Against Marcellus 3 part 1/4

1. How Marcellus dared to interpret the divine Scriptures perversely. 2. How 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways' and the passages connected with it are to be understood, and how Marcellus transferred these same words to the flesh of the Savior. 3. Refutation of what he wrongly said concerning these passages, and a sound interpretation of the same. 4. How Marcellus, not understanding the Scriptures, defined the hypostasis of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one. 5. How the Savior taught concerning the Holy Spirit. 6. How the Church hands down the teaching concerning the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 7. How Marcellus affirmed that the flesh is the image of the invisible God. 8. How he declared that the flesh of the Savior profits nothing. 9. How he dared to say that at the end of all things the flesh of the Savior will be left destitute of the Word. 10. What the divine Scriptures teach concerning the flesh of the Savior, and how Marcellus held the contrary opinion. 11. How, not understanding the evangelical saying, he said that the flesh of the Savior is a stumbling-block and profits nothing. 12. Interpretation of the evangelical text. 13. How he affirmed that the kingdom of Christ took its beginning four hundred years ago and will have its end at the consummation, making perverse interpretations of the divine Scriptures. 14. Expositions of the sound meaning of the readings. 15. How it is said that all things shall be subjected to the Son, and he himself to the Father. 16. How it is said by the Apostle that then God shall be all in all. 17. How the divine Scriptures set forth the things concerning the unending kingdom of our Savior, and how Marcellus, with uncovered head, declared that his kingdom would cease. 18. How, in the kingdom of the Son, all who are then counted worthy of blessedness shall become one. 19. That, just as the Father and the Son are said to be one, so also shall all the saints be. 20. That, as the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, so also it shall be in all the saints. 21. How the saying 'he who has seen me has seen the Father' is to be understood.

The great evangelist John, then, proclaimed the theology of our Savior in the manner already set forth, in various ways; and how Marcellus, denying this, ran aground upon Jewish unbelief, has been shown by what has been said. But that he also perversely misinterpreted the acknowledged and clear teachings concerning our Savior, you may learn both from very many of his other discussions, and indeed also from the following. In the writings of Solomon, Wisdom is introduced speaking of herself in her own person, going through these words: 'I, Wisdom, dwelt with counsel,'

'and I have called upon knowledge and understanding. The fear of the Lord hates evil, insolence and pride and the ways of the wicked; and I have hated the crooked ways of evil men. Mine is counsel and security, I am understanding, and mine is strength.'

'By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice; by me princes are magnified, and by me tyrants rule the earth. I love those who love me, and those who seek me shall find me. Riches and glory are mine, and abundant possessions and righteousness.'

'It is better to enjoy my fruit than gold and precious stone, and my produce is better than choice silver. I walk in the ways of righteousness, and I go about in the midst of the paths of judgment, that I may give substance to those who love me, and fill their treasuries with good things. If I should declare to you the things that happen day by day, I would remember to recount also the things from eternity.'

'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works; before the age he founded me, in the beginning, before he made the earth, before he made the depths, before the springs of the waters came forth, before the mountains were settled, and before all the hills he begets me. The Lord made regions both uninhabited and the inhabited heights under the heavens. When he was preparing the heaven, I was present with him, and when he was marking out his own throne upon the winds. When he was making strong the clouds above, and setting securely the springs under the heaven, and making strong the foundations of the earth, I was beside him, fitting all things together; I was the one in whom he delighted day by day; and I rejoiced before his face at all times, when he rejoiced, having completed the inhabited world, and rejoiced over the sons of men.'

These things, then, Wisdom says concerning herself. I have deliberately and necessarily set out the whole passage, to show that it is one and the same person [speaking throughout — and how] Marcellus transferred this to the flesh of the Savior. Speaking these words, there is no change of speaker in between; it is shown, then, that it is Wisdom who teaches these things concerning herself. Here too, first, it must be observed that she is named 'Wisdom' absolutely; for she says, 'I, Wisdom, dwelt with counsel,' and it is not said, 'the Wisdom of God.' But just as in the evangelist's writing, 'In the beginning was the Word' was written absolutely, and again, 'the Word was with God,' and it was not said, 'the Word of God' — so that no one should suppose him to be spoken of as one of the relative terms, nor as an accident subsisting in God, but as subsisting and living (wherefore he adds also, 'and the Word was God,' not saying, 'and the Word was of God') — so too in the case of Wisdom.

