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Of Our Father among the Saints Athanasius, a Dialogue at the Council of Nicaea against Arius. By the providence of God, I had set out, having come together with my most beloved brothers, to those servants of God whom I longed for. And as I was walking somewhat slowly due to bodily weakness, together with the aforementioned servants of God, one of the men traveling with me asked me about the dominical saying which declares: "My Father who sent me is greater than I." And I said in response to the inquiry which he had brought forward: For the present, hold back the investigation concerning this, most sweet of brothers; but when, God permitting, we have returned to our own places, we will make a most secure examination of the matter. And when I had said this, a certain sudden possession of piety occurred in my heart, and I said to myself: Not without purpose did the blessed Paul, writing to his disciple Timothy, declare: "Train yourself for piety." For truly, piety toward the Divine is a divine treasure filled with ineffable and unimaginable goods. And I said to myself in thought, that piety is magnificent and glorious, and able to save the one who approaches its seemliness. And the parable of my Lord Jesus Christ concerning blessed piety also came into my mind, that it is something very great and filled with all ambrosial riches, and is rarely found among men, unless perhaps from the many a few, with a love of truth, barely attain its incorruptible beauty. And these, too, have not by their own power apprehended its lovely visage.

but having cultivated friendship toward God and employed frequent prayers, they say they have received this as a gift from God, so that those who contemplate the most beautiful dignity of this may embrace eternal joy. The Lord says: "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man, upon finding, rejoiced, and then goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Then, as if standing in my heart, he spoke to me gently and says: "Man, even if your sins are many, hold firmly to piety toward the Divine. For through this, both remission of sins is given by God, and death is overcome, and a man will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven most excellently." In addition to these, I have also taken for remembrance the saying: "God knows how to rescue the pious, but to keep the lawless for the day of judgment, punished with eternal fire." For this man is both lawless and impious; and from impiety sin arises. Therefore, impiety is the mother of all evils, and folly is the nurse of all blameworthy things. Blessed, then, is the son of piety, for he will be called a son of Christ. Suddenly we arrived at the place toward which we had directed our journey, and meeting with the genuine brethren, we all passed the time gladly—we, because we were deemed worthy to behold the saints, and they, because they had seen brothers.

While we were conversing at length on matters pertaining to the most venerable religion with great order and restraint, suddenly from the root of the Christ-fighting Arius a beast in human form leaped in upon us, and after briefly listening to the words of piety, unable to bear it, spoke thus: "Teach me your opinion, or I will teach you my belief." And I answered him: "Do not summon everyone to inquiry; for there are great ones in the house of God. But if you wish to examine the matter only with me, the least, at present, I will most gladly provide this for you concerning the question. Present the proposition first; only let us conduct the examination truthfully, and not be disposed contentiously toward the divinely inspired words offered by the neighbor." Arius said: "It seems to me that first of all it should be defined by both of us, you and me, regarding the matters under inquiry, that each of us set forth, in summary, what he believes about God and Christ and the Holy Spirit, so that we may direct our words toward the target and not make a vain contest of words, and so that the prevailing opinion may be clear, as well as the one being refuted. For I wish to inquire with you concerning faith, since especially I have heard that you do not speak correctly about faith and piety toward the Divine." Athanasius said: "Everything has been arranged by you in a manner befitting God.

I, for my part, declare what I believe in summary: I believe in one God, Father Almighty, who is always God and Father; and in the God Logos, the only-begotten Son of God, that He coexists with His own Father, and that the Son is from the substance of God and Father, and that the Son is equal to the Father, and that the Son of God is of equal honor, and that He is present everywhere with His Father in divinity, and that He encompasses all things by His substance, and that the Son of God is encompassed by nothing, just as His God and Father is; and in the Holy Spirit, that it is of the substance of the Father, and that the Holy Spirit is co-eternal with the Father and the Son. I affirm that the Logos became flesh. Arius said: I too believe in one eternal God, and in His Son, whom God created before the ages and made Son. And all that the Son has, not having, He received from God; and that the Son is not equal, nor of equal honor to the Father, but falls far short of the glory of God, as a creation falls short of the power of God; and in the Holy Spirit, which was made by the Son. Behold, I too believe these things. Athanasius said: Then begin the inquiry with all knowledge; for I see you entangled in great evils, even though you, having come, have placed us under accusation, as if we do not think correctly concerning Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Arius said: How do you say that God is always Father, who, being God alone, created His Son by His own will, as it is written? Athanasius said: Where is it written that the Father is alone? Arius said: By the apostle Paul; for he says:

We have one God from whom all things come." Athanasius said: Read what follows of the Apostle's words, for he said: "And one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things come." Arius said: Do you see that the Son is a servant, and not a creator, as he said about himself: "Unless he sees the Father doing something; for whatever the Father does, the Son also does." Pay attention to how the Son is a servant and not a creator. Athanasius said: See that you do not fight against the truth. For the very saying of Paul which you think to hold concerning God the Father, you will find also said concerning the Son by the same Apostle; for he says: "And he himself established in the Church, first apostles, second prophets, then evangelists, then shepherds and teachers, for the ordering of the peoples, for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all arrive at the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, into a perfect man, into the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed about and carried away by every wind of teaching, in the deceit of men, in cunning for the scheming of error, but speaking truth in love, we may grow into him in all things, who is the head, Christ; from whom the whole body is fitted together and united through every contact of supply," and so forth. Do you see that the expression is commonly predicated of Father and Son, and you have taken it one-sidedly concerning the Father? Arius said: You have well recalled this entire passage of the Apostle.

But I consider the apostolic saying to be more trustworthy than the Lord's saying I previously cited. For the Lord said that he could do nothing by himself unless he saw the Father doing something." Athanasius said: What did God do in the beginning? Arius said: Heaven, earth, sea, and all things in them, as it is written. Athanasius said: Then it remains for you to demonstrate which heavens, earth, sea, and things in them God made first, and then his Son, having seen, made likewise to his Father. Arius said: I consider it unlawful to say that one world was created by God and another by the Son, since a second cannot be demonstrated, it being evident to all that there is one visible world. Athanasius said: Then the Son creates everything by himself. Arius said: I beg you, tell me how by himself? No one would say this. Athanasius said: Where does the wise man find his counsel? Arius said: In his wisdom. Athanasius said: And Christ is the power and wisdom of God according to the blessed Paul, yes or no? Arius said: Confessedly Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Athanasius said: Then wisdom is not instructed from elsewhere? Arius said: God forbid! Athanasius said: Then does it do everything by itself as wisdom? Arius said: So it is. Then did the Father create nothing? Athanasius said: Listen, and do not speak rashly things which it is not lawful either to say or to hear, as no one can alter such matters. However, for the present, give me an answer concerning what I ask. How does the capable one act by himself?

Arius said: "He does everything by his power." Athanasius said: "Is Christ the unbreakable power of God?" Arius said: "It is agreed." Athanasius said: "Therefore, since Christ is the power of God, whatever the power, that is, Christ, creates, the Father does." Arius said: "How is it that whatever Christ creates, God creates?" Athanasius said: "Is power separated from the one who has power?" Arius said: "By no means! For who has ever seen a wrestler contending in a match on his own, but his power alone? If this were so, the prizes, that is, the crowns, would be awarded to both." Athanasius said: "You have spoken correctly. If, then, you have granted this in the case of a man, that power does nothing separately, nor does the body act otherwise in any way, therefore Christ, being the paternal power, does everything inseparably that the Father does, and he himself does these things." Arius said: "Let it be so, that the Son creates everything inseparably with God; but can he also be equal to God, as you have heard the Savior saying, 'My Father, who sent me, is greater than I'?" Athanasius said: "I will ask you; and you answer me: Did my Savior speak anything contrary to himself?" Arius said: "By no means! For the Son of God is everywhere consistent with himself." Athanasius said: "How then does the Lord say in another place, 'I and the Father are one'?" Arius said: "You are a Sabellian." Athanasius said: "Why am I a Sabellian?" Arius said: "Because you said, 'The Father and the Son are one.'" Athanasius said: "Do not misrepresent me; for I do not say that the Father and the Son are one, but that the Lord said, 'I and the Father are one.'" Arius said:

