Athanasius of Alexandria

It is plain then from the above that the Scriptures declare the Son’s eternity; it is equally plain from what follows that the Arian phrases “he was not” and “before” and “when” are in the same Scriptures predicated of creatures. Moses, for instance, in his account of the generation of our world, says, “And every plant of the field, before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.” And in Deuteronomy, “When the most High gave to the nations their inheritance.” And the Lord said, “If you love me, you will rejoice because I said, I go to the Father, for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it comes to pass, you might believe.” And concerning the creation he says in the words of Solomon, “Before the world existed, when there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth.” And, “Before Abraham was, I am.” And concerning Jeremiah he says, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” And David in the psalm says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, you are God from everlasting and world without end.” And in Daniel, “Susanna cried out with a loud voice and said, O everlasting God, you know the secrets, and know all things before they are.” Thus it appears that the phrases “once was not,” and “before it came to be,” and “when” and the like, belong to things that have an origin and were created, which come out of nothing but are alien to the Word.

Let everyone above all have this zeal in common so that having made a beginning they not hesitate or grow fainthearted in their labors or say, “We have spent a long time in ascetic discipline.” Instead, as though we were beginning anew each day, let each of us increase in fervor. For the entire lifetime of a human being is very brief when measured against the age to come; accordingly, all our time here is nothing compared with life eternal. Everything in the world is sold according to its value and things of equal value are exchanged, but the promise of eternal life is purchased for very little. For it is written, “The days of our life are seventy years or, if we are strong, perhaps eighty; more than this is pain and suffering.” When we persevere in ascetic discipline for all eighty or even one hundred years, we will not reign for the equivalent of those one hundred years. Instead of a hundred years, we will reign forever and ever. And although we are contested on earth, we will not receive our inheritance here; we have promises in heaven instead. Once more: when we lay aside this perishable body we receive it back imperishable. LIFE OF ST.

For although it is hidden and unknown to all, what period of time is allotted to each and how it is allotted, yet every one knows this, that as there is a time for spring and for summer, and for autumn and for winter, so, as it is written, there is a time to die and a time to live. And so the time of the generation that lived in the days of Noah was cut short, and their years were contracted, because the time of all things was at hand. But to Hezekiah were added fifteen years. As God promises to them that serve him truly, “I will fulfill the number of your days,” Abraham dies “full of days,” and David urgently begged God, saying, “Don’t take me away in the midst of my days.” And Eliphaz, one of the friends of Job, being assured of this truth, said, “You shall come to your grave like ripe corn, gathered in due time, and like as a shock of corn comes in its season.” Solomon, confirming his words, says, “The souls of the unrighteous are untimely taken away.” And therefore he exhorts in the book of Ecclesiastes, saying, “Don’t be too wicked, neither be hard: why should you die before your time?”

But since there are poorly instructed people who, while resisting the doctrine of a Son, think little of the words “from the womb before the morning star I begat you,” as if this referred to his relation to Mary, alleging that he was born of Mary “before the morning star.” Since to say that “womb” could not refer to his relation toward God, we must address the issue briefly here. If then, because the “womb” is human, therefore it is foreign to God; “heart” too clearly has a human meaning, for that which has heart has womb also. Since then both are human, we must deny both or seek to explain both. Now as a word is from the heart, so is an offspring from the womb; and as when the heart of God is spoken of, we do not conceive of it as human, so if Scripture says “from the womb,” we must not understand it in a corporeal sense. For it is usual with divine Scripture to speak and signify in the way of humankind what is above humankind. Thus speaking of the creation it says, “your hands made me and fashioned me,” and, “your hand made all these things,” and, “he commanded, and they were created.” Scripture’s language is suitable then about everything; attributing to the Son “propriety” and “genuineness” and to the creation “the beginning of being.” For the one God makes and creates, but him [the Son] he begets from himself, Word or Wisdom. Now “womb” and “heart” plainly declare what is proper and the genuine, for we too have this from the womb, but our works we made by our hands.

But this all inspired Scripture also teaches more plainly and with more authority, so that we in our turn write boldly to you as we do, and you, if you refer to Scripture, will be able to verify what we say. For an argument when confirmed by higher authority is irresistibly proved. From the first then the divine Word firmly taught the Jewish people about the abolition of idols when it said, “You shall not make for yourself a graven image or the likeness of anything that is in the heaven above or in the earth beneath.” But the cause of their abolition another writer declares, saying, “The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the works of human hands; they have a mouth and will not speak, they have eyes and will not see, they have ears and will not hear, they have noses and will not smell, they have hands and will not handle, they have feet and will not walk.” Nor has it passed over in silence the doctrine of creation; but, knowing well its beauty, lest any attending solely to this beauty should worship things as if they were gods, instead of God’s works, it teaches people firmly beforehand when it says, “And do not, when you look up with your eyes and see the sun and moon and all the host of heaven, go astray and worship them, which the Lord your God has given to all nations under heaven.” But he gave them, not to be their gods but that by their agency the Gentiles should know, as we have said, God the Maker of them all.