from a fountain identical in nature with it, and it is not separated from the fountain. Nevertheless, if the river is soiled with mire and mud, the injury that affects the stream does not reach to the fountain. To be sure, it is the water of the fountain that suffers downstream. Nevertheless, since it is not affected at the fountain (but only at the river) the fountain suffers nothing. Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.626.

Although He endured the cross, yet as God He returned to life, having trampled upon death. For His God and Father addresses Him, and says, “Sit at my right hand.” Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.166, 167.

By the Ancient of Days, he means none other than the Lord, God, and Ruler of all—even of Christ Himself, who makes the days old and yet does not become old Himself by times and days. “His dominion is an everlasting dominion.” The Father, having put all things in subjection to His own Son—both things in heaven and things on earth—presented Him as the First-Begotten of God. He did this in order that, along with the Father, He might be approved before angels as the Son of God and be manifested as also the Lord of angels. Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.189.

Christ’s body lay in the tomb, not emptied of divinity. Rather, while in Hades, He was in essential being with His Father. Yet, He was also in the body and in Hades. For the Son is not contained in space, just as the Father is not. And he comprehends all things in Himself. Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.194.

Who, then, was in heaven but the Word unincarnate—who was sent to show that He was upon earth and was also in heaven? Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.225.

Having been made man, He is still God forever. For to this effect, John also has said, “Who is, and who was, and who is to come—the Almighty.” And he has appropriately called Christ “the Almighty.” For in this, he has said only what Christ testifies of Himself. For Christ gave this testimony and said, “All things are delivered unto me by my Father.” Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.225.

Besides, there are writings of certain brethren older than the times of Victor, which they wrote against the pagans in defense of the truth and against the heresies of their day. . . . For who is ignorant of the books of Irenaeus and Melito, and the rest, which declare Christ to be God and man? All the psalms, too, and hymns of brethren—which have been written from the beginning by the faithful—celebrate Christ the Word of God, ascribing divinity to Him. Eusebius, quoting Caius (c. 215, W), 5.601.

No one should be offended that the Savior is also God, seeing God is the Father. Likewise, since the Father is called Omnipotent, no one should be offended that the Son of God is also called Omnipotent. For in this way, the words will be true that He says to the Father: “All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.” Now, if all things that are the Father’s are also Christ’s, certainly one of those things is the omnipotence of the Father. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.250.

“The works that the Father does, these the Son does likewise.” And again He says that the Son cannot do anything of Himself, but only what He sees the Father do. For the Son in no way differs from the Father in the power of His works. The work of the Son is not a different thing from that of the Father. Rather, it is one and the same movement. . . . He therefore called Him a stainless mirror, that by such an expression it might be understood that there is no dissimilarity whatever between the Son and the Father. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.251.

Jesus Christ Himself is the Lord and Creator of the soul. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.271.

He Himself is everywhere and passes swiftly through all things. For we are no longer to understand Him as existing in those narrow limits in which He was once confined for our sakes. He is not in that circumscribed body that He occupied on earth, when dwelling among men—according to which He might be considered as enclosed in one particular place. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.299.

Every beginning of those families that have a relation to God as to the Father of all, took its beginning lower down with Christ, who is next to the God and Father of all, being thus the Father of every soul, as Adam is the father of all men. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.370, 371.

No one will logically think this Son of God, in respect of the Word being God, is to be contained in any place. . . . For it is absurd to say that Christ was in Peter and in Paul, but not in Michael the archangel, nor in Gabriel. And from this, it is distinctly shown that the divinity of the Son of God was not shut up in some place. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.377.

We might say of Christ, that by nature His first principle [Gr. arche] is deity. However, in relation to us, who cannot comprehend the whole truth about Him because of its very greatness, His first principle is His manhood. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.307.