This is the heresy of Sabellius. Athanasius said: "Therefore, was the Lord who said, 'I and the Father are one,' Sabellius? Do we not all Christians know Jesus as the Son of God? But you claim that Sabellius and a teacher of heresy is he?" Arius said: "May it never be that I think this! For the Savior said concerning agreement, that 'I and the Father are one.'" Athanasius said: "For what reason did the Lord speak thus? What did he wish to demonstrate? The agreement according to you, or the divinity according to right reason? For if the agreement according to you, then he was preparing witnesses against the Father, lest he be repudiated by the Father. But if this is so, the Son accuses the Father according to you, as being ungrateful and not abiding by the terms of the Father's agreement. And if this is so, then consider where your thinking leads you." Arius said: "But what do you wish us to say, that the Father and the Son are one?" Athanasius said: "The Lord Jesus did not say, 'I and the Father

I am one," but he said, "We are one," and he presented the perfect duality in saying, "We are one." The "one" signified the essence; but you, not understanding, have fallen into absurdity. Arius said: Did not the Lord say, "The Father who sent me is greater than I?" Athanasius said: Did not the Savior say, "I and the Father are one," and again, "He who has seen me has seen the Father?" Moreover, the Apostle clearly indicated the equality of the Son, which he has with his own Father, saying, "Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it a usurpation to be equal to God, but emptied himself." Do you see that the Son is equal to his own Father, and not inferior? Arius said: There appears to me much disagreement of the Scriptures at present. Athanasius said: Let it not be that a man should speak ill of the divine and inspired Scriptures, as if they do not utter all these things with harmony! For like a just balance, all the Scriptures agree with each other. Arius said: How do they agree? The Savior said, "The Father who sent me is greater than I"; again the same says, "I and the Father are one"; and in another way, "He who has seen me has seen the Father," through which he signifies his identical form, which he has with his own Father, as also Paul says that the Son is equal to his own Father. Athanasius said: Man, listen and understand that that passage which says, "My Father who sent me is greater than I," is not separated from the other passages. Arius said: If you prove this, which is impossible, perhaps you will make me follow your opinion. Athanasius said: Is the Son of God God, or not? Arius

He said: "God created by God." Athanasius said: "As you wish, answer me concerning what I ask. Did the Son of God make all things, yes or no?" Arius said: "It has been previously granted that he made all things, being the power and wisdom of God." Athanasius said: "Therefore the Son of God contains all things made by him, both visible and invisible." Arius said: "It is so." Athanasius said: "Then he is present everywhere in the substance of his greatness. If you say that he is not present everywhere, you will declare the things created greater than the creator." Arius said: "He is present everywhere." Athanasius said: "If then the Word of God is present everywhere, how do you say, 'My Father who sent me is greater than I'? Give me the account." Arius said: "I am at a loss concerning this, but I ask you to explain to me for what reason the Savior said the Father is greater than himself." Athanasius said: "Unless you first tell me what I ask, I will not tell you what you wish." Arius said: "Say what you want." Athanasius said: "Are angels incorporeal, or men?" Arius said: "Men are in bodies; angels, being spirits, are incorporeal." Athanasius said: "Then who labor, men or angels?" Arius said: "Angels, being incorporeal, experience no toil in serving him; but toil is proper to man, because of the heavy drag of the body." Athanasius said: "Then how did the Lord toil? For it is written, 'Jesus, having become weary from the journey, sat down.'" Arius said:

You have brought me together, as you wished, from the example of angels and men, not that the God Logos labored, but that it might be shown that he took up flesh, which the Logos and God did not have before; for this reason he allowed the flesh to suffer its own things, that it might be shown that it is flesh. Athanasius said: "Remember, it has been previously granted that the Logos and God is present everywhere." Arius said: "Unshakably." Athanasius said: "If then he is present everywhere, why did he say, 'My Father who sent me is greater than I'?" Arius said: "I beg you, do not hesitate to remove the covering from the text quickly. For I am greatly distressed." Athanasius said: "Who is it that has labored, the man or the God Logos?" Arius said: "The man." Athanasius said: "Therefore it is yours to understand the rest." Arius said: "I have grasped your mind in this statement, that since the God Logos is present everywhere, it is clear that he said, 'My Father who sent me is greater than I,' because of the flesh, which walks and labors, and from place to

going to another place. Truly this is correct. Athanasius said: Then take in mind the statement you made, that the God Logos was created. Where shall we begin? I do not dare to speak so fearlessly against the eternal divinity of his Son. Arius said: I say this from the Scriptures; but from where do you say the Son is eternal? Athanasius said: I learned from the divinely inspired Scriptures that the Son of God is eternal. Arius said: Which are the Scriptures that affirm the Son is eternal? Athanasius said: The renowned Paul will come and bear witness to the truth: "For his invisible things," he says, "perceived from the creation of the world through his works, are seen, both his eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse, because knowing God, they did not glorify him as God, nor give thanks." Arius said: The Scripture says this about the Father. Athanasius said: Then does the blessed apostle Paul accuse those who did not recognize the God who appeared through a body as the Son of God, his eternal divinity, who ordered the whole? For from the magnitude and beauty of creatures, one must analogously recognize the creator and give thanks. And it is evident that all things that have come to be have come to be through the Logos, and without him nothing has come to be. Therefore you also ought to have inferred from the virtuous composition of the elements the creator analogously, and to have become aware of yourself, that the world is the work of an eternal God, not of a created nature, which would be unable to accomplish such things. Arius said: Let the Son be eternal, but he also has eternity as having been eternally created. Athanasius said: If the Son is eternal, he was not a creation.

If it is a creature, it was not eternal. Arius said: I do not say these things on my own authority; the Son said that God first created him of all things. Athanasius said: Was this revealed to you alone, or also to others, the mystery concerning the Son of God? Arius said: Not everyone has the faith; but this faith was made known not to me alone, but also to many others. Athanasius said: From where was it revealed to you, from God or from men? Arius said: From God. Athanasius said: Did you hear it yourself, or did others instruct you concerning this? Arius said: They did not instruct me, but many holy men, speaking in the Spirit of God, said that the Son was created. Athanasius said: Who are these? Can we not know as well? Arius said: You yourself know that both the prophets and the apostles spoke in many places that the Son is a creature. Athanasius said: I heard you saying a short while ago that the Son spoke. Now you have shifted to the prophets and apostles. Nevertheless, instruct me: which prophet said such a thing concerning this? Arius said: Even now I say that the Son speaks through the holy prophets and apostles, just as through Solomon he said: "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works." Do you see that God created him before all things for the works that were to come through him? Athanasius said: So then, according to you, the pretext of the creatures became the cause for the Son to be created. Arius said: That is so. Athanasius said: Then are the things created by him more honorable than God? How does that follow? For if he came to be for their sake, and not they for his sake, according to you, these things are manifestly more honorable than he; but may we never think thus!

For through the Son are all things, as it is written: "For it was fitting," says the Apostle, "that He through whom are all things and for whom are all things, having brought many sons to glory, should perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings." Arius said: Forgive me for having said that the Son was created for the sake of the works, except that he was created before all things. Athanasius said: Who was created before all creations? Arius said: The Son, for this reason he is also recorded as firstborn. Athanasius said: If someone worships Satan, does he act well or badly? Arius said: Such a person is impious and godless, and does not even preserve common sense, whom it is not worthy to call a man, but an inhuman. Athanasius said: God, speaking to Job, spoke thus concerning Satan, that is: "He is the beginning of the Lord's creation, made to be mocked by my angels." Therefore you, worshipping the first creation, worship Satan, as the argument has shown. But if you should wish to quibble, that Satan is a creation prior to the Son, then you claim that he is older than the Holy Spirit? For you have defined thus: that the Son was created by God, and you have affirmed that the Spirit was generated by the Son. Arius said: The truth confines me, not you. But since you have trapped me in this, I will also confine you with the many testimonies that assert that the Son is a creature. Athanasius said: Produce from the treasury the things stored up by your father. Arius said: My father is the God whom I worship; but answer me concerning, "The Lord created me," the Lord having confessed himself to have been created by his own Father. Athanasius said:

