111. Let them cease therefore, and say no more
that before He was begotten the Son was not. For the word
“before” is a mark of time, whereas the Generation is
before
all times, Or
“before all worlds.” Cf. Heb. i. 2, in the Greek, Latin, and English. and therefore that which comes after
aught comes not before it, and the work cannot be before the maker,
seeing that necessarily objects made take their commencement from the
craftsman who makes them. How can the customary action of any
created object be regarded as existing prior to the maker of it, whilst
all time is a creation, and every creation has taken its being from its
creator?