For the Word-God and Wisdom were one and the same. Wherefore she is named absolutely in the passages already cited, and moreover also in the passages spoken in this manner: 'Blessed is the man who has found wisdom,' and 'God founded the earth by wisdom,' and 'I said, let wisdom be your sister,' and 'proclaim wisdom, that understanding may follow you,' and 'for wisdom is better than costly stones.'

and 'Wisdom built herself a house, and set up seven pillars,' and as many other kindred sayings as are found in the same book — in none of which is she named 'the Wisdom of God,' but 'Wisdom' without qualification, so that we should not suppose her to be some accident occurring in connection with God, as knowledge is in a knowledgeable man, but a Wisdom subsisting and living, being the very same as the Son of God.

But if anyone should suppose that the Wisdom spoken of here is a wise disposition in God, in accordance with which we conceive God to be wise, let him hear the Scripture saying, 'I said, let Wisdom be your sister.' Who would be so mad as to suppose that the God who is over all, and the wise disposition within him, could be said to be the sister of those among men who act rightly?

But if you should take what is said as referring to the Christ of God (for Christ is 'the power of God and the wisdom of God'), nothing will stand in the way of the sense, since, by his surpassing love for mankind, he does not disdain even a kinship of brotherhood with us. But if God and the Wisdom introduced in these passages were one and the same — Wisdom being a wise disposition conceived to be in him, in accordance with which God is wise — what would have prevented 'God' from being written in place of 'Wisdom'? So that 'Wisdom built herself a house, and set up seven pillars,' and the things connected with these, would have been said instead as 'God built himself a house,' and so forth, and again instead of —

'I said, let Wisdom be your sister' — instead of, 'I said, let God be your brother.' But you see how such an expression strikes the ear, having no fitness.

But if you take these sayings as referring to the Son (for he himself was Wisdom), everything will flow smoothly for you, no impious thought standing in the way, the apostle Paul bearing joint witness, who named our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ 'Wisdom' with a clear voice, saying, 'Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.'

These points having thus been established, it follows that, in keeping with all that has been set forth beforehand, the words 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works' are said from that same person. But if he says that he himself was created, he would not mean this as having passed from non-being into being, nor as himself, like the rest of created things, having come to be out of nothing — as some have wrongly supposed — but as one who subsists and lives, being pre-existent and pre-existing before the constitution of the whole world; and as having been appointed by the Lord, that is, by the Father himself, to rule over all things, 'created' here being said in place of 'appointed' or 'established.'

For explicitly the apostle who said, 'Be subject to every human creation for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors as sent by him,' named the rulers and leaders among men 'creation.'

And the prophet too who said, 'Prepare, O Israel, to call upon your God; for behold, he who establishes thunder and creates wind and declares to men his Christ,' and, 'let this be written for another generation, and the people who are being created shall praise the Lord' — did not use 'create' of that which came to be out of non-existence. For God did not then create the Spirit, when through him he announced his Christ to all men; for there is nothing new under the sun.

But he was, and pre-existed, and was sent at the time when the apostles were gathered together; when there came a sound from heaven like thunder, as of a violent rushing wind, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and thus proclaimed to all men the Christ of God, in accordance with the prophecy that said, 'For behold, he who establishes thunder and creates wind and declares to men his Christ' — 'creates' being said in place of 'sends down' or 'appoints,' while 'thunder,' in another way, signifies the evangelical proclamation. And he who says, 'Create in me a clean heart, O God,' did not say this as though he had no heart, but was praying that his understanding be made pure.

So too it is said, 'that he might create the two into one new man,' in place of 'that he might gather together'; observe that the same is perhaps true also of 'put on the new man, created according to God,' and 'if anyone then is in Christ, he is a new creation,' and whatever other such expressions one might find upon searching through the divinely inspired Scripture. Do not be surprised, then, if in 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways' also, 'created' is said metaphorically in place of 'established' or 'appointed to rule.' For also, when it is said in the Gospels by our Savior, 'I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes' — we say that this is not the confession of sins that our Savior means (as is said elsewhere, 'confess your sins to one another'), but rather that 'confess' is here said for thanksgiving concerning the babes, in place of 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.'

Countless other things, spoken metaphorically throughout the whole of divine Scripture, one would find if one searched at leisure — some having a meaning with many senses, and others predicated homonymously of different things. To go through these would be a long task, and not suited to the present occasion.