The passage has another spiritual power within, and possesses a divine treasure stored up in it. Arius said: I do not rest only on the literal sense of Solomon’s saying; for I am not unintelligent, but I understand that a spiritual meaning is contemplated by the learned. Hence, being not without initiation myself, I say this: “The Lord created me” according to the letter, but I see the power in it, which is greater, which you, not understanding, being held by ignorance, go astray, and it is characteristic of a bad man to envy those better. Athanasius said: Then what you think, declare to me also without envy, whatever seems good to you. Arius said: For I understand “The Lord created me” as “He begot me.” Athanasius said: If then the Son was begotten, clearly he was not created; but if he was created, he was not begotten. Arius said: You do not understand this power. Athanasius said: Do not hesitate to bear with me until I understand, I beg you. Arius said: Lest a passion be understood, he said, “The Lord created me”; therefore, in the case of God, creating is the same as begetting. Athanasius said: If then in the case of God creating and begetting are the same, then all creatures are offspring of God. And if this is so, then the Lord is, according to you, brother of all things that have come into being through him. Where then is the Only-begotten of God? Arius said: The term “only-begotten” is applied to an exceptional, most eminent, and greatest thing. Athanasius said: Does not the heaven seem to you to be greatest? Arius said: Very much so. Athanasius said: Then the Son is, according to you, and the earth and the sea are daughters according to you. Arius said: Let it not be! God made only one Son. Athanasius said:

Do you think that all things are only-begotten by the same definition of generation, yes or no? Arius said: It is so. Athanasius said: Therefore, if the Son was made like the rest of the creations, how is He Son of God? Arius said: I ask you, how do you understand, "The Lord created me"? Athanasius said: Be assured; I would not have answered you, but for the sake of the hearers I will speak. Solomon, being righteous and filled with wisdom, was deemed worthy to indicate in a parable the creation of the temple, that is, of the body of the Lord Jesus, as the Lord Himself says to the Jews: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it." And He said this concerning the temple of His body, as John says. Moreover, Solomon spoke more plainly, treating of these very things as follows: "Wisdom built herself a house, and set up seven pillars. She slaughtered her own victims, and mixed her own wine in a bowl, and prepared her own table; she sent out her own servants, summoning with a lofty proclamation to the bowl, saying, 'Whoever is foolish, let him turn to me,' and to those deficient in mind she said, 'Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mixed for you; leave folly behind, that you may live.'" Unerringly, Wisdom is the God Word, who, on account of His own and His Father's ineffable love for humanity, became poor though rich, so that we might be enriched by His poverty; existing in the form of God, He came to be in the form of a servant; and being equal to His own Father, He associated with us as a servant and fellow servant, being perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity.

This Logos, then, who is God, wisdom and paternal power, being incorporeal, just as his God and Father is, for the sake of our salvation built the body in the womb of Mary the Theotokos, without communion with a man, and became, as I said, man, and made himself an example of every virtue, so that those who wish to follow might have, as along a path, a divine model, by being likened to which they become partakers of the divine nature, as the Chosen Vessel says: "Become imitators of me, as I am of Jesus Christ." Then, after his passion and resurrection, wisdom, power, the Logos and God sent the apostles to all the foolish, the senseless pagans, those who do not know God, having set forth a table, that is, the holy altar, and upon it a heavenly and incorruptible bread, granting life to all who partake of it, his holy and all-holy body, and a wine that gladdens the heart and instills sobriety in the soul of each who tastes it, as if mixing his own blood in a cup, having called the called and the elect through his apostles, leaving behind all folly, and being proclaimed citizens of the kingdom of heaven, those who obey his voice. Arius said: Since you have gathered into the body the phrase "The Lord created me," well, I also agree with you through the written testimony. Henceforth, you too walk straight toward the truth, and do not do otherwise. Athanasius said: What do you wish me to do? Whatever is dear to the truth, I also agree. Arius said: I will provide you with testimony which you will not be able to allegorize.

It is clear, then, that he speaks concerning the substantial existence of the Logos, that he was made by the Father. Athanasius said: If you give me testimony from the God-inspired Scriptures concerning what you affirm, I will not forget it; only take care, for you have just now written according to your own will, and I do not accept what is said by you. Arius said: Do not accuse us as if we do not fear God. It is the voice of the Apostle which I said I would offer. Athanasius said: Recite from it. Arius said: The most illustrious of the apostles, Peter, testifying concerning what was set before Israel, spoke thus: "Let the whole house of Israel know for certain, that God made him both Lord and Christ." Did we forge this voice? Athanasius said: You did not forge it, but you falsified it. Arius said: You saw yourself cornered, and you turned to insults. Rather, if you can, speak to these things, or defect to the truth. Athanasius said: Read the whole passage. Arius said: "Let the whole house of Israel know for certain, that God made him both Lord and Christ." Athanasius said: Do not mutilate the words of Scripture. For the body, as it was formed from the beginning, if it remains, is beautiful; but if it is dismembered, that is, a hand, or a foot, or a finger, it appears ugly. Therefore, also say what follows in the Scriptures. Arius said: That is, "Jesus, whom you crucified." Athanasius said: Who was crucified—the Logos God, or the body which the Logos God took from Mary the virgin? Arius said: Do you not confess that the Logos was crucified? Athanasius said:

I confess the God Logos, having become man, was crucified in the flesh. Arius said: What is "in the flesh"? Did the Logos not suffer? Athanasius said: You first confess what you think. Arius said: Even if you do not say it, I affirm that the Logos was nailed together with and suffered together with the flesh. Athanasius said: It is necessary to present the proof by means of a parable, whether the Logos and God suffered. Arius said: Say what you wish. Athanasius said: Have you ever seen someone nailed to a cross? Arius said: Yes. Athanasius said: Then, while the body was held by the nails on the cross, was the soul also held, unable to depart from the body? Arius said: It departs, since the soul is spirit. Athanasius said: If it departs, it is clear that it is not held on the cross, that is, on the wood and the nails, and so it is. For while the body is held, the soul, having freedom and being unconstrained, leaves the body and goes to its own place. Arius said: This is also so. Athanasius said: If, then, in the case of a condemned man you granted that the soul does not suffer in the present bodily condemnation, how did you say that the Logos and God was fastened together with the body? Arius said: Let it be granted that the God Logos did not suffer together with the body. Athanasius said: Therefore the apostle Peter secured the word, not wishing some to perish through ignorance. For since the sons of Israel thought that our Christ was a man, he indicated through the testimony that this one is the chosen one of God, and he says: Even if you hanged the righteous one as a man, do not be ignorant that God made this one Christ and Lord. Arius said:

Behold then, Christ and Lord has been made by God. Athanasius said: The God Logos, the Son of God, was Lord before the passion, yes or no? Arius said: Yes, He was Lord. Athanasius said: Peter said that He whom the Jews crucified has become Lord. Arius said: What is this, "They crucified Christ and Lord having become"? I wish to know what you mean. Athanasius said: The God Logos is Lord of all, being always Lord. But since He took flesh from the flesh ruled by sin, as it is written: "The Logos became flesh"—and by flesh I mean a perfect human, such as we are, only in respect of our being human; for He became man without sin. This man, then, Christ and Lord, God made, the man from the seed of David, subjecting to him principalities and powers and lordships, and men, and angels, and of all things simply subjected, He became Christ and Lord: Christ because of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, like oil, poured upon Him from heaven; Lord because He received authority over all. Arius said: Then is the Logos Son and Lord in a proper sense, and God, and is the man in a proper sense? Athanasius said: God forbid! Arius said: Tell me then how. For you said the God Logos is Lord, and His temple is Lord, that is, the man. But I think there are two Lords. Athanasius said: There are not two; God forbid! For there is one Son of God, who became man for us. For the earthly king, tell me, does the man reign in a proper sense, and the purple robe in a proper sense, yes or no? Arius said:

How is it possible, either for the man to rule apart, or for the purple robe to hold sway on its own? Yet I understand what you wish to demonstrate from the example. Athanasius said: If, then, it is impossible to speak of two kings in the case of one king—I mean the man and the purple—how is it possible to claim lordship for the Word and God separately, and to proclaim a beginning for the holy and precious flesh, which has become like a garment of purple, as a separate thing, when it is the garment of the King, the Word of God? But indeed, the Apostle Paul also most clearly indicated the unity of lordship which the Lordly man has with the God Word, by saying: "Whose fathers, and from whom Christ according to the flesh, the God over all, unto the ages, amen." Do you see that the Apostle knows the one from the seed of David as God over all? Arius said: Are you not afraid to call the man God over all? Athanasius said: Paul was not afraid, nor am I afraid, because I see in part the economy of God. Arius said: What economy? Athanasius said: Concerning the incarnation of the God of all. Arius said: I too confess the incarnation of the Word; but concerning the crucified one being God over all, I am afraid to say it. Athanasius said: Listen, and marvel even more, that I confess him as God over all, and that no other can be reckoned with him: the God who always is, in relation to the man who came to be and was crucified for us. Arius said: Where is this novelty written? Athanasius said: In the prophet Jeremiah, for he says: "This is our God; no other will be reckoned beside him.

