CONCERNING THE TRINITY. 331 of thisworld. But that it should not be a secretwho He was, He declaredwhence He was : " I,"saidHe, " am from above,"that is,from heaven,whence man cannot come, for he was not made in heaven. He is God, therefore,who is from above,and thereforeHe isnot of thisworld ; although, moreover,in a certainmanner He isof thisworld :wherefore Christisnot God only,but man also. As reasonablyin the way in which He isnot of thisworldaccordingtothe divinity of the Word, so He isof thisworld accordingto the frailty of the body thatHe has taken upon Him. For man isjoined with God, and God islinkedwith man. But on thataccount this Christ here laid more stresson the one aspect of His sole divinity,because the Jewish blindnesscontem plated in Christ the aspectalone of the flesh; and thence in the presentpassageHe passed over in silencethe frailty of the body, which isof the world,and spoke of His divinity alone,which isnotof the world:so thatin proportionasthey had inclinedtobelieveHim tobe onlyman, in thatproportion Christ might draw them to considerHis divinity,so as to believeHim tobe God, desiroustoovercome theirincredulity concerning His divinityby omittingin the meantime any mention of His human condition,and by settingbeforethem His divinityalone. If Christisman only,how does He say, " I proceededforthand came from God," 1 when itisevident thatman was made by God, and did not proceedforth from Him ? But in the way in which as man He proceeded not from God, thus the Word of God proceeded,of whom it is said,"My hearthath utteredforth a good Word;"2 which, because it isfrom God, iswith reason alsowith God. And this,too,sinceit was not utteredwithout effect,reasonably makes allthings: " For allthingswere made by Him, and without Him was nothingmade."* But thisWord whereby altthingswere made [isGod]. " And God," sayshe," was the Word."^ Therefore God proceeded from God, in that the Word which proceededisGod, who proceededforthfrom God. If Christisonly man, how does He say," If any man 1 Johnviii.42. * Ps.xlv.1. *Johni.3. * Johni.1.