Πρωτότοκον.
The word occurs in Heb. i.
6, which had been read
in the Lesson before this Lecture. The exact dogmatic sense of
the word is carefully explained by Athanasius (c. Arian. Or. ii.
62): “The same cannot be both Only-begotten and Firstborn,
except in different relations;—that is, Only-begotten, because of
His generation from the father, as has been said; and First-born,
because of His condescension to the creation, and His making the many
His brethren.” See Mr. Robertson’s discussion of the
word πρωτότοκος
(Athan. p. 344, in this series), and Bp. Bull (Def.
Fid. Nic. iii. 5–8).