He discovered every path of knowledge and gave it to Jacob, his child, and to Israel, the one beloved by him. After these things he appeared on the earth and lived among men. This one who appeared, then, was God, and is God, to whom no other God will be added, yes or no? Arius said: As the prophet says, he himself is God. For it is not lawful to say of the Father that he appeared, or that he became man and lived among men, since the matter is clear, that the Word, who is God, became man. Athanasius said: Therefore the Son is one, who before all ages coexists with his Father, being invisible God, and has become visible man. Arius said: That the Son of God is one is agreed; but he does not coexist with the Father without beginning. Athanasius said: Does wisdom and power coexist with the Father and the Holy Spirit? Arius said: It is so. Athanasius said: Therefore the invisible Son of God, who is one, who also was seen, incorporeal and having taken a body, immortal and having experienced death in the flesh, intangible and having been touched. Arius said: I agree with what you have said. Athanasius said: Therefore this one is also Lord and God, because the flesh was united to the Word; and not separately, and lordships are spoken of; but the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Word and God, is one. Arius said: It seems to me that the definition concerning the incarnation appears in some way most correct; however, the Son is not true God, as the Father is. Athanasius said: From where have you taken this and brought it to us? Arius said: Have you never read the Gospel, as the Lord says to his own Father?

This is the eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent?" Do you see that he called the Father the only true God, as if he himself were not true God? Athanasius said: This is a conjunction, connecting the preceding words and those that follow, not creating a division. And it is unanimously agreed by the prudent that the conjunction belongs to the Lord's own utterance. But listen patiently to what I say. If someone commands his neighbor concerning Constantine, saying: "Know for certain that Constantine is the only Augustus and emperor of land and sea, and Constantius his son," has he not acknowledged the son together with the father, yes or no? Arius said: It is no small danger to say that Constantius does not reign jointly with Constantine his father, because he is enumerated after him. Athanasius said: In the case of Constantine and Constantius you see a great danger, but in the case of Jesus Christ and his Father are you not afraid to utter such things? You must have the same piety toward the Lord as you would toward Constantine when spoken of. You have not taken away from his son Constantius, that is, that he is himself Augustus, and all that was previously said of his father; you recognize the unity of rank from no other source than through him. Arius said: Turning away from the syllogisms, give me a written proof whether the Son is true God, just as I have set before you an evangelical saying. Athanasius said: Listen also concerning this to the written proof, and do not err. The apostle John spoke thus: "And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, that we may know the true God.

and we are in his true Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” Do you see that these very words are borne concerning the Son and the Father, theologizing the Son as equal to the Father? For just as he said concerning the Father, “This is the eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God,” so here concerning the Son he says, “This is the true God and eternal life.” Therefore, the phrase “and Jesus Christ whom you sent” is a conjunction, equivalent to saying, “You alone are the true God and Jesus Christ whom you sent,” so that they may know the Son as true God, just as they know you the Father. As also in another place the Lord said, “I am the truth.” And truth could never become falsehood. Arius said: I too confess that the Son of God is true God; but can you say that he is at once God and at once Son? Athanasius said: What do you mean by “at once God, at once Son”? That the Son is at once Son of God? Yes. For the Word of God is God, being Son of the Father. Arius said: I do not mean it that way, but that you cannot say that the Father is at once God and at once Son together with the Father. Athanasius said: Why can I not say this?

say; Arius said: “God the Father is unbegotten, while the Son is begotten.” Athanasius said: “Is the term ‘unbegotten’ applied only to God, or also to certain other things?” Arius said: “Let nothing else be called unbegotten; for what is unbegotten is also without beginning.” Athanasius said: “Is the term ‘unbegotten’ a substance, or indicative of substance?” Arius said: “It is a substance.” Athanasius said: “You lie; it is not a substance, but indicative of substance.” Arius said: “What do you mean to signify?” Athanasius said: “That the substance of God has not come to be, nor was it begotten; hence we appropriately call the substance of God unbegotten. Then tell me: Was Adam begotten, yes or no?” Arius said: “He was not begotten, but was formed.” Athanasius said: “I asked about being begotten, not about being formed.” Arius said: “He was not begotten.” Athanasius said: “Then he will be without beginning according to you. But Eve also was not begotten, but was created. What do you say about one who has not yet been born, begotten or unbegotten?” Arius said: “The term ‘unbegotten’ is correct. So the Father will be unbegotten, and the Son begotten.” Athanasius said: “What then do you wish to conclude from this?” Arius said: “The Son was begotten, yes or no?” Athanasius said: “He was begotten.” Arius said: “You see that before being begotten, he was not; but if he was, he would be unbegotten according to you. But if this is so, the Son will not be begotten.” Athanasius said: “Is God always Father, yes or no?” Arius said: “He is always Father potentially, but not always in actuality.” Athanasius said: “Was the world potentially present to God infinitely, yes or no?” Arius said: “So it is.” Athanasius said: “Then just as God crafted the world by will, so also he crafted the Son according to you.” Arius

He said: “Not as the world; for I remember the things previously demonstrated. But I say that He had the Son by will before the ages; and I grant a brief interval for the generation of the Son, so that He may be begotten.” Athanasius said: “Is the fact that God is Father a good thing, or will it be a reproach to Him?” Arius said: “Far be it from me to attach reproach to God! Indeed, it is very good that God is Father.” Athanasius said: “Therefore, according to you, God advanced from worse to better. For if, not being Father, He afterwards became Father, then He changed from inferior to superior. But if you say that before He became Father He was more honorable, then He passed from more honorable to worse. And if this is so, how shall we say that the Divine is unchangeable, self-sufficient, neither advancing to better nor declining from best to worse? For it is characteristic of perishable things to change, sometimes from better to worse, sometimes from inferior to more honorable.” Arius said: “Will you not grant a blink of an eye when the Son did not exist before He was begotten?” Athanasius said: “I do not grant that which is not.” Arius said: “Why?” Athanasius said: “Because it is written: ‘There shall not be in you a new god.’ And if I grant even briefly that there was once a time when He was not, the one I confess will be a new god—which may a Christian man never think, confessing things contrary to the divine Scriptures!” Arius said: “What contrariety is there, if we say that for a blink of an eye He was not before being begotten, so that we may not think Him unbegotten?” Athanasius said:

A great inconsistency is shown in me with the piety of the divine Scriptures, which everywhere bear witness that the Son always was, and that there was never a time when he was not. Or does it not seem to you, if we say this, that we think contrary to the God-inspired Scriptures? Arius said: "Give me the testimonies." Athanasius said: "Hear John saying: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; this one was in the beginning with God.'" Who among the holy prophets and apostles has spoken such things as you? Tell me, is it possible even to conceive that the Word, who is God, was ever a time when he was not? For if this were so understood, there was a time when God the Father was without the Word. Arius said: "Do you then say that the Son is the Word uttered?" Athanasius said: "Far be it! For I affirm that the Word is substantial, and not a dissolving utterance, nor indeed having proceeded from God and again dissolved into the Father according to Sabellius; but I affirm that the Son, having been ineffably begotten, coexists with the Father. For just as it is not possible to conceive of a soul without reason, so it is not possible to believe in God the Father without the Son. For just as the Father is without beginning, so also is the Word and God the Son of God." Arius said: "How is the Son without beginning, who confesses ignorance of the day of the consummation?" Athanasius said: "Tell me, O man, what I ask: An architect, taking a reed, sets measures; then he draws upper and lower stories, I mean two-storied and three-storied. If he reaches the first story, he knows that he must be occupied with the second; and when he completes the second roof, he understands that he is near the completion of the building.

