Apollinaris of Laodicea

On the other hand Apollinarius of Laodicea in his investigation of the problem breaks away from the stream of the past and directs his longing desires towards the future, very unsafely venturing an opinion concerning matters so obscure. And if by any chance those of future generations should not see these predictions of his fulfilled at the time he set, then they will be forced to seek for some other solution and to convict the teacher himself of erroneous interpretation. And so, in order to avoid the appearance of slandering a man as having made a statement he never made, he makes the following assertion - and I translate him word for word: "To the period of four hundred and ninety years the wicked deeds are to be confined as well as all the crimes which shall ensue from those deeds. After these shall come the times of blessing, and the world is to be reconciled unto God at the advent of Christ, His Son. For from the coming forth of the Word, when Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, to the forty-ninth year, that is, the end of the seven weeks, waited for Israel to repent. Thereafter, indeed, from the eighth year of Claudius Caesar onward, the Romans took up arms against the Jews. For it was in His thirtieth year, according to the Evangelist Luke, that the Lord incarnate began His preaching of the Gospel (Luke 1). According to the Evangelist John (John 2 and 11), Christ completed two years over a period of three passovers. The years of Tiberius' reign from that point onward are to be reckoned at six; then there were the four years of the reign of Gaius Caesar, surnamed Caligula, and eight more years in the reign of Claudius. This makes a total of forty-nine years, or the equivalent of seven weeks of years. But when four hundred thirty-four years shall have elapsed after that date, that is to say, the sixty-two weeks, then Jerusalem and the Temple shall be rebuilt during three and a half years within the final week, beginning with the advent of Elias, who according to the dictum of our Lord and Savior (Luke 1) is going to come and turn back the hearts of the fathers towards their children. And then the Antichrist shall come, and according to the Apostle he is going to sit in the temple of God (II Thess. 2) and be slain by the breath of our Lord and Savior after he has waged war against the saints. And thus it shall come to pass that the middle of the week shall mark the confirmation of God's covenant with the saints, and the middle of the week in turn shall mark the issuing of the decree under the authority of Antichrist that no more sacrifices be offered. For the Antichrist shall set up the abomination of desolation, that is, an idol or statue of his own god, within the Temple. Then shall ensue the final devastation and the condemnation of the Jewish people, who after their rejection of Christ's truth shall embrace the lie of the Antichrist." Moreover this same Apollinarius asserts that he conceived this idea about the proper dating from the fact that Africanus, the author of the <i>Tempora</i>... affirms that the final week will occur at the end of the world. Yet, says Apollinarius, it is impossible that periods so linked together be wrenched apart, but rather the time-segments must all be joined together in conformity with Daniel's prophecy.

They object to John, “Why then do you baptize, if you are none of these things?” They do not know that not even the Christ—who himself was the prophet—baptized, but rather his disciples. Elijah did not baptize the wood of the altar that needed dousing in the matter of Ahab, but he ordered the priests to do this. Now then, to address the words “Why then do you baptize?” John sets forth his own bodily baptism. But to address the words “if you are not the Christ,” he praises the preexisting nature of Christ, saying that he is unseen in his divinity but is present to all the world. He upbraids them for their low opinion about the Christ, and he unites the Word “in the beginning” by his incarnation, as he joins the phrase “whom you do not know” with the words “the one coming after me.” He shows the superiority of Christ to himself through the sentence “I am not worthy.” And if he is “in the midst” either of the whole world so as to reach every rational creature, or in the midst only of us who have dominion over the world, then in any case the Word is in each person. But if his earlier presence among us remained unperceived, his coming after John would not. As John speaks about the nature of the Word, he also adds some words about his sojourn after him, mentioning that Christ will come after him.

It was not the utterance in the voice of the Father to the Son, since divinity is beyond all voice, but it was sent from heaven from the face of the Father to the Son as a sound for human beings to hear, in order that those who heard it might contemplate Christ all the more and come to know his divinity beyond his humanity. Glory is not added to the Father, since he has always had it, but it is added in so far as it radiates and is made known so that human beings are aware of it. Likewise, one must not conclude that the Son would be glorified from a state of disgrace, but rather he is glorified in so far as he who had formerly been hidden was made manifest in the flesh to the eyes of people. Moreover, it was not so much the voice that captivated the ears of those present, but rather how it took place that another glorified him. There was an established teaching among them from the fathers that utterances that were heard could not be borne directly from the mouth of God, since also Moses and all the rest who had spoken of the words they had heard from God, wrote down for humanity, while also saying that the manner of the discourse was that of an angel. If then we also posit that it was an angel who emitted the voice, it would be good that the Father’s voice, which was spoken from above to people, be heard through an angel. Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not take place for my sake.” He who knew the Father and the Father’s matters did not need anything. Thus he does not allow us to think little of him at all or to regard him as one would only be regarded as a prophet. Rather, this helps us to know who he was in relation to God. See whether or not “glorify your name” is the same as imposing on the Savior the name of God, since he is the Word of God. So also the “name” is that of the Father, but “name” does not refer to that which is composed of syllables or uttered with human voices, but rather whatever reveals the nature of the Father. One can understand the “name of God” also in the same way as well as the phrase in the psalms: “I will proclaim your name to my brothers.” How else can one understand that the name of God can be told?

The work and teaching of the Spirit will redound to my glory, for the Spirit also proceeds from me. For when he says “from me,” it is clear that he is also from the Father, for “what belongs to me belongs to the Father.” Then he hears again in the same manner the phrase “he will take from what is mine.” It is not as if some knowledge comes on the Spirit—and that at the present time. It would be a horrible thing, indeed, almost an evil conjecture, to state that the Spirit received his instruction when he was about to bring it to humankind. Indeed, it would be a horrible suggestion if someone should say that the Spirit was taught at all. Then he would no longer be believed to dwell in people and bring all wisdom to them, if he did not have some innate wisdom in him but rather needed to be taught. Thus, when he said, “he will take from what is mine and announce it to you,” he meant simply to say that the Spirit would proceed from him. The statements speak of lesser things since they are adapted to what is well known to people, but the real glory of the Spirit is greater since it pertains to divinity. Moreover, it is said that God listens to a person’s words. However, it is clear that nothing is added at that time to the knowledge of God but that even before we spoke our words, he knew our prayers and had created everything according to his knowledge from the very beginning of his creation, knowing full well the changes in emotions that would take place in his creatures. Nonetheless, it is still said, “Hear, O Lord” and “The Lord heard.” And yet it is not necessary for God to wait for anything in time, as if there would be some change in God because of the prayers of human beings, or as if God would gain some knowledge from what is being said. Rather, these words are being spoken in a human fashion, so to speak, while among the godly they are understood in a divine fashion. In your suppositions the unchanging and unchangeable nature of the glory of God is not purified because he hears people speaking. So then simply because the Spirit hears and receives something does not mean that he will receive any additional knowledge or a change to the unchanging nature of the Spirit.