If it is permitted to say this, I consider that the beginning of real existence was the Son of God, who says, “I am the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.” . . . Now, God is altogether one and simple. But, for many reasons, our Savior is made many things—since God set Him forth as a propitiation and a first fruits of the whole creation. . . . The whole creation, so far as it is capable of redemption, stands in need of Him. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.308.

Should anyone inquire whether all that the Father knows . . . is known to our Savior also, and should he—imagining that he will thereby glorify the Father show that some things known to the Father are unknown to the Son . . . we must remind him that it is from His being the truth that He is Savior. Accordingly, if He is the complete truth, then there is nothing true that He does not know. Truth must not limp for the want of the things that—according to these persons—are known to the Father only. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.313.

One cannot be in the Father or with the Father except by ascending upwards from below and first coming to the divinity of the Son—through which one may be led by the hand and brought to the blessedness of the Father himself. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.313.

The arrangement of the sentences seem to indicate an order. First we have, “In the beginning was the Word.” Next, “And the Word was with God.” And thirdly, “And the Word was God.” It was arranged this way so that it might be seen that it is the Word’s being with God that makes Him God. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.323.

He is said to have a name written that no one knows but He Himself. For there are some things that are known to the Word alone. For the beings that come into existence after Him have a poorer nature than His. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.327.

The Canaanite woman came and worshipped Jesus as God, saying, “Lord help me.” Origen (c. 245, E), 9.446.

He is perceived as being the Word, for He was God in the beginning with God. He reveals the Father. Origen (c. 245, E), 9.452.

We now believe Jesus Himself, when He speaks respecting his divinity: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Origen (c. 248, E), 4.426.

The Gospels do not consider Him who in Jesus said these words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” to have been of so circumscribed a nature so as to have had an existence nowhere out of the soul and body of Jesus. . . . Jesus himself, in raising the minds of His disciples to higher thoughts of the Son of God, says: “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of you.” . . . We quote these passages, making no distinction between the Son of God and Jesus. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.434.

The divinity of Jesus is established by these things: the existence of the churches of the saved, the prophecies uttered concerning Him, the cures brought about in His name, and the wisdom and knowledge that are in Him. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.477.

The Word that was in the beginning with God (who is also very God) may come to us. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.499.

Every prayer, supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving is to be sent up to the Supreme God through the High Priest—the living Word and God, who is above all the angels. And to the Word himself will we also pray, make intercessions, and offer thanksgiving. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.544.

Although we may call him a second God, let men know that by the term, “second God,” we mean nothing else than a Virtue capable of including all other virtues, and a Reason capable of containing all reason. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.561.

These are not the words of Christians. Rather, they are of those who are altogether alienated from salvation and who neither acknowledge Jesus as Savior, nor God, nor Teacher, nor Son of God. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.587.

The architect of this world is the Son of God. His Father is the first God and Sovereign Ruler over all things. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.595.

“The people who sat in darkness (the Gentiles) saw a great light”—the God Jesus. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.603.

If the same question is put to us in regard to the worship of Jesus, we will show that the right to be honored was given to Him by God “so that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” For the prophecies that preceded His birth were preparations for His worship. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.642.

[CELSUS SAYS:] “If these people worshipped one God alone and no other, they would perhaps have some valid argument against the worship of others. But they pay excessive reverence to one who has but lately appeared among men. And they think it is no offense against God if they worship His servant also.” To this we reply, that if Celsus had known that saying, “I and My Father are one,” and the words used in prayer by the Son of God, “As you and I are one,” he would not have thought that we worship any others besides Him who is the Supreme God. For he says, “My Father is in Me and I in Him.” . . . However, from these words, someone may be afraid of my joining those who deny that the Father and the Son are two persons. If so, let him weigh the following passage: “And the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and of one soul,” so he may understand the meaning of the saying, “I and My Father are one.” We therefore worship one God—the Father and the Son—as I have explained. So our argument against the worship of other gods still continues valid. And we do not “reverence beyond measure one who has but lately appeared,” as though He did not exist before. For we believe Him when He says, “Before Abraham was, I am.”. . . We worship, therefore, the Father of truth and the Son, who is the truth. And although they are two Persons or Beings, they are one in unity of thought, harmony, and identity of will. So entirely are they one that he who has seen the Son . . . has seen in Him (who is the image of God) God Himself. . . . Accordingly, we worship with all our power the one God and His only Son—the Word and the image of God—by prayers and supplications. And we offer our petitions to the God of the universe through His Only-Begotten Son. To the Son, we first present them, and beseech Him, as “the propitiation for our sins,” and our High Priest, to offer our desires, sacrifices, and prayers to the Most High. Our faith, therefore, is directed to God through His Son. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.643, 644.

