Justin: Worshiping the Uncreated, Timeless Son

With the following words He taught us that we should be patient, and be willing to submit to everyone, and never give way to anger: 'To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also; and hinder not him who takes away your cloak or coat.¹ Whoever is given to anger is subject to the fire of hell.² And everyone who forces you to go with him a mile, go with him two.³ Let your good deeds shine before men, that they, seeing them, may glorify your Heavenly Father.'⁴ We should not be contentious, nor does He want us to imitate the wicked, but He rather urges us to draw all men from dishonor and desire of evil by our own patience and mildness. We can show that this has happened in the case of many of those who were of your side and turned from a life of violence and tyranny, because they were conquered either by the constancy of their neighbors' lives, or by the strange patience they noticed in their injured associates, or by experiencing their honesty in business matters. With these words He commanded us never to swear, but always to tell the truth: 'Do not swear at all, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no; for whatever is beyond these comes from the evil one.'⁵ He convinced us that ONLY God is to be worshipped, when He said: 'The greatest commandment is this: "Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve (latreuseis), with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, the Lord God who made thee,"'⁶ and when a certain man came to Him and said: 'Good Master,' He replied: 'There is none good but God alone who made all things.'? May they who are not found living according to His teachings know that they are not Christians, even though they profess with their tongues the teaching of Christ, for He said that not those who only profess His doctrines, but those who put them into practice, shall be saved.' Indeed, He said: 'Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven. For whosoever hears Me and does what I say, hears Him who sent Me. And many will say to Me, "Lord, Lord, have we not eaten and drunk, and done wonders in your name?” And then will I say to them: "Depart from Me, you workers of evil."⁹ Then there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when the just shall shine as the sun, and the wicked are sent into everlasting fire.¹⁰ For many shall come in My name, dressed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but who inwardly are ravenous wolves. By their works you shall know them. Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit, shall be cut down and cast into the fire.'¹¹ And we ask that you also punish all those who call themselves Christians, but are not living according to His teachings.

'And the following words of the Psalm, "For tribulation is very near; for there is none to help. Many calves have surrounded me; fat bulls have besieged me. They have opened their mouths against me as a lion ravening and roaring. All my bones are poured out and scattered like water," were also a prophecy of the things that would happen to Him. For, on that night when your kinsmen, sent by the Pharisees, Scribes, and teachers, met Him from the Mount of Olives,¹ they surrounded Him, and were thus called by the Scripture "calves" with horns and predestined for perdition. By the words, "fat bulls have besieged me," He foretold the deeds of those who acted like calves, when He was led before your teachers. Holy Scripture described these persons as bulls, for, as we know, bulls are the fathers of calves. Now, as bulls are the fathers of calves, so your teachers were the cause of their children going out to Mount Olivet to capture and lead Him to them. So also the words, "For there is none to help," were indicative of what would take place; for there was not even one single person to help Him, sinless as He was. And the expression, "They have opened their mouths against me as a roaring lion," means Herod, the king of the Jews at that time, a successor of that other, who slaughtered all the boys that were born in Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth, thinking that He, concerning whom the Arabian Magi had spoken, would surely be among them. But he was not aware of the designs of Almighty God, who ordered Joseph and Mary to take the Child and go into Egypt and remain there until it should be revealed to them again that they should return into their own country. And after their departure they stayed there until the death of Herod, the assassin of the babes of Bethlehem. Archelaus, who succeeded him, also died before Christ fulfilled by His crucifixion the Father's plan of our redemption. And when Herod succeeded Archelaus and received the authority that had fallen to his share, Pilate favored him by sending Jesus bound to him,² which God in His foreknowledge foretold in these words, "And they brought Him to the Assyrian, a present to the king."³ Or, it could be that by the lion that roared against Him He meant the Devil himself, that is, the one whom Moses called the serpent, Job and Zacharias the Devil, and Jesus addressed as Satanas, indicating that he had a compound name made up of the actions which he performed; for the word "Sata" in the Jewish and Syrian tongue means "apostate," while "nas" is the word which means in translation "serpent"; thus, from both parts is formed the one word "Satanas." It is narrated in the Memoirs of the Apostles that as soon as Jesus came out of the River Jordan and a voice said to Him: "Thou art My Son, this day I have begotten Thee,"⁴ this devil came and tempted Him, even so far as to exclaim: "Worship me"; but Christ replied: "Get thee behind Me, Satan; the Lord thy God shalt thou worship, and Him only shalt thou serve (latreuseis)."⁵ For, since the devil had deceived Adam, he fancied that he could in some way harm Him also. Now the passage, "All my bones are poured out and scattered like water; my heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my belly," foretold what would happen on that night when they came to Mount Olivet to capture Him. For in the Memoirs of the Apostles and their successors, it is written that His perspiration poured out like drops of blood as He prayed and said: "If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.”⁶ His heart and bones were evidently quaking, and His heart was like wax melting in His belly, so that we may understand that the Father wished His Son to endure in reality these severe sufferings for us, and may not declare that, since He was the Son of God, He did not feel what was done and inflicted upon Him. And the words, "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws," predicted that He would remain silent; for, indeed, He who proved that all your teachers are without wisdom replied not a word in His own defense.'