So too, then, here 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works' is said in place of 'appointed me to rule over his works'; wherefore it is not said simply 'created me,' but with the addition, 'the beginning of his ways for his works.'

This especially is confirmed by the Hebrew reading. If, then, one examines closely the true sense of the divinely inspired Scripture, one would find that the Hebrew text does not contain 'created me'; and for this reason none of the other translators has used this word. At once, then, Aquila has said, 'The Lord possessed me, the sum of his ways'; Symmachus, 'The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his ways'; and Theodotion, 'The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his way.'

And this rendering would indeed make good sense. For he himself was the sum of the constitution and preservation of all generated things, both visible and invisible, whom the Father begot as an only-begotten Son, and having begotten him, appointed him Savior of all things, recapitulating in him and through him the ordering of the universe — as the divine apostle taught, saying that all things were to be recapitulated in Christ, both those in the heavens and those on earth — so that not only were all things constituted through him, having come forth from non-being into being, but he also undertakes the providence of the governance of all things, inasmuch as he is Word and Wisdom and Life and the fullness of every good and excellent thing, so that all things are governed and preserved through him.

This he himself also showed through the sayings already set forth, in which he declared: 'By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice; by me princes are magnified, and by me tyrants rule the earth.'

By ineffable words, then, of the universal wisdom and providence of the Son of God, all things are governed. These things, then, he taught through what has already been set forth, and he exhorted men to hold fast to him, saying, 'I love those who love me, and those who seek me shall find me,' and he turned them away from the opposite way through what he added, 'and I have hated the crooked ways of evil men.'

And having thus distinctly set forth these and kindred sayings, the Son of God (for he himself was Wisdom) next hands down, to those who have already been benefited through them, the mystical knowledge concerning himself, saying, 'If I should declare to you the things that happen day by day, I would remember to recount also the things from eternity.'

'For if I were,' he says, 'to teach the things done by me on each day, it would be necessary also to make mention of my own works from the beginning of the whole age, and to show how the Father who begot me appointed me for this purpose, to rule over all things, and to lead his ways and the works made by him through me.' Wherefore he consequently adds, 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works,' or, 'The Lord possessed me,' according to the rendering that has been given.

For the great possession of God was the only-begotten Son — in that he had been begotten from him, being his Son, and in that he stands established as beneficial to all in common and salvific, being and being named the greatest and most honored possession of the Father. For no other possession could be more honorable to a father than a son. Hence also, when the first-formed Adam acquired the first son among men, it was said of him too, 'I have acquired a man through God,' the Hebrew expression containing, in place of 'I have acquired,' 'qanithi.'

'Acquired' is pronounced among the Hebrews 'qana.' So too, concerning Abraham it is said, 'the field which Abraham acquired,' where the Hebrew contains 'qana' in place of it, the same word being found among the Hebrews also in 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works.' For here too, since the word 'qana' stands, all the translators alike have rendered it 'acquired.'

'Created,' however, is a mistranslation among the Hebrews, one that does not stand in the passage before us. And the difference between 'created' and 'acquired' would be very great, in that 'creation,' according to the more common sense, signifies a passage from non-being into being, whereas 'acquisition' signifies the particular kinship of that which pre-exists toward the one who acquires it.

When, then, the Son of God says, 'The Lord acquired me the beginning of his ways for his works,' he indicates at once both his own pre-existence and his particular kinship with the Father, and also the usefulness and necessity of his own providence and governance concerning the works of the Father.

Wherefore he next adds, 'Before the age he founded me, in the beginning, before he made the earth, before the springs of the waters came forth, before the mountains were settled, and before all the hills he begets me.' By all of these things is shown what is profitable and necessary to all from him, namely, that he was and pre-existed, and pre-existed before the whole world, and necessarily led the way, teaching it. For since Moses, in his account of the creation of the world, made no mention of the supra-mundane and invisible powers, on account of the imperfection of those being instructed through him, but went through the constitution of the visible world, mentioning at the beginning the four elements — heaven and earth and the deep and water — and having said that two of them were made by God (for he says, 'In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth'), but no longer likewise made mention, in the case of the water and the deep, that these too were generated, but simply said, 'and darkness was upon the deep, and the Spirit of God was borne upon the water' — necessarily, through the passages set before us, the Son of God also teaches concerning these, both that they are generated things, and that he himself existed before all things, and that all things were made through him.