To explain this fully, and to justify the conduct of the Christians in refusing homage to any object except the Most High God and the First-Born of all creation (who is His Word and is God), we must quote this from Scripture. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.639.

We sing hymns to the Most High alone and to his Only-Begotten, who is the Word and God. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.665.

Why, then, should man hesitate to call Christ “God,” when he observes that He is declared to be God by the Father, according to the Scriptures? . . . Reasonably, then, whoever acknowledges Him to be God may find salvation in Christ as God. Whoever does not acknowledge Him to be God will lose salvation that he could not find elsewhere than in Christ as God. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.621.

In what way do they [the heretics] receive Christ as God? For now they cannot deny Him to be God. Do they receive Him as God the Father or God the Son? If as the Son, why do they deny that the Son of God is God? If as the Father, why do they not follow those who appear to maintain blasphemies of that kind? Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.621.

This saying can be true of no man: “I and the Father are one.” Christ alone declared this utterance out of the consciousness of His divinity. Finally, the apostle Thomas, instructed in all the proofs and conditions of Christ’s divinity, says in reply to Christ, “My Lord and my God.” Besides, the Apostle Paul says, “ . . . of whom Christ came according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever.” Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.622.

Therefore, He is not only man, but God also, since all things are by Him. . . . If Christ is only man, how is He present wherever He is called upon? For it is not the nature of man, but of God, to be present in every place. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.623.

If Christ was only man, how did he say, “Before Abraham was, I am?” For no man can be before someone from whom he himself has descended. Nor can it be that anyone could have been prior to him of whom he himself has taken his origin. Yet, Christ, although He was born of Abraham, says that He is before Abraham. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.624, 625.

How can it be said that “I and the Father are one,” if He is not both God and the Son? Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.625.

He strongly refuted his adversaries by the example and witness of the Scriptures. He said, “If He called them gods, to whom the words of God were given, and the Scriptures cannot be broken, you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into this world ‘You blaspheme’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” By these words, He did not deny Himself to be God, but rather, He confirmed the assertion that He was God. . . . Nevertheless, He refuted the charge of blasphemy in a fitting manner with lawful tact. For He wished that He should be thus understood to be God, as the Son of God. He would not wish to be understood to be the Father Himself. . . . He is God, therefore, but God in such a manner as to be the Son, not the Father. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.625.

All heavenly things, earthly things, and things under the earth are subjected to Christ—even the angels themselves, with all other creatures. And since many who are subjected to Christ are called gods, rightly also Christ is God. And if any angel at all subjected to Christ can be called god, and this, if it be said, is also professed without blasphemy, certainly much more can this be fitting for Christ Himself, the Son of God, to be called God. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.631.

If Christ had been only man, He would have been spoken of as being in “the image of God,” not “in the form of God.” Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.633.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and God. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.359.

God the Father ordained His Son to be worshipped. The Apostle Paul, mindful of the divine command, lays it down and says, “God has exalted Him and given Him a name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow—of things heavenly, and things earthly, and things beneath.” And in the Apocalypse, the angel rebukes John . . . and says: “Worship Jesus the Lord.” Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.491.