'Gentlemen,' I said, 'I would like you to tell me the significance of the name of Israel.' When no one replied, I continued, 'Well, I shall give you what I think is the explanation, for, when I know a thing, I do not believe it is right not to share it with others, nor do I believe it is right to be always anxious, suspecting that you know the answer to my question and yet deceive yourselves through envy or through inexperience in the faculty of volition. I do not hesitate for a moment to speak out simply and frankly, as my Lord said, "A sower went out to sow his seed, and some fell by the wayside, some among thorns, some upon rocky ground, and some upon good ground."¹ One must therefore speak in the hope that his words will, somehow, fall upon good ground. For, at His coming, my mighty and powerful Lord will demand His property from all, and will not denounce His steward when He realizes that, because the steward knows that His Lord is mighty and will come again to require the return of His possession, he has intrusted it to every bank, and has not, for any cause whatsoever, dug up the earth and hidden it therein.'²

'The name Israel, then, means a man who overcomes power, for Isra is "a man who overcomes" and El is "power." That Christ would do this when He became man was thus foretold by the mystery of Jacob's wrestling with Him who appeared to him, in that Christ ministered to the will of God, yet He is God, because He is the First-begotten of all creatures. For, after His Incarnation, as I have already said, He was approached by the Devil (that power which is also called Serpent and Satan), who tempted Him and tried to overcome Him by demanding that He worship him. But he was utterly crushed and overcome by Christ, who convicted him of his wickedness when, in violation of the Scriptures, he asked to be adored as God, thus becoming an apostate from the will of God. This was His reply: "It is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou worship and Him only shalt thou serve (latreuseis)."³ The Devil, defeated and rebuked, then departed. By touching Jacob's thigh and making it numb, Christ showed that He, too, would grow numb (that is, in physical and mental suffering), at His crucifixion. But His name from old times was Israel-a name which He conferred upon the blessed Jacob when He blessed him with His own name, announcing thereby that all who come to the Father through Him are part of the blessed Israel. You, however, have comprehended nothing of this, nor do you make any effort to understand, but, expecting with assurance to be saved only because you are descendants of Jacob according to the flesh, you again deceive yourselves, as I have repeatedly shown.'