Whenever a third story is about to be added, as before two or three houses, one knows securely that the conclusion of the building is near. Is this so or not? Arius said: I agree that this is so. Athanasius said: Therefore the Son of God, who made everything from non-being into being, and fitted together this element, who foresees and administers the world until now, as the Lord himself said: "My Father works until now, and I work," does he not know when he will finish what he himself creates? Still further, consider this, I say: go and ask an inexperienced man about the completion of the month, who does not know that the month consists of thirty days, whether he will give you an answer about what you inquire. But if you bring the question to one who has knowledge, he will immediately tell you, if the month is at the fifteenth, that it is the middle; if it is about the twenty-seventh, he will tell you that the month is near completion. The same definition applies also to the moon, and likewise to the year: if you ask a knowledgeable man when it is completed, having examined according to the understanding present in him, that the eleventh month is finished and the twelfth has begun, he will tell you that it is about to be concluded. Arius said: What has been said is so. Athanasius said: If then an architect knows when he will finish the building, and the knowledgeable man knows from the number when the month is completed, and from experience of the cyclical course, when the moon is full and when it wanes and ends, and at what time the year is completed and fulfilled, he knows.

How then could we not say that the Lord Jesus, who made the world and who will bring it to its end, knows the day? For if he were ignorant, how, when questioned about the end of this age and about his own second coming, could he have answered and spoken the truth? For it is characteristic of those who have pure knowledge of things that exist or happen to declare the truth. Hence the Savior, knowing, indicated the truth when questioned. For when the disciples asked what the sign of the coming of the Lord Jesus and of the end of this age would be, he answered and spoke thus: "See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. You will hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not disturbed; for these things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places. But all these are the beginning of the birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulations and will kill you; and you will be hated by all because of my name. And then many will be scandalized, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and will lead many astray. And because lawlessness has multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, this one will be saved. And the Gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." And after a little he says:

For there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred from the beginning of the world until now, nor will it occur. And if those days had not been cut short, not every flesh would be saved. Then if someone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ, behold there,' do not believe." And after other things: "For just as the lightning comes from the east and appears as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. And wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will gather. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky." And a little later he says: "Truly, I say to you, that this generation will not pass until all these things happen. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Concerning the day or the hour, no one knows, not even the angels of the heavens, except the Father alone." Therefore, it is altogether for the right-minded to recognize from the indications given by the Savior concerning the day and hour that he knows most certainly when he is about to come and restore everything, as has been predetermined, according to his inseparable will and that of his Father. For take the Gospel in your hands, read the passage of Matthew concerning the matter in question, and everything will be clear to you, that the Lord is not ignorant of the day. But if he were ignorant, how could he foretell signs and trials, which do not yet exist nor have ever occurred, that precede the day?

For until the consummation and his own coming, he foretold the signs and their qualities, so that even the more zealous and industrious might be able to recognize the time from the things previously mentioned by the Lord. Arius said: If he truly knows the day, why did he himself say, "Not even the Son knows that day"? Athanasius said: The Lord did not say, "Not even I know that day." For it would have been consistent for the Lord to say this, if he wished to represent himself as lacking knowledge of the matter. And in Matthew it is not recorded, "Not even the Son knows that day"; the other evangelists omitted the account of this; only Mark said, "Not even the Son knows the day." And understand Mark's account in your heart, that the Lord is not ignorant of the day. For the Lord Jesus says: "Concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of the heavens, nor the Son, except the Father." For knowing himself not to be separate from the Father in essence, but united in divinity with his Father God, he indicated his own foreknowledge in the foreknowledge of the Father, as the Lord says: "I and the Father are one"; and again: "Everything that the Father has is mine." The Savior did not say this, "Everything that the Father has is mine," on account of created things, but whatever pertained to the divinity of the Father, these the Lord claimed as his own, such as immortality, incorruptibility, invincibility, immutability, incomprehensibility, power, foreknowledge, and whatever the Father has, these belong to the Son.

He said that he was ignorant, as was previously stated, of angels and the Son. Arius said: Is the Son not another? Athanasius said: The Son who is truly of God is one, the Word and God. But there is also another Son, adopted through the temple of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the divine Apostle says: "For we did not receive a spirit of slavery again into fear, but we received a spirit of adoption, in which we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" And Christ explicitly said to the apostles: "My children, I am still with you a little while, and I go to the one who sent me." And to the Jews he says in parables thus: "A certain man having two sons, approaching the elder, said: 'Go, work in my vineyard.' But he, answering, said: 'I, lord,' and did not go. Then approaching the other, he said: 'Go, work in my vineyard.' But he says: 'I do not wish to.' Later, however, repenting, he went." And the Lord asks: Who did the will of his father? The Jews, answering, say: "The younger son." It is agreed that the father is the God of all.

happens, and the vineyard is the paths of righteousness, in which he commanded the elder son to work. But the one, having bid farewell to the command after a short interval, despised the one who gave the order; this is the people of the Jews, who because of their unbelief became cast out of adoption. And the younger son of the father, the people from the nations, who at the beginning of the call disobeyed in unbelief, being held by idolatry, but later repented and believed, was shown to be obedient to the fatherly command. And from obedience he appeared as a friend and heir, as a son of the Father, deemed worthy of every honor and grace by his own Father, apart from that day and hour, I mean the consummation, having received only signs, so that he might not be ignorant that the end is near, and so that the day might not suddenly overtake him unprepared. Arius said: I confess that this about the day is rightly spoken; but that the Son is united in essence with the Father, I say is not correct. Athanasius said: Since you have no small eagerness to blame the good and the things rightly confessed by the pious, give an account of what exactly essence is. Arius said: Everything that exists in a hypostasis, this is essence. Athanasius said: You have spoken correctly. But since we are now speaking about God, tell me what the essence of God is, lest we be thought by the unlearned to be speaking perhaps about money. Arius said: The essence of God is, whatever God is, this is essence. Athanasius said: You have spoken well; now listen. Arius said: Say what you wish. Athanasius said:

You know that, by way of accommodation and condescension to our weakness through the divinely inspired Scriptures, God often speaks to us in a more human manner, so that human nature may be able to understand the heavenly divine mysteries from things said in a similar way, in which we are involved and which we know. Arius said: It is so. Athanasius said: Therefore God, saying to his own Son through the prophet, "From the womb before the morning star I begot you," signifies the generation of the Son from the paternal essence. Arius said: Does God then have a womb? Athanasius said: I said to you beforehand that, on account of our weakness, the divine Scriptures often proclaim the Divine in human form; not that God is such, but so that we may piously understand divine things from bodily examples. For no other reason does it name a womb, except to represent that the Son himself was begotten from the essence of the Father. Since if this is not the case, you tell how the saying ought to be understood. Arius said: Scripture says from the person of the Father, "My heart belched forth a good Word." Therefore, does it say that the Son is a Word that was belched forth? Athanasius said: Scripture spoke well, along with all the other things, and this too; but you, taking the saying, have twisted it badly. Arius said: Explain to us the truth of the saying, since according to you I have twisted it. Athanasius said: God is an impassible spirit, yes or no? Arius said: Yes, it is so. Athanasius said: When, then, Scripture asserts that the Son was begotten from a womb, it signifies the genuineness of the Son from the divine hypostasis.

Lest the human race, being weak, should suppose that the generation of Christ was human, He said, "My heart has belched forth a good Word." But if anyone should again dare to attempt to claim that the Son is a word of utterance, he will recall "from the womb" and cease from his evil thought. For Scripture has circumscribed every human mind, so that there may be no heretical madness against the eternal and incomprehensible generation of the Son of God. For if He is from the womb, how did He come forth from the heart? And if He is from the heart, how is He from the womb? Arius said: What then ought we to say and think? Athanasius said: We learn nothing other than that the Son was born from the essence of God and Father from such examples. Arius said: If the Son was consubstantial with the Father, why did He not say so when present to His disciples? Athanasius said: Where is it that the Son did not confess Himself consubstantial with the Father? Arius said: If you can show this? It is one of the impossible things. Athanasius said: We do not attempt to provide from difficulties, but we wish to show the truth from evident matters. Remember that you said that what is God, this is essence, that is, the Son. Yes or no? Arius said: By no means. Athanasius said: How then did the Lord say, "I and the Father are one?" If the Son is not the same in divinity as the Father, how does He say, "I and the Father are one?" Did He speak falsely or truly? Far be it! Truth could never become falsehood. But also, "He who has seen me has seen the Father" presents nothing other than the holy divinity.