Christ is God. . . . In Isaiah: . . . “For God is in you and there is no other God beside you. For you are God, and we knew it not, O God of Israel, our Savior.” . . . Moreover, in Jeremiah, “This is our God, and no other will be esteemed beside Him, who has found all the way of knowledge and has given it to Jacob His son and to Israel, his beloved. After this, He was seen upon earth, and he conversed with men” [Baruch 3:35–37]. . . . Also, in the forty-fourth Psalm: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. . . . Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows. . . . Also, in the sixty-seventh Psalm: “Sing unto God, sing praises unto his name. Make a way for Him who goes up into the west. God is his name.” . . .

Also, in the Gospel according to John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Also, . . . Thomas answered and said unto Him, “My Lord and my God.” . . . Also, Paul said to the Romans: . . . “Christ came, who is God over all, blessed forever.” Also, in the Apocalypse: “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. . . . He that overcomes will possess these things and their inheritance. And I will be his God and he will be my son.” . . . Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: “And you will call His name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, ‘God with us.’” Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.517, 518.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, is the Son of God the Father and Creator. Seventh Council of Carthage (c. 256, W), 5.567.

“He is” because He endures continually. “He was,” because with the Father, He made all things. Victorinus (c. 280, W), 7.344.

Since He truly was and is, being in the beginning with God, and being God, He is the chief Commander and Shepherd of the heavenly ones. Methodius (c. 290, E), 6.318.

These testimonies of the prophets foretold that it would come to pass that the Jews would lay hands upon their God and put Him to death. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.121.

We believe Him to be God. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.139.

Do these [pagans], then, hear with offended ears that Christ is worshipped and that He is accepted by us and regarded as a Divine Person? Arnobius (c. 305, E), 6.423.

You [pagans] say that we worship one who was born a human being. . . . Yet, in consideration of the many generous gifts He has bestowed on us, He should be called and be addressed as God. Since He is God in reality and without any shadow of doubt, do you think that we will deny that He is worshipped by us with all the fervor we are capable of. . . . “Is that Christ of yours a god, then?” some raving, angry, and excited man will say. “A God,” we will reply, “And God of the inner powers.” . . . He was sent to us by the King Supreme for a purpose of the very highest significance. Arnobius (c. 305, E), 6.424.

Christ performed all those miracles . . . by the inherent might of His authority. For this was the proper duty of true Divinity, as was consistent with His nature, as was worthy of Him. Arnobius (c. 305, E), 6.425.

Christ assisted both the good and the bad. . . . For this is the mark of true Divinity and of kingly power: to deny his bounty to none and not to consider who merits it or who does not. Arnobius (c. 305, E), 6.426.

He was God on high, God in His inmost nature, God from unknown realism, and He was sent by the Ruler of all as a Savior God. . . . When freed from the body—which He carried about as only a very small part of Himself—He allowed Himself to be seen. Arnobius (c. 305, E), 6.428.

If what we say is admitted to be true, He is proved to have been God by the confession of everyone. Arnobius (c. 305, E), 6.429.

We profess that Christ is not a mere man, but is God the Word and man, the Mediator between God and men. He is the High Priest of the Father. Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E), 7.454; extended discussion: 3.597–3.627, 5.515–5.520, 5.611–5.644. (Pp. 201-215)

And:

C. God of God

I will give you another testimony . . . from Scriptures, that God begat before all creatures a Beginning, a certain rational Power . . . who is called by the Holy Spirit, sometimes the Glory of the Lord, sometimes the Son, again Wisdom, again an Angel, then God, and then Lord, and Logos. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.227.

Those persons hold a far more appropriate [view of Christ] than do those others who equate the begetting of the eternal Word of God to the begetting of words to which men give utterance. For they assign to Him a beginning and course of production, just as they do their own words. If that were true, in what respect would the Word of God—yes, God Himself, since He is the Word differ from the words of men? For He would follow the same order and process of generation. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.488.

As also the Lord said: “The only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared Him.” Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.491.