'If such power is shown to have accompanied and still now accompanies His Passion, just think how great shall be His power at His glorious Advent! For, as Daniel foretold, He shall come on the clouds as the Son of Man, accompanied by His angels. Here are the exact words of Daniel: "I beheld till the thrones were set, and the Ancient of days sat, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like clean wool. His throne was like the flames of fire, His wheels like a burning fire. A swift stream of fire issued forth from before Him. Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The books were opened and the judgment was set. I beheld then the voice of the great words which the horn speaks; and the beast was tortured, and the body thereof was destroyed, and given to the fire to be burnt. And the power of the other beasts was taken away, and times of life were appointed them for a time and a time. I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and He came even to the Ancient of days, and stood before Him. And they who stood by brought Him near, and He gave Him power and a glorious kingdom, and all the peoples of the earth by their families, and glory, serve (latreuousa) Him. His power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away; and His kingdom shall not be destroyed. And my spirit trembled within me, and the visions of my head troubled me. I went near to one of them that stood by, and asked the truth of him concerning all these things, and he told me the interpretation of the words, and instructed me. These four great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall perish from the earth, and shall not receive the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. After this 1 would diligently learn concerning the fourth beast, which destroyed all the others, and was exceedingly terrible; his teeth were of iron, and his claws of brass; he devoured and broke in pieces, and the rest he stamped upon with his feet. And [I was instructed] concerning the ten horns that he had on his head; and concerning the other that came up, before which three horns fell; and that horn had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and its countenance excelled the rest. I beheld that horn waging war against the saints, and prevailing over them, until the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the Most High, and the time came and the saints of the Most High obtained the kingdom. And it was told me concerning the fourth beast, that it should be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and break it in pieces. And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and one shall arise after them, and he shall surpass the first kings in wickedness, and he shall bring down three kings, and he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall crush the saints of the Most High, and he shall think himself able to change times and seasons, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a time, and times, and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall take away his power, to break into pieces and destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and the power, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, were given to the holy people of the Most High, that they may reign in an everlasting kingdom; and all powers shall serve and obey Him. Hitherto is the end of the word. I, Daniel, was very much astonished at the vision, and my speech was changed in me, but I kept the word in my heart."'¹

We could also ask where Plato learned that time was created together with the heavens. He wrote: 'Time was therefore created together with the heavens, so that, as they were created together, they might also disintegrate together, if such need be.' Did he not discover this in the sacred history of Moses? He knew that the creation of time was, from the beginning, made up of days, months, and years. Now, since that first day which was created together with the heavens constituted the very beginning of all time (for, after Moses had written: 'In the beginning God created heaven and earth,' he added: 'And one day was made,'¹ as if to designate the whole of time by a part of it), Plato calls the day 'time,' lest, by using the word 'day' he should be charged by the Athenians of having slavishly imitated the expressions of Moses. Where, too, did he learn what he has written about the disintegration of the heavens? Did he not borrow this opinion from the holy Prophets whose writings he interpreted in this fashion?

But we have learned from tradition that God has no need of the material gifts of men, since we see that He is the Giver of all things.¹ We have been taught, are convinced, and do believe that He approves of only those who imitate His inherent virtues, namely, temperance, justice, love of man, and any other virtue proper to God who is called by no given name. We have also been instructed that God, in the beginning, created in His goodness everything out of shapeless matter² for the sake of men. And if men by their actions prove themselves worthy of His plan, they shall, we are told, be found worthy to make their abode with Him and to reign with Him, free from all corruption and pain. Just as in the beginning He created us when we were not, so also, we believe, He will consider all those who choose to please Him, because of their choice, to be worthy of eternal life in His presence. Our creation was not in our own power. But this -to engage in those things that please Him and which we choose by means of the intellectual faculties He has bestowed on us-this makes our conviction and leads us to faith. Indeed, we think it is for the good of all men that they are not prevented from learning these things, but are even urged to consider them. For, what human laws were unable to effect, the Divine Word would have accomplished, had not the evil demons enlisted the aid of the various utterly evil inclinations, which are in every man by nature, and scattered many false and ungodly accusations-none of which, however, applies to us.

Furthermore, the Son of God who is called Jesus, even if He were only a man by common generation, is because of His wisdom, worthy to be called the Son of God, for all your writers¹ call God the Father of men and gods. And if we declare that the Word of God was begotten of God not in the ordinary, but in an extraordinary,² manner, as we stated above, this may be compared to your claim that Mercury is the announcing word of God. And should anyone object that He [Christ] was crucified, this indignity may be compared to that of Jupiter's sons, as you call them, who suffered as indicated above.³ Their sufferings at death are said to have been, not all similar, but different, so that not even His unusual manner of suffering was inferior to theirs. But, as we have promised and will prove as our discourse progresses (or rather, as we have already proved), He is their superior also in this regard, for one is proved superior by his actions. If we state that He was born of a Virgin, this may be comparable to what you admit of Perseus.⁴ When we say that He cured the lame, the paralytics, and those blind⁵ from birth, and raised the dead to life, we seem to attribute to Him actions similar to those said to have been performed by Aesculapius.

