CONCERNING THE TRINITY. 327
remits sins; and if,whereas it isthe portionof no man to
come from heaven,He descended by coming from heaven ;
and if,whereas thisword can be trueof no man, " I and the
Father are one,"1 Christalonedeclaredthisword out of the
consciousnessof His divinity;and if,finally,the Apostle
Thomas, instructedin all the proofs and conditionsof
Christ'sdivinity,says in reply to Christ,"My Lord and
my God ;" 2 and if,besides,the Apostle Paul says,u Whose
are the fathers,and of whom Christ came accordingto the
flesh,who is over all,God blessedfor evermore,"3 writing
in hisepistles; and ifthe same apostledeclaresthat he was
ordained" an apostlenot by men, nor of man, but by Jesus
Christ;"4 and if the same contends that he learnedthe
gospel not from men or by man, but received it from
Jesus Christ,reasonablyChrist is God. Therefore,in this
respect,one of two thingsmust needs be established.For
since it is evident that allthings were made by Christ,
He iseitherbeforeallthings,sinceallthingswere by Him,
and so He is justlyGod ; or becauseHe isman He issub
sequent to allthings,and justlynothingwas made by Him.
But we cannot say thatnothingwas made by Him, when we
observe itwrittenthat allthingswere made by Him. He
is not thereforesubsequentto allthings; that is,He isnot
man only,who is subsequent to all things,but God also,
sinceGod ispriorto allthings. For He isbeforeallthings,
because allthings are by Him, whileif He were only man,
nothing would be by Him ; or if allthingswere by Him,
He would not be man only,because if he were only man,
allthingswould not be by Him ; nay, nothingwould be by
Him. -What,then,do they reply1 That nothingisby Him,
so thatHe isman only? How then are allthingsby Him ?
Therefore He isnot man only,but God also,sinceallthings
are by Him ; so thatwe reasonablyought to understandthat
Christ isnot man only,who is subsequentto allthings,but
God also,sinceby Him allthingswere made. For how can
you say thatHe isman only,when you see Him alsoin the
1Johnx.80. 2Johnxx.28.
* Rom.ix.5.. 4 Gal.i.1 and 12.