He is Prince of the angelic powers, God of God, and Son of the Father. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/ W), 1.577.

We have been taught that He proceeds forth from God, and in that procession He is generated. So that He is the Son of God, and is called God from unity of substance with God. For God, too, is a Spirit. Even when the ray is shot from the sun, it is still part of the parent mass. The sun will still be in the ray, because it is a ray of the sun. There is no division of substance, but merely an extension of it. . . . Thus Christ is Spirit of Spirit, and God of God—just as light is kindled from light. The material root remains entire and unimpaired, even though you derive from it any number of offshoots possessed of its qualities. So, too, that which has come forth out of God is at once God and the Son of God, and the two are one. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.34.

The Word was in the beginning “with God,” the Father. It was not the Father who was with the Word. For although the Word was God, he was with God, for He is God of God. Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.610.

It indicates the return to the glory that He had by nature. If we understand it correctly, actually His glory is merely restored to Him. For, as the Only-Begotten Word of God, being God of God, He emptied himself, according to the Scriptures, humbling himself of His own will to that which He was not before. And He took upon Himself this vile flesh and appeared in the “form of a servant.” And He “became obedient to God the Father, even unto death.” So hereafter He is said to be “highly exalted.” . . . He “receives the name that is above every name,” according to the word of the blessed Paul. But the matter, in truth, was not a “giving”—as if for the first time—of what He did not have by nature. It is far otherwise. We must understand it as a return and restoration to that which existed in Him at the beginning, essentially and inseparably. Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.167.

There is a great risk of saying that the Savior of the human race was only human. . . . For this contempt shown by the heretics also attacks God the Father —as if God the Father could not beget God the Son. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.620.

Nature itself has prescribed that he must be believed to be man who is of man. Likewise, he must be believed to be God who is of God. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.620.

God, then, proceeded from God, causing a person second to the Father as being the Son. But He does not deprive the Father of that characteristic that the Father is one God. For if the Son had not been born—compared with Him who was unborn—an equality would be manifested in both. So, then, the addition of the Son would make two unborn Beings. And this would make two Gods. If He had not been begotten—compared with Him who was not begotten—they would be found equal. If they were both not begotten, this would have reasonably given two Gods. If He had been formed without beginning, just as the Father, and if He Himself were the beginning of all things as is the Father this would have made two beginnings. Consequently, this would have demonstrated two Gods to us, also. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.643.

The Word that was in the beginning with God (who is also very God) may come to us. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.499.

How much more must we believe that the voice of God both remains forever and is accompanied with perception and power. It has derived this from God the Father like a stream from a fountain. Someone may be puzzled that God could be produced from God [the Father] by a putting forth of the voice and breath. However, if such a person is acquainted with the sacred utterances of the prophets, he will cease to wonder. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.106.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God. He is not begotten of things that are not. Rather, He is begotten of Him who is the Father. Alexander of Alexandria (c. 324, E), 6.295.

James, the brother of Christ according to the flesh, but His servant as to His being the Only-Begotten God. Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E), 7.496. (Pp. 227-229)

Finally:

F. Being of one substance with the Father

The Word itself, that is, the Son of God, is one with the Father by equality of substance. He is eternal and uncreated. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.574, excerpted from a post-Nicene translation made by Cassiodorus.

When you do not deny that the Creator’s Son and Spirit and substance is also His Christ, you necessarily allow that those who have not acknowledged the Father have failed likewise to acknowledge the Son, through the identity of their natural substance. Tertullian (c. 207, W), 3.326.

Surely I might venture to claim the very Word also as being of the Creator’s substance. Tertullian (c. 207, W), 3.356.

This heresy [Monarchianism] supposes itself to possess the pure truth, in thinking that one cannot believe in only one God in any other way than by saying that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the very selfsame Person. As if in this way also One were not All, in that All are of One, by unity of substance. Yet, they are of one substance, one condition, and one power in as much as He is one God from whom these degrees, forms, and aspects are reckoned under the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. How they are susceptible of number without division will be shown. Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.598.