But if anyone should think that, if we profess God to be our protector, we should not, as we admit, be overpowered and molested by unjust persons¹-this difficulty, too, I will remove. When God made the universe and put all earthly things under man's dominion, and arranged the heavenly bodies for the increase of fruits and the change of seasons, and decreed a divine law for these, which He apparently also created for man's sake, He appointed His angels, whom He placed over mankind, to look after men and all things under heaven. But the angels violated their charge, fell into sin with women and begot children who are called demons.² Moreover, they subsequently subjected the human race to themselves, partly by magic writings, partly by the fear they instilled into them and the punishments they inflicted upon them, and partly by instructing them in the use of sacrifices, incense, and libations, which they really needed after becoming slaves of their lustful passions; and among men they engendered murders, wars, adulteries, all sorts of dissipation, and every species of sin. Thus it was that the poets and writers of legends, unaware that the bad angels and the demons begotten by them did those things to men and women, to cities and nations, ascribed them to [their] god himself [Jupiter] and to those whom they thought were sons of his seed and to the children of those whom they called his brothers, Neptune and Pluto, and to the children of their children. For they called them by the name each of the bad angels had bestowed upon himself and his children.³

No proper name has been bestowed upon God, the Father of all, since He is unbegotten. For, whoever has a proper name received it from a person older than himself. The words Father, and God, and Creator, and Lord, and Master are not real names, but rather terms of address derived from His beneficent deeds. But His Son, who alone is properly called Son, the Word, who was with Him [God, the Father] and was begotten¹ BEFORE ALL THINGS, when in the beginning He [God, the Father] created and arranged all things THROUGH HIM [the Son], is called Christ, because He was anointed and because God the Father arranged all the things of creation THROUGH HIM. This name also has an unknown meaning, just as the term 'God,' which is not a real name, but the expression of man's innate² opinion of a thing that can scarcely be defined. But 'Jesus,'³ which is His name both as Man and Savior, has a meaning. For He also became man, as we stated,⁴ and was born in accordance with the will of God the Father for the benefit of believers, and for the defeat of the demons. Even now, your own eyes will teach you the truth of this last statement. For many demoniacs throughout the entire world, and even in your own city, were exorcised by many of our Christians in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate; and our men cured them, and they still cure others by rendering helpless and dispelling the demons who had taken possession of these men, even when they could not be cured by all the other exorcists, and exploiters of incantations and drugs.

'We have now heard your opinion on these matters,' interrupted Trypho. 'Resume your discourse where you left off, and bring it to an end, for it seems to be entirely absurd and utterly impossible of proof. Your statement that this Christ existed as God BEFORE ALL AGES, and then that He consented to be born and become man, yet that He is not of human origin, appears to be not only paradoxical, but preposterous.'

'I am aware,'¹ replied, 'that my assertion must seem paradoxical, especially to you Jews, who were never in the least interested in knowing or doing the things of God, but only the things of your teachers, as God Himself testifies.¹ However, Trypho, the fact that this Man is the Christ of God is not to be denied, even if I were unable to prove that He, being God, pre-existed as the Son of the Creator of the universe and became Man through a virgin. Since it has been proved beyond all doubt that He is the Christ of God, whatever that Christ eventually is to be, even if 1 fail to show that He pre-existed, and consented to become man with a body and feelings like our own, according to the will of the Father; only in this last regard could you rightly claim that 1 have been wrong. But you cannot deny that He is the Christ, even though He apparently is of human origin, and evidently became the Christ by the Father's choice. For, my friends, there are some of our race,² who acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, but claim that He has a merely human origin. I naturally disagree with such persons, nor would 1 agree with them even if the majority of those who share my opinions were to say so. For we have been told by Christ Himself not to follow the teachings of men, but only those which have been announced by the holy Prophets and taught by Himself.' (Dialogue, pp. 220-221)

