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.