Various quibbling arguments, advanced by the Arians to
show that the Son had a beginning of existence, are considered and
refuted, on the ground that whilst the Arians plainly prove nothing, or
if they prove anything, prove it against themselves, (inasmuch as He
Who is the beginning of all cannot Himself have a beginning), their
reasonings do not even hold true with regard to facts of human
existence. Time could not be before He was, Who is the Author of
time—if indeed at some time He was not in existence, then the
Father was without His Power and Wisdom. Again, our own human
experience shows that a person is said to exist before he is born.