'So, my friends,' I said, 'I shall now show from the Scriptures that God has begotten of Himself a certain rational Power as a Beginning¹ BEFORE ALL OTHER CREATURES. The Holy Spirit indicates this Power by various titles, sometimes the Glory of the Lord, at other times Son, or Wisdom, or Angel, or God, or Lord, or Word. He even called Himself Commander-in-chief when He appeared in human guise to Josue, the son of Nun. Indeed, He can justly lay claim to all these titles from the fact both that He performs the Father's will and that He was begotten by an act of the Father's will. But, does not something similar happen also with us humans? When we utter a word, it can be said that we beget the word, but not by cutting it off, in the sense that our power of uttering words would thereby be diminished. We can observe a similar example in nature when one fire kindles another,² without losing anything, but remaining the same; yet the enkindled fire seems to exist of itself and to shine without lessening the brilliancy of the first fire. My statements will now be confirmed by none other than the Word of Wisdom, who is this God begotten from the Universal Father, and who is the Word and Wisdom and Power and Glory of Him who begot Him. Here are His words as spoken by Solomon: "If I shall declare to you what happens daily, I shall call to mind events from eternity, and recount them. The Lord begot Me in the beginning of His ways for His works. I was set up from eternity, before He made the earth, and before He made the depths, before the fountains of waters had sprung out, before the mountains had been established. Before all the hills He begets Me. God made the earth, and the desert, and the highest inhabited places under the sky. When He prepared the heavens, I was present. When He set up His throne on the winds, when He established the clouds above, and strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He balanced the foundations of the earth, I was with Him arranging all things. I was that in which He delighted; daily and at all times I delighted in His presence, because He rejoiced for having finished the habitable world, and delighted in the sons of men. Now therefore, My son, hear Me. Blessed is the man that heareth Me, and the man that shall keep My ways, watching daily at My gates, and waiting at the posts of My doors, for My ways are the ways of life; and My will has been prepared by the Lord. But they that sin against Me, hurt their own souls, and they that hate Me love death."'³

'My friends,' I continued, 'the word of God, through Moses, stated exactly the same thing, when it revealed to us that at the creation of man God spoke of Him (who was pointed out by Moses) in the same sense. Here is the Scriptural passage: "Let us make man to Our image and likeness; and let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

And God created man; to the image of God did He create him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it."'¹

'Lest you distort the meaning of these words by repeating what your teachers say-either that God said to Himself, "Let us make," just as we, when on the verge of doing something, say to ourselves, "Let us make"; or that God said "Let us make" to the elements, that is, to the earth or other similar substances of which we think man was composed-I wish again to quote Moses to prove beyond all doubt that He spoke with One endowed with reason, and different in number from Himself. These are the words of Moses: "And God said: Behold Adam is become as one of Us, knowing good and evil."² Now, the words "as one of Us" clearly show that there were a number of persons together, and they were at least two. I do not consider that teaching true which is asserted by what you call a heretical sect of your religion, nor can the proponents of that heresy prove that He spoke those words to angels, or that the human body was the result of the angel's work. But this Offspring, who was truly begotten of the Father, was with the Father and the Father talked with Him BEFORE ALL CREATION, as the Scripture through Solomon clearly showed us, saying that this Son, who is called Wisdom by Solomon, was begotten both as a beginning BEFORE ALL HIS WORKS, and as His Offspring. God has testified to this same truth in the revelation to Josue, the son of Nun. To be fully convinced, listen to these words of the book of Josue: "And it came to pass, when Josue was near Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and saw a man standing Thou one of ours, or of our adversaries? And He answered: I am the Prince of the host of the Lord, and now I am come. Josue fell on his face to the ground, and said to Him: Lord, what commandest Thou Thy servant? And the Lord's Prince said to Josue: Loose thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. Now Jericho was shut up and fortified, and no one went out of it. And the Lord said to Josue: Behold, I have given into thy hands Jericho, and the king thereof, and all the valiant men."'³