Wherefore he says, 'Before the age he founded me, in the beginning, before he made the earth, and before he made the depths, before the springs of the waters came forth.' Having mentioned these three — earth, depth, and water — he brings in the fourth last, reserving the better one, heaven, for the end; wherefore he adds next, 'When he was preparing the heaven, I was present with him.'

These things, then, being clearly set forth by the divine Scripture, and having received from us a brief account, as it were in summary, let us hear how Marcellus, casting his understanding down to the ground, insists that all these things were said concerning the flesh which the Savior assumed, writing verbatim in the following manner:

'This being so, it follows that we should consider with our understanding this proverbial saying, “The Lord created me the beginning of his ways.” For truly he created that which was not, our Master, God, having made it; for the flesh, which the Word assumed, was not existing, but he created it as not existing.' And he adds: 'It is therefore plain that, even though this new mystery was manifested especially in the last times, since it was for this reason foreordained before this age, the prophet fittingly said, “Before the age he founded me” — clearly meaning the flesh.'

And again he adds, saying: 'Then, “in the beginning,” he says, “before he made the earth.” What earth is this, but plainly our flesh, which after the disobedience became earth again? For it says, “You are earth, and to earth you shall return.”' You see how greatly he has erred, having turned aside from the straight way, and devised for himself a rough and impassable way, as it were one from which there is no return.

Behold, then, how he has forced himself to endure uttering every kind of shameless and impudent statement rather than to confess that the Son of God himself is Wisdom.

'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works,' then, he refers to the person of the Savior, confessing that it is he who speaks these words. He says, then, in these very words: 'Fittingly, then, since the old things have passed away, and all things are about to become new through the newness of our Savior, our Master, Christ, cried out through the prophet, saying, “The Lord created me the beginning of his ways.”'

Having said this, he brings his understanding down to the flesh of our Savior, adding next: 'For truly he created that which was not, our Master, God, having made it; for the flesh, which the Word assumed, was not existing, but he created as not existing “the beginning of his ways.”' And the good man does not understand that it is one and the same expression, and one and the same person, that says both, 'I, Wisdom, dwelt with counsel,' and 'The Lord created me'; so that if the one is referred to the flesh, the other must necessarily be also; and Wisdom will turn out to be the one who says both.

If, according to Marcellus, the flesh says, 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways,' then it would be Wisdom; and the flesh will turn out to be the one saying, 'By me kings reign,' and 'by me princes are magnified.' But how could the flesh say, 'I would remember to recount also the things from eternity,' words to which 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways' is appended? And he sets forth what the ways are, saying next: 'For this has become for us, who are about to live rightly, the way of piety — the beginning of all the ways that come after it.'

And he adds: 'And he has fittingly called our Master and Savior “the beginning of ways” for this reason, that after the first way he has also become the beginning of the other ways which we have had' — meaning the traditions handed down through the sacred apostles, who, in accordance with the prophecy, proclaimed to us this new mystery with lofty preaching. These are the words of Marcellus.

Now if he did not also accept the Scripture of Moses and of the prophets after Moses, his interpretation would have some plausible reasoning to it. But since he is not among those who reject the Old Testament, why on earth did he name the apostles and their teachings 'ways,' and yet not attend to the prophets of God, who have written countless things concerning the ways of God? For, first of all, Moses, writing thus, said, 'You shall go by the royal way,' and, 'Behold, I have set before your face the way of life and the way of death.'

And David likewise: 'The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.' And Jeremiah: 'Stand in the ways, and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord, and see which is the good way, and walk in it.' And you will find each of the prophets making mention, in various ways, of the ways of God.

If, then, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, teaches that he himself is the beginning of the ways of God, saying, 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works' (being, doubtless, older than Moses and the prophets and those still earlier who lived according to the ways of God), but the flesh which he assumed did not exist earlier than all of these, then the saying has not been rightly taken as referring to the flesh.

It was not, then, on account of the flesh that the Savior said these things, but on account of his own pre-existence and his leading of all the ways of God, which all the God-beloved men of old have traveled.

And since the divine apostle, saying, 'O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and untraceable are his ways,' suggests certain other ways — the providential ways over all things, by which, with unspeakable judgment and incomprehensible reasoning, he governs all things by divine power — it follows that we should say that the one who declared, 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works,' is the beginning of these ways too. But he, not understanding the ways of God, declared the flesh of our Savior to be the beginning of these.