For if the Son is different in substance from the Father, how can the Father be seen in the Son? For if a statue made in the likeness of a man from wood cannot be recognized in stone, since it is not from its substance, and if it is impossible for stone to be recognized in wood, and wood in stone, according to the principle of substance, it remains that the all-king God is recognized in His consubstantial Son. For things of the same kind, which are consubstantial, when seen, present the knowledge even of those not seen. Arius said: How then does the Lord say, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer"? Can vine and farmer be consubstantial? Athanasius said: Do not mutilate the Lord's saying; but read it as it stands. "I am," says the Lord, "the true vine, you are the branches, my Father is the farmer." Tell me then: if the Son is not consubstantial with the Father from the example of the vine and the farmer, do you then claim that he is consubstantial with men? Arius said: God forbid! Athanasius said: Listen gently, and give me an account of these things: Are the vine and the branches consubstantial, yes or no? Arius said: Surely these things are so. I ask that you wish to quickly put an end to this chapter with clarity, so that you may make me such as you are. Athanasius said: Unless you first give me an account of what I ask, you will not receive your request. Arius said: Say what you wish, and if it is possible, I will answer to the best of my ability. Athanasius said: For what reason is it written about the right hand and arm of God? Arius said:

Such things we understand with respect to the attacks and the consequences. If he says according to, "Your hands made me and fashioned me," we recognize the creative power of God here. But whenever he says, "To whom was the arm of the Lord revealed?" it is clear that he speaks concerning the Son. And in addition, "The right hand of the Lord performed a mighty deed" manifestly signifies the Son, through whom all things have come to be. Athanasius said: The arm, whose arm it is, is of the same substance, yes or no? Arius said: It is so. Athanasius said: And the right hand, whose right hand it is, is of the same substance, yes or no? Arius said: It is so. But what do you mean by saying that I compose the Divine as eternal? Have you never heard Clement, who followed the apostle Peter, who refutes such an opinion? Athanasius said: Remember what has been said, O man, and do not err. For I worship the Divine as simple, uncompounded, and indescribable, having learned from the holy and divine Scriptures and from those who successively received the episcopate. For no other reason does Scripture call the Son arm and right hand than that we may piously understand the Son to be of the same substance as the Father, because it is impossible for a man to conceive of the arm, or the right hand, or the finger as being of a different substance, since each of them naturally differs. Arius said: I agree that the Son is of the same substance as the Father; now give me an account concerning the vine. Athanasius said: The divine Scripture is accustomed to mention two vines: one good and joyful, gladdening the heart of man, the Lord Jesus Christ; the other the devil, dripping with rage and venom, according to what is written.

For their vine is from Sodom, and their branch from Gomorrah; their grape is a grape of gall, a cluster of bitterness; their wine is the incurable venom of asps." And the people were called a vine, and the righteous were often called vineyards, simply and without qualification, without the addition, "I am the true vine." Lest therefore the Savior also be reckoned among the aforementioned vines by reason of the appellation—I do not mean the devil, but, for example, the vine transplanted from Egypt and planted to produce fruit of the grape, but which produced thorns—he spoke with the addition: "I am the true vine," whose fruit is life, joy, peace, love, righteousness, most sincere faith, knowledge, piety, purity, modesty, philanthropy, meekness, temperance, and the like. Since also the branches, partaking of the same nobility of the true vine, must put forth similar fruit, of which vine they are branches. He therefore spoke of the apostles, at the same time preparing them to abide in the faith and not, having strayed from the truth, like Judas, to remain fruitless. For those who slip away from the Lord's love and faith are, like branches cut off, cast out of the divine. Sober and eager, then, he urges the disciples to become by saying, "My Father is the farmer," as if he were saying: I wish you to know that whatever my Father cultivates, such a one yields my fruit, not allowing any alien fruit to sprout among the true branches of the vine.

For walking about in the vineyard, that is, in the chambers of the soul, he removes all that is rotten and frenzied, so that it may not, running wild, destroy the fruit which the farmer desires to put forth. But since the account of the sensible vine is able to contribute to our inquiry, we must begin from here to set forth the narrative concerning it as well. Since the vine, left before winter, stands flourishing and well-branched, steadfast against the assaults of winter; but he, having approached with the most violent onset of his cold, begins to wither some of its leaves, and these, being weak due to their rottenness, fall from the heights, carried from the higher to the lower parts, and then the vine remains well-branched, enduring the onslaught of winter. And if by the persistence of the undiluted cold it damaged some of the branches, nevertheless by its resistance the vine, together with the healthy branches remaining to it, passed through the winter and escaped from the winter's hardship. Having arrived at spring, which is the new year, it seems to rest; but suddenly the farmer, standing over it, bearing a sword, first, having carefully examined all the branches, begins to cut out those damaged by the winter, and then also to prune the healthy ones from the third or fourth eye. And the vine, stripped and struck by the sword, stands suspended, looking up to the sky, at the same time weeping until the third day.

Receiving consolation from the providence of God, having ceased from tears, it suddenly sprouted a great number and multitude of branches, and the same vine appeared as it was before, rather even more glorious. From what has been previously set forth, what follows concerning the true vine will be clear to you. Therefore the Lord, holding the manner of a well-branched and shady vine, because of the multitude of disciples and the surrounding crowds coming to him for the sake of help—so that there were countless multitudes believing in him—and holding them inseparably by the desire for him, in the manner of branches being with him, and for the sake of spiritual honor and benefit, not wishing to be apart from him but to be with him, while others wished to obtain healing, and others having heard that Christ had come, and having gathered together for the same purpose, wishing to behold the newer spectacle, God in a body consorting with men. And simply, everything was full of joy at the presence of the Lord; wherever he walked, he was seen like a well-crowned vine because of the myriads of crowds accompanying him, all by desire for him.

united with him. When winter winds began to blow from the promontories to test the crowds accompanying him, like leaves suddenly withering, not a few fell away from the life-giving vine to which they clung, some denying their own life out of fear of the high priests, lest they be excommunicated, just as we now see the same things happening; for they loved, as did those then, the glory of the persecutors of the Church more than the glory of God, choosing the former. Others, not perceiving the divine and spiritual words of the Lord, turned back, attaching blame and reproach to the benefactor, saying, "Who can listen to him?" This also occurs in our own time among those unwilling to accompany the truth because afflictions and trials attend the faith. For they say, "Who can keep the tradition of the Lord's commandments and of the faith?" Moreover, the violence of the storm exposed the faithlessness of Judas, just as now, those once disciples and friends and fellow travelers of Christ, overcome by love of the world, form unlawful assemblies against Jesus, even those entrusted with the treasury. He was not ignorant of their weakness, but in order to prepare them, using the Lord's own resources, to be ready either to fight bravely for their Master or to march against their king under the pretext of worldly friendship. Such persons, like the most ignoble and fruitless branches, when cut by the vine-dresser, become fuel for eternal fire.

Nevertheless, when the storms approached the true vine for a long time—I mean the Lord Jesus—some of the scribes and Pharisees wished to stone him, but fearing they would be killed by the crowds who loved the Lord, they desisted. Others wished to seize him, but Jesus did not permit them to take hold of him until the hour and day predetermined by the Lord himself before the ages arrived, in which he was to suffer. At another time, when some wished to throw him down a precipice, he passed through their midst in peace, and there were countless trials that assailed him, but being hindered, they came to nothing. Then came the beginning of the new year, at which time the Passover was to be sacrificed according to the ordinances of the Lord, to dissolve every bond of injustice, as a divine command came to them, and to reconcile themselves to God through alms, not to bear enmity toward one’s neighbor, nor to seek evil against any man because of the common kinship of the race, but to be pure in peace and to offer worship. So, in a time of peace and festival, Jesus came to Jerusalem with his disciples, not as one ignorant of what would befall him, but knowing it very well. Indeed, he had already foretold to his disciples what would follow.

Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of the elders and the scribes, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles, and they will condemn him to death.” So that the injustice of the lawless assembly of the Jews might be made manifest, peace entered into Jerusalem. But those alien to peace, having seen, were disturbed; for peace is an enemy to enemies and murderers. For they are naturally more inclined to rejoice in evils than in good works and the fruitfulness of peace. And those who had been watching, suddenly standing sword in hand at the place where Jesus was with his disciples, having all looked at themselves, first lay their polluted hands upon him, while his disciples still stood with him. But he says peacefully to the murderers: “If you seek me, let these go.” And the disciples, having seen the grievous trials, with the power of the Holy Spirit not present to them, abandoned him the

the teacher and Lord took to flight. But the servants of Satan, having seized Jesus, lead him to the place of the Skull, to crucify him there, having fulfilled all that had previously been written about him, and having hung him, they fixed him, like a vine on a stake, upon the cross. And he, left alone on the cross, as if on a two-branched or three-branched structure, having stretched out his hands along the crossbeam, and his head with chest and feet together along the upright. And when all the hair of the remaining branches had been removed, struck by the nails and the lance, he wept with holy blood in streams. But suddenly he rose on the third day, diminished in nothing from what he was before, but rather appearing more glorious, having filled the hearts of the disciples with the assurance that he is the life. And having put forth a great number, a multitude of disciples after the resurrection, no longer only in Judea, but "it extended its branches as far as the sea; its shadow covered the mountains, and its tendrils the cedars of God." This is the understanding of the true vine, as far as possible piously conceived. Arius said: I declare that this is exceedingly correct. But something still remains for me concerning the inquiry into the Holy Spirit; for concerning the Son I too agree that he is equal to the Father in all respects, except that he is not almighty. Athanasius said: You have agreed to nothing that pertains to piety. Arius said: Why? Athanasius said: The Son is firmly equal to his own Father, and is Lord of all things over which his Father rules. Arius said:

I spoke about omnipotence, not about the Son's lordship over all things over which His Father rules. Athanasius said: What is "Pantocrator"? Arius said: From ruling over all. Athanasius said: Then according to you, does the Son not rule over all? Arius said: You have spoken well, along with the rest, also this: for the Son rules over all and is Pantocrator, just as the Father is. Since the divinity of the Father and the Son is of one substance, there is also one omnipotence. Let us now inquire about the Holy Spirit, especially since you defined at the beginning that it is consubstantial with the Father and the Son, but I object, having proof from the Holy Scriptures that it is created; and I will briefly state the demonstration concerning this, in that John insists, saying that all things came to be through the Son, not including the Spirit in this statement, and moreover that it is sent by the Father from the heavens to aid the apostles; and that which moves from one place to another is of a transitive substance. From this it is evident that it is of a created nature, and not uncreated, that blessed substance of Father and Son being said to contain all things and to be present everywhere in essence, as has been previously expounded by you in what was said earlier, and I concurred not with you but with the truth; and further, God says through the prophet: "I strengthen the thunder and create the wind," to which I think you cannot object. Athanasius said: It is written:

Become holy, because I am holy, sanctifying you." And again the Savior said thus to His own Father on behalf of the disciples being sanctified: "Father, sanctify them in your truth;" and again the Savior says concerning Himself: "I am the truth." According to these things, the divinity of the Father and of the Son is the holy and sanctifying one, which sanctifies all rational beings, those deemed worthy by free will and zeal to receive the holy and blessed essence into communion of sanctification. If, then, the Holy Spirit is not of the essence of the Father and the Son, for what reason did the Son of God number it in the symbol of sanctification? For the Lord says to the disciples: "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." If, then, all nations that believe and are sanctified are sanctified by the most blessed threefold name, it is clear that the Spirit also belongs to the divinity of the Father and the Son, from the fact that it is holy in essence, and makes holy all who approach its communion, as the Apostle says to those to whom he spoke: "But you have washed yourselves, but you have been sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in His Holy Spirit." But if it is not of the hypostasis of God and Father and Son, I ask again, how was it numbered with Father and Son, as if the divinity of the Father and Son were insufficient to provide sanctification to the faithful, and it took on the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, to complete sanctification, which is not from its own essence?

If this were thought to be so, how do we say that the Divine is without need? Self-sufficient, in no way requiring from another anything of what the one in need receives from the one able to bestow benefit. Arius said: If the Spirit were consubstantial with the eternal Godhead, then it would certainly be present everywhere in essence, and would not be sent from one place to another, traveling. Athanasius said: Do the holy angels have the Spirit? Yes or no? Arius said: Very much so. Athanasius said: Is it constantly present with them, or was it present for a time, and the Holy Spirit with the holy powers? Then will you sometimes call the angels holy, sometimes not holy? For by the presence of the Holy Spirit they are holy, and in its absence it is self-evident that they are not holy, according to what was said by God: "My Spirit will not remain with the men of this generation, because they are flesh." And the apostle Paul says: "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him." If, then, the cause of evil deeds is that the Spirit is not present with those who sin, from the fact that the Holy Spirit is not present and does not dwell in some, it is shown that they are not of Christ. Therefore, are the holy angels servants of sin, if they do not always have the Holy Spirit? How then do they unceasingly attend to the glory of God, if they are not holy and partakers of the Holy Spirit always? Arius said: The holy powers always have the Spirit. Athanasius said: Did the holy Fathers who from eternity were pleasing to God have the Holy Spirit present with them, and do they now have it? Yes or no? Arius said: All the saints both had and have the Holy Spirit inseparably. Athanasius

He said: Was the Holy Spirit present with the apostles while they were in the flesh? Yes or no? Arius said: It is not lawful to say that the Holy Spirit was not present with the apostles. Athanasius said: Did they all go together preaching the kingdom of heaven, or were they scattered into the twelve parts of the world? Arius said: They were separated from each other in the flesh, in order to disciple all the nations into the faith in Christ. Athanasius said: If, then, the Holy Spirit is present with angels, and the Holy Spirit happens to be present with the holy souls of the Fathers who pleased God, and when the apostles were separated by great distances from each other, for the purpose of preaching the kingdom of heaven, the Holy Spirit was present with them, then the Holy Spirit fills all things, being present everywhere in essence, just as God the Father and his only-begotten Son. Arius said: Let it be granted that the Holy Spirit is present everywhere in essence. Why then did the prophet say from the person of God: "I am the Lord your God, who makes the thunder roar and creates the wind," if it were not a created power? Athanasius said: Is the Holy Spirit always being created, or was it created once, according to you? Arius said: Do not put questions contrary to right reason. I say that the Spirit was created before all ages. Athanasius said: The prophet said "creates," as if God is always creating, as the prophet's utterance indicates. Therefore, it is not about the Holy Spirit that he asserts "creates," but about the breath of winds for the renewal of all creation. The knowledge of this will be very clear to you if, taking the prophet, you read from what follows.

For if, as you have granted, the Spirit was created before all the ages, He would have said, "I, God, make the thunder firm and created the Spirit." But now He did not speak thus. Arius said: So you have spoken this carefully and well. But the phrase, "Everything came to be through him," encompasses all things, as the Spirit is also ranked with all, even if a very great power subsisted for creation. Athanasius said: Is the Lord of all, the Father of your Lord Jesus Christ, therefore comprehended by a created nature according to you? Arius said: May it never be that I should say this! For we hear what was said by the Savior, "No one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son." Athanasius said: Is there a man who is known, either externally or internally, by his own spirit? Yes or no? Arius said: It is the voice of the Apostle that declares that one does not know the things of another, except that each is known only by his own spirit. And how can one say that it is not so? Athanasius said: Then who knows the depths of God—a created nature or an uncreated substance? Or will you say that the uncreated substance is comprehended by creation? But if you say by the uncreated, then it remains for you to confess the Holy Spirit as consubstantial with the Father and the Son. For the Holy Spirit knows all the things of God and the depths, according to the blessed Paul who says, "No man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him; so also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God." Arius said:

All things of God, whatever He may think, the Spirit knows, that is, the counsels which God may make manifest to it. Athanasius said: Therefore you grant nothing to the Spirit beyond the race of men. For if God does a thing, unless He reveals it to His servants the prophets. Arius said: Does it not seem to you that "all things of God" are His counsels? Athanasius said: "All things of God" are spoken of, both the energies and His creations, the visible and the invisible; also His counsels are spoken of, and there are many things which are named "of God." Tell me then now: Does a man reveal his own affairs to the spirit of man, or does the spirit of man know by itself all things done by the man, the man being moved by that same spirit to do everything? Arius said: The spirit of man knows by itself the things in him. Athanasius said: You have granted that the spirit of man knows everything by itself, but you have not conceded that the Spirit of God has knowledge even in this way? In addition, tell me, what do you understand by "depths of God"? Arius said: First, one must truthfully confess that the Spirit knows all things of God by itself; then one must say that "depths of God" are the infinite and incomprehensible, which is, and as it is, God; these, I say, it knows. Athanasius said: If then you say that the infinite and incomprehensible, and what it is and as it is, these things, you will say that God is comprehended by a created nature. But if this is so, He is no longer incomprehensible according to you.