How does it come to pass that God is thought to suffer division and severance in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, who have the second and the third places assigned to them, and who are so closely joined with the Father in His substance? . . . Do you really suppose that those, who are naturally members of the Father’s own substance, pledges of His love, instruments of His might . . . are the overthrow and destruction thereof? You are not right in thinking so. . . . As for me, I derive the Son from no other source than from the substance of the Father. And I believe He does nothing without the Father’s will and that He received all power from the Father. So how can I possibly be destroying the Monarchy from the faith, when I preserve it in the Son just as it was committed to Him by the Father? . . . Likewise with the third degree, for I believe the Spirit is from no other source than from the Father through the Son. Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.599.

The Father is not the same as the Son, for they differ from each other in the manner of their being. For the Father is the entire substance. However, the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole. Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.604.

Now, if He too is God, for according to John, “The Word was God,” then you have two Beings—One who commands that the thing be made, and the other who creates. In what sense, however, you ought to understand Him to be another, I have already explained: on the ground of personality, not of substance. And in the way of distinction, not of division. I must everywhere hold only one substance, in three coherent and inseparable [persons]. Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.607.

The Logos alone of this One is from God Himself. For that reason also, He is God, being of the substance of God. In contrast, the world was made from nothing. Therefore, it is not God. Hippolytus (c. 225, W), 5.151.

Whatever is a property of physical bodies cannot be attributed to either the Father or the Son. What belongs to the nature of deity is common to the Father and Son. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.245.

It is an attribute of the divine nature alone—of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—to exist without any material substance, and without partaking in any way with an adjoining body. Someone else may say that in the end, every bodily substance will be so pure and refined as to be like ether—of celestial purity and clearness. However, how things will be is known with certainty only to God. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.262.

The Son is not different from the Father in substance. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.336.

A discussion about “substance” would be protracted and difficult. This is especially so if it were a question whether that which is permanent and immaterial is even properly called “substance.” . . . It is also a question for investigation, whether the “Only-Begotten” and “First-Born of every creature” is to be called “substance of substances,” . . . while above all there is his Father and God. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.602, 603.

The substance of the Son is not a substance devised extraneously. Nor is it one introduced out of nothing. Rather, it was born of the substance of the Father, as the reflection of light or as the stream of water. For the reflection is not the same as the sun itself. Likewise, the stream is not the water itself; but neither is it anything alien to it. He is an emanation from the substance of the Father. Yet the substance of the Father did not suffer any partition. Theognostus of Alexandria (c. 260, E), 6.155.

I have also proved the falsehood of the charge which they bring against me that I do not maintain that Christ is consubstantial with God. For although I say that I have never either found or read this word in the sacred Scriptures, yet other reasonings . . . are in no way discrepant from this view. Moreover, I gave the illustration of human offspring, which is certainly of the same kind as the begetter. And I said that parents are essentially distinguished from their children only by the fact that they themselves are not their children. Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), 6.92, as quoted by Athanasius.

If, from the fact that there are three persons [Gr. hypostases], they say that they are divided, there are three whether they like it or not. Otherwise, let them get rid of the divine Trinity altogether. Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), 6.94, as quoted by Athanasius.

It would be just to dispute against those who destroy the monarchy by dividing and rending it . . . into three powers and distinct substances [Gr. hypostases] and deities. . . . In a certain manner, these men declare three Gods, in that they divide the Holy Unity into three different substances, absolutely separated from one another. Dionysius of Rome (c. 265, W), 7.365, as quoted by Athanasius.

With respect to the Father and the Son, [Pierius] sets forth his sentiments in a godly manner, except that he speaks of two substances and two natures. However, it is apparent from both what follows and what precedes this passage that he uses the terms “substance” and “nature” in the sense of person [Gr. hypostasis] and not in the sense put on it by the adherents of Arius. Pierius (c. 275, E), 6.157, as cited by Photius.