And he interprets also 'for his works,' saying: 'He created me, then,' he says, 'the beginning of his ways for his works.' What works does he mean? Those concerning which the Savior says, 'My Father is working until now, and I am working,' and again, 'I have finished the work which you gave me.'

Then, as though clarifying the sense of what has been said, he adds: 'For who, before the demonstration of the facts, would have believed that the Word of God, born of a virgin, would assume our flesh and display in it the whole Godhead bodily?' And, as though giving a complete rendering of the sense, he adds: 'This, then, is what is meant by, “The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works.”'

And he wrote these things, being unable to lift up the eyes of his understanding on high and say, in a manner similar to the prophet, 'I will look upon the heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have founded,' nor calling to mind the prophetic word, in which it is said, 'They do not regard the works of the Lord, nor do they consider the works of his hands.'

For if he had attended to these things, he would have known that he who speaks these words was and pre-existed before heaven and earth and before the whole world, and not only before the visible but also before the intelligible works of God, those subsisting in the incorporeal and supra-mundane powers. But he, passing on to 'Before the age he founded me,' again brings the flesh into the discussion, speaking thus, naming as this 'foundation' the dispensation according to the flesh that was foreordained concerning him.

as also the apostle says, 'For no one can lay another foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.' And he adds: 'He makes mention here of one age, from which he said that the things concerning Christ were founded, even though many ages had already passed, as David said, “he who exists before the ages.”'

And passing next to 'in the beginning, before he made the earth,' he says that the earth again is the flesh, writing thus: 'What is this earth but plainly our flesh, which after the disobedience became earth again? For it says, “You are earth, and to earth you shall return.” For this had to obtain healing.'” And he says this too, this 'wisest' of men not recalling that above, he had also said that the flesh was created 'before he made the earth,' as 'the beginning of the ways of God.'

But if by 'earth' he meant the flesh altogether, how is it not necessary to confess that he who says he himself existed 'before he made the earth' pre-existed the flesh? For he says, 'Before the age he founded me, in the beginning, before he made the earth.' It follows, then, that he who says these things existed before the flesh was made.

And even if he made mention not of many ages but of one — the one which the Savior also mentioned, saying, 'the sons of this age marry and are given in marriage' — even so, it was not the flesh which our Savior assumed that existed before the present age, but he himself who teaches these things through Solomon. You see into what great difficulty he has fallen, having turned aside from the straight and royal way.

In addition to what has been said, he adds still more, saying: '“before he made the depths,” he says. Here the prophet, in a proverbial manner, says that “the depths” are the hearts of the saints, which possess, in their own depth, the gift of the Spirit.' And he does not understand that, before the incarnate coming of our Savior, the holy prophets of God partook of the same Spirit — Moses, and those still older than Moses. It follows, then, of necessity, that if these were indeed 'all the depths,' that is, the hearts of the saints, then the one who says 'before he made the depths' must be older than all of them.

How, then, could these words possibly be referred to the flesh of the Savior? And indeed, if he had possessed any knowledge of the divine Scriptures, he would not so readily have declared that the depths are the hearts of the saints, had he taken note that, according to the testimony of Moses, 'darkness was upon the deep,' and that much discourse, difficult to interpret, is carried on concerning these things in divine Scripture. For the apostle says, 'Do not say, “Who will ascend into heaven?” — that is, to bring Christ down; or, “Who will descend into the abyss?” — that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.'

In these words, then, it appears that he has called the regions of Hades 'the abyss.' And the Lord himself sets this forth more clearly still, in his oracle to Job, saying, 'Have you come to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the abyss? Do the gates of death open to you in fear, and do the gatekeepers of Hades shudder when they see you?'

And also the evil powers in the abyss, concerning which it is said, "Praise him from the earth, you dragons and all the deeps," and further the darkness above the abyss, concerning which Moses said, "and darkness was above the deep" — had he learned all these things, if indeed he had encountered the divine Scriptures diligently rather than carelessly, he would not have dared to say that the hearts of the saints are "the deeps."

He would also have known how it is said, "Deep calls unto deep at the sound of your cataracts," and again, "the deeps were troubled, a multitude of the sound of waters," and again, "the deep as a garment is his covering."