344 NOV ATI AN THE ROMAN PRESBYTER
from heaven iscalledan angelwhen, inpreviouslyhearingthe
voiceof the lad crying,He was ratherGod ; is not under
stoodto be otherthan angel,in likemanner as He was God
also. And sincethiscannot be applicableor fittingto the
Father,who is God only,but may be applicableto Christ,
who is declaredto be not only God, but angel also,it
manifestlyappears that it was not the Father who thus
spoke to Hagar, but ratherChrist,sinceHe isGod ; and to
Him alsoisappliedthe name of angel,sinceHe became the
" angel of great counsel."1 And He is the angel,in that
He declaresthe bosom of the Father,as John sets forth.
For if John himself says,that He Himself who setsforth
the bosom of the Father,as the Word, became fleshin order
to declare the bosom of the Father, assuredlyChrist is
not only man, but angel also; and not only angel,but He
is shown by the Scripturesto be God also. And thisis
believedto be the caseby us ; so that,if we willnot consent
to apprehend thatitwas Christwho then spoke to Hagar, we
must eithermake an angel God, or we must reckon God
the Father Almighty among the angels.
CHAPTER XIX.2
Argument. — TliatGod alsoappearedtoJacob as an angel;
namely,theSon of God.
What ifin anotherplacealsowe read in likemanner that
God was describedas an angel? For when, to his wives
Leah and Rachel,Jacob complainedof the injusticeof their
father,and when he toldthem that he desirednow to go
and return into his own land,he moreover interposedthe
authorityof his dream; and at thistime he says that the
angel of God had said to him in a dream, "Jacob, Jacob.
And I said,"says he, " What is it? Lift up thine eyes,
said He, and see,the he-goatsand the rams leapingupon
1Isa.ix.6,LXX.
*AccordingtoPamelius,ch.xxvii.