30. Does this conclusion content them? Or
will they have woman, man, and Christ to be of one substance, and
distinguish the Father from them? Will this, then, serve their
turn? Suppose that it will, then observe what they are brought
to. They must either confess themselves not merely Arians, but
very Photinians, because they acknowledge only the Manhood of Christ,
Whom they judge fit only to be placed on the same scale with human
beings. Or else they must, however contrary to their leanings,
subscribe to our belief, by which we dutifully and in godly fashion
maintain that which they have come at by an impious course of thought, that Christ is
indeed, after His divine generation,
“After” somewhat as in “Neither reward us
after our iniquities”—i.e. (1) according to,
and so (2) “by virtue of.” Here the second stage of
the metaphorical usage seems to be arrived at. the power
of God, whilst after His putting on of the flesh, He is of one
substance with all men in regard of His flesh, excepting indeed the
proper glory of His Incarnation, Referring to
Christ’s sinlessness. because He
took upon Himself the reality, not a phantom likeness, of
flesh.