Since, therefore, the Father makes the Son, and the Son the Father, they both have one mind, one spirit, one substance. However, the Father is, as it were, an overflowing fountain. The Son is, as it were, a stream flowing forth from it. The Father is as the sun; the Son is, as it were, a ray extended from the sun. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.132, 133.

There is only one unchangeable substance—the divine substance, eternal and invisible, as is known to all, and as is also supported by this Scripture: “No man has seen God at any time, except the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father.” Disputation of Archelaus and Manes (c. 320, E), 6.205.

Who can venture to speak of the substance of God, unless, it may be our Lord Jesus Christ alone? Disputation of Archelaus and Manes (c. 320, E), 6.212.

G. By whom all things were made

The Logos, too, before the creation of men, was the Framer of the angels. Tatian (c. 160, E), 2.67.

The universe has been created and set in order through His Logos. . . . For we acknowledge also a Son of God. Athenagoras (c. 175, E), 2.133.

He had this Word as a Helper in the things that were created by Him. By Him God made all things. Theophilus (c. 180, E), 2.98.

“Let Us make man in Our image, after our likeness.” Now, to no one else than to His own Word and Wisdom did He say, “Let Us make.” Theophilus (c. 180, E), 2.101.

For the Creator of the world is truly the Word of God. And this is our Lord. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/ W), 1.546.

He is God and Creator. “For all things were made by Him, and without him nothing was made.” Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.234.

He is the Lord’s right hand, indeed His two hands, by which He worked and constructed the universe. Tertullian (c. 200, W), 3.502.

All the rest of the created things He did in like manner make, who made the former ones. I am referring to the Word of God, “through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made.” Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.607.

Christ is, in a manner, the Creator, to whom the Father says, “Let there be light.” Origen (c. 228, E), 9.307…

A. Equality of nature (substance)

The quotations above under II.F. “Being of one substance with the Father” clearly show that the pre-Nicene church believed that there was an equality of nature between the Father and the Son. A few of those quotations are repeated here:

The Word itself, that is, the Son of God, is one with the Father by equality of substance. He is eternal and uncreated. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.574, excerpted from a post-Nicene translation made by Cassiodorus.

He is made a second in manner of existence—in position, not in nature. He did not withdraw from the original source, but went forth. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.34.

Now, if He too is God, for according to John, “The Word was God,” then you have two Beings—One who commands that the thing be made, and the Other who creates. In what sense, however, you ought to understand Him to be another, I have already explained: on the ground of personality, not of substance. Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.607.

The Logos alone of this One is from God Himself. For that reason also, He is God, being of the substance of God. Hippolytus (c. 225, W), 5.151.

Besides, He is in [the Father] and is truly and entirely made one with Him. . . . The Father of all things has made Him one with Himself . . . and honors Him with a power in all respects equal to His own, just as He also is honored. First and alone of all creatures who exist, He has had assigned Him this position. This is the Only-Begotten of the Father, who is in Him and who is God the Word. . . . He is the altogether perfect, living, and truly animate Word of the First Mind Himself. Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 255, E), 6.24.

The substance of the Son is not a substance devised extraneously. Nor is it one introduced out of nothing. Rather, it was born of the substance of the Father. Theognostus of Alexandria (c. 260, E), 6.155. (Pp. 235-241)

Further Reading

The God Who Is Tri-Personal

Christ: Begotten Not Made

Christ as Begotten & Divine Hierarchy

Early Church, Monarchy & Hierarchy

The Uncreated Word Becomes A Son

THE EARLY CHURCH ON THE ETERNAL BEGETTING OF THE SON

ST. AMBROSE ON THE TIMELESS BEGETTING OF THE SON

GREGORY & CHRIST’S BEGETTING

CHRIST’S ETERNAL GENERATION: IS BEGETTING THE SAME AS BEING CREATED?