'The words of the Law, "Cursed is everyone who hangeth on a tree,"¹ strengthen our hope which is sustained by the Crucified Christ, not because the Crucified One is cursed by God, but because God predicted what would be done by all of you Jews, and others like you, who are not aware that this is He who was BEFORE ALL THINGS, the Eternal Priest of God, the King, and Christ. Now, you can clearly see that this has actually happened. For, in your synagogues you curse all those who through Him have become Christians, and the Gentiles put into effect your curse by killing all those who merely admit that they are Christians. To all our persecutors we say: "You are our brothers; apprehend, rather, the truth of God." But when neither they nor you will listen to us, but you do all in your power to force us to deny Christ, we resist you and prefer to endure death, confident that God will give us all the blessings which He promised us through Christ. Furthermore, we pray for you that you might experience the mercy of Christ; for He instructed us to pray even for our enemies, when He said: "Be kind and merciful, even as your Heavenly Father is merciful."² We can observe that Almighty God is kind and merciful, causing His sun to shine on the ungrateful and on the just, and sending rain to both the holy and the evil; but all of them, He has told us, He will judge.'³

'And the words, "But Thou dwellest in the holy place, Thou praise of Israel," signified that He would do something worthy of praise and admiration, which He did when through the Father He arose again from the dead on the third day after the crucifixion. I have indeed pointed out earlier that Christ is called both Jacob and Israel, and that not only in the blessing of Joseph and Juda have things been predicted mysteriously of Him, but also in the Gospel it is written that He said: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son; nor does anyone know the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him."¹ He thus revealed to us all that we have learned from the Scriptures by His grace, so that we know Him as the First-begotten of God BEFORE ALL CREATURES, and as the Son of the patriarchs, since He became incarnate by a virgin of their race, and condescended to become a man without comeliness or honor, and subject to suffering. Hence, He alluded to His imminent passion in this way, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the Pharisees and Scribes, and be crucified, and rise again on the third day."² He called Himself Son of Man, either because of His birth by the virgin who was, as I said, of the family of David and Jacob and Isaac and Abraham, or because Adam himself was the father of those above-mentioned Patriarchs from whom Mary traces her descent. It is clear that the fathers of girls are also considered the fathers of the children born to their daughters. And Christ changed the name of one of His disciples from Simon to Peter,³ when he, enlightened by the Father, recognized Him to be Christ, the Son of God. And since we find it written in the Memoirs of the Apostles that He is the Son of God, and since we call Him by that same title, we have understood that this is really He and that He proceeded BEFORE ALL CREATURES from the Father by His power and will (for in the prophetic writings He is called Wisdom, the Day, the East, Sword, Stone, Rod, Jacob, and Israel, always in a different way); and that He is born of the Virgin, in order that the disobedience caused by the serpent might be destroyed in the same manner in which it had originated. For Eve, an undefiled virgin, conceived the word of the serpent, and brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary, filled with faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced to her the good tidings that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her, and therefore the Holy One born of her would be the Son of God, answered: "Be it done unto me according to Thy word.,,4 And, indeed, she gave birth to Him, concerning whom we have shown so many passages of Scripture were written, and by whom God destroys both the serpent and those angels and men who have become like the serpent, but frees from death those who repent of their sins and believe in Christ.'

'To prove this point, I will now repeat some of the Scriptural passages I already quoted. When the word of the prophecy says, "The Lord rained fire from the Lord out of heaven,"¹ it indicates that they are two in number: One on earth, who came down to witness the cry of Sodom, and One in Heaven, who is the Lord of that Lord on earth, and as His Father and God was the cause of His being the Mighty One and Lord and God. And when the Scripture states that in the beginning God said, "Behold Adam has become as one of US,"² the phrase, "as one of Us," is in itself an evidence of number, and cannot be interpreted in a metaphorical sense, as the sophists attempt to do, who neither can know nor speak the truth. And the Book of Wisdom says: "If I should tell you the daily events, I would have to enumerate them from the beginning. The Lord made Me as the beginning of His ways for His works. From eternity He set Me up, in the beginning, before He made the earth, and before the fountains of water came forth, before the mountains were established; and before all the hills He begets Me."'³

At this point I said, 'Gentlemen, if you have followed me closely, you can see that Scripture declares that the Son was begotten of the Father BEFORE ALL CREATURES, and everybody will admit that the son is numerically distinct from the Father.'