12. But because it is proper to the Father
alone and the Son that They should be one by nature because God is from
God, and the Only-begotten from the Unbegotten can subsist in no other
nature than that of His origin; so that He Who was begotten should
exist in the substance of His birth, and the birth should possess no
other and different truth of deity than that from which it issued; for
our Lord has left us in no doubt as to our belief by asserting
throughout the whole of the discourse which follows the nature of this
complete unity. For the next words are these, That the world
may believe that Thou didst send Me St. John xvii. 21.. Thus the world is to believe that
the Son has been sent by the Father because all who shall believe in
Him will be one in the Father and the Son. And how they will be
so we are soon told,—And the glory which Thou hast given Me I
have given unto them Ib.
22.. Now I ask
whether glory is identical with will, since will is an emotion of the
mind while glory is an ornament or embellishment of nature. So
then it is the glory received from the Father that the Son hath given
to all who shall believe in Him, and certainly not will. Had this
been given, faith would carry with it no reward, for a necessity of will
attached to us would also impose faith upon us. However He has
shewn what is effected by the bestowal of the glory received, That
they may be one, even as We are one St. John xvii. 22.. It is then with this object that the
received glory was bestowed, that all might be one. So now all
are one in glory, because the glory given is none other than that which
was received: nor has it been given for any other cause than that
all should be one. And since all are one through the glory given
to the Son and by the Son bestowed upon believers, I ask how can the
Son be of a different glory from the Father’s, since the glory of
the Son brings all that believe into the unity of the Father’s
glory. Now it may be that the utterance of human hope in this
case may be somewhat immoderate, yet it will not be contrary to faith;
for though to hope for this were presumptuous, yet not to have believed
it is sinful, for we have one and the same Author both of our hope and
of our faith. We will treat of this matter more clearly and at
greater length in its own place, as is fitting. Yet in the
meantime it is easily seen from our present argument that this hope of
ours is neither vain nor presumptuous. So then through the glory
received and given all are one. I hold the faith and recognise
the cause of the unity, but I do not yet understand how it is that the
glory given makes all one.