For God to be comprehended by any created nature whatsoever cannot be said to be incomprehensible. Arius said: Give me testimony from the holy Scriptures, as concerning the Son, that the Spirit of God is consubstantial. Athanasius said: It is written in the law of God: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not cleanse the one who takes his name in vain." And concerning the Spirit we find it written by the Savior. For he says to the sons of Beelzebul, who wish to insult him: "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every city or house divided against itself falls. And if Satan casts out Satan, and has risen up against himself and is divided, how then will his kingdom stand? Or how can anyone plunder the vessels of the strong man, unless he first enters the house, binds the strong man, and then plunders his house? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by what do your sons cast them out?" And after a little he says: "Therefore I say to you, that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men; but blasphemy of the Spirit

He will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him either in the present age or in the future. You see that here also we recognize the Spirit as equal in honor to God, even in the future? For just as one who blasphemes against God the Father will not be cleansed but is liable to eternal punishment, so also one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit becomes subject to eternal sin, the offense not being pardoned. For if it were a servant, one who erred against it would not be punished with eternal punishment, like one blaspheming against the uncreated majesty of God. And what here the Son of God calls the Spirit of God, one of Christ’s disciples, taking it up, called the finger of God. If you wish to consider the examination that accompanied the discussion concerning the Son, you will find the eternal power of the Holy Spirit consubstantial with the Father, from its being called the finger. Indeed, the magi in Egypt, beholding the invincible power of the Holy Spirit, cried out, saying: “This is the finger of God.” They acknowledged nothing other than the consubstantial power of the Holy Spirit, which it has toward God the Father, through the expression “finger of God,” which it is impossible for anyone to withstand. And lest anyone wishing to be clever claim that the magi did not speak correctly, the apostles, or rather the Lord in them, confirmed what was said by them as having been spoken correctly, because he himself also said:

If I with the finger of God cast out demons." Your sons, with what do they cast them out?" And a little later he says: "Therefore I tell you, that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men; but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him either in the present age or in the future." You see that here also we recognize the Spirit as equal in honor to God even in the future? For just as he who blasphemes against God the Father will not be cleansed from being liable to eternal punishment, so also he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit becomes liable to eternal sin, the offense not being pardoned. For if it were a servant, he who erred against it would not be punished with eternal punishment, like him who blasphemes against the uncreated majesty of God. And what here the Son of God calls the Spirit of God, one of the disciples of Christ, treating of it, called the finger of God. If you wish to consider the examination that accompanied the discussion concerning the Son, you will find the eternal power of the Holy Spirit consubstantial with the Father, from its being called a finger. Indeed, the magicians in Egypt, beholding the invincible power of the Holy Spirit, cried out saying: "This is the finger of God." They acknowledged nothing other than the consubstantial power of the Holy Spirit, which it has towards God the Father, through the expression "finger of God," which it is impossible for anyone to withstand.

And lest someone, wishing to be clever, think that the words of the magicians were not correctly spoken, the apostles—or rather the Lord in them—confirmed what was said by them as correctly spoken, because he himself said: "If I with the finger of God cast out demons." Arius said: Where is it written that the Spirit is God? Athanasius said: Everywhere the divine Scriptures proclaim that the Holy Spirit is God, and that it is not separated from the glory of God and Father and of his Only-begotten. For Peter says in the Acts to Ananias: "Did not the property remain yours, and when sold was it not under your authority? Why did you set in your heart this thing, to lie to the Holy Spirit? You did not lie to men, but to God." Do you see how in the earlier part what he called the Holy Spirit, in the later part he called God? Moreover, the blessed Paul says in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians thus: "May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ." What do you wish to understand in the Epistle? Which Lord is named: the Lord of all, God the Father, or the Holy Spirit? For he enumerated Christ separately. For if you place the Father first, the Spirit is God; but if you acknowledge the Spirit first, it is Lord; and if it is Lord, it is also God; for it is written: "I am the Lord your God." Seek, and you will find it written everywhere, that the Holy Spirit partakes of the same energy, and is not separated from the glory of the Father and the Son. Arius said:

Why then does Scripture nowhere say that the Spirit is honored together with the Father and the Son? Athanasius said: The holy Scriptures speak all things clearly; but as for the present matter, all the holy powers in the heavens ceaselessly honor the Holy Spirit, as Isaiah says, together with the Father and the Son. Arius said: It is nowhere written that the Holy Spirit is honored together with the Father and the Son. Athanasius said: You are mistaken. When Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord and the armies of the holy powers, what did he say they were proclaiming, crying out in their divine hymns? Was it not, "Holy, holy, holy"? Why do they neither ascend above this number in their hymns nor descend below it and diminish the praise? Surely because it is not permitted for anyone outside the Trinity to be honored with such a privilege, nor to diminish the hymn for anyone, on account of the holy and blessed divinity of the Trinity, which is self-sufficient in its unity. And further, why did Moses teach the people to bow the neck and knees three times to the ground in worship? Was it not for the worship of the Trinity in one divinity? And also the God-bearing Elijah, with a third breath, raises the son of the widow, showing nothing else than that no one can be deemed worthy of eternal life unless he first takes up the equal-honored, consubstantial, and life-giving Trinity through the most venerable faith in his soul, which like fire consumes all dead faults that kill the soul, and gives eternal life to the one who possesses it.

Indeed, the Christ-bearing Paul would not have been able to ascend as far as the third heaven unless he had possessed in his breast the unceasing and consubstantial faith of the Trinity. God, wishing to show through this very matter that no one can enter the kingdom of the heavens who has not become such as the faith that dwelt in Paul. And what of the bath that provides remission of sins, and is life-giving and sanctifying, without which no one will see the kingdom of the heavens—is it not given to the faithful in the thrice-blessed name? In addition to all this, John declares: "And the three are one." Arius said: Truly blessed are all who have this faith, and confess it unto death, and live worthily of it; for now I have come to life again, rising from the dead. For error is dead, and kills the one who possesses it, and molds the soul of its companion to be defiled in licentiousness, so that the symbols of eternal life before one's eyes are not recognized by the man, and I have left death and his daughter error behind, and have attached myself to the life-giving faith. For man, being one, ought to have one faith of the eternal and consubstantial Trinity. For from the faithlessness from which God rescued me, not one faith but three are confessed: that of one eternal Father, another of a created Son, and of a made Spirit. From these it is evident that there is not one faith there from many. Therefore I give thanks to the holy Trinity, I worship

Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. Therefore, beloved, let us pray together. For I, having stripped off all the garments of error, have cast them away through the merciful God. Athanasius said: You still wear a garment of error; if you would consent, you would cast that too along with the other things of apostasy, and we would be able to pray together. Arius said: Unless you explain to me most plainly, I am not aware that I have anything of that mad heresy in myself. Athanasius said: Does not the rank of the so-called clergy, given to you by the heresy, seem to you to be a part of the deception, outwardly displaying a form of piety, but inwardly being full of blasphemy, so that the man is an instrument of a gigantic spirit, ready for theomachy through sacrilege? Arius said: I confess to you at present, my soul does not consent, unless I should also, by consideration, cast out this tyranny of vainglory from my soul. Athanasius said: If, then, the parts of error do not agree with virtue, much less do the parts of virtue and truth concur with the parts of error. For falsehood is opposed to truth, and truth is opposed to falsehood; for each of these is known from its fruit, as the Truth said. Completed with God the victory of Saint Athanasius against Arius.