322 NOVATIAN THE ROMAN PRESBYTER prescribesalsothatHe must be believedto be God who isof God ; but if he shouldnot alsobe God when he isof God, no more shouldhe be man although he should be of man. And thus both doctrineswould be endangeredinone andthe otherway, by one being convictedto have lostbeliefin[the assertionof]the other. Let them, therefore,who readthat Jesus Christthe Son of man isman, read alsothatthissame Jesus is calledalsoGod and the Son of God. For inthe manner thatas man He isof Abraham, so alsoas God He is before Abraham himself. And in the same manner asHe isas man the " Son of David,"1 so as God He isproclaimed David'sLord. And in the same manner as He was made as man " under thelaw,"2so as God He isdeclaredto be "Lord of the Sabbath."3 And in the same manner as He suffers, as man, the condemnation,so as God He isfound to haveall judgment of the quick and dead. And in the same manner as He isborn as man subsequentto the world,so as God He ismanifestedto have been before the world. And in the same way as He was begottenas man of the seed of David, so alsothe world is said to have been ordained by Him as God. And in the same way as He was as man aftermany, so as God He was before all. And in the same manneras He was as man inferiorto others,so as God He was greater than all. And in the same manner as He ascended as man intoheaven,so as God He had firstdescendedthence. And in the same manner as He goes as man to the Father,soas the Son in obedienceto the Father He shalldescend thence. So ifimperfectionsin Him prove human frailty,majestiesin Him affirmdivinepower. For theriskis,inreadingofboth, to believenot both,but one of the two. Wherefore asboth are read of in Christ,letboth be believed; thatso finallythe faithmay be true,being alsocomplete. For ifof two prin ciplesone givesway in the faith,and the other,and that indeed which isof leastimportance,be taken up forbelief, the ruleof truthisthrown intoconfusion; and thatboldness willnot confer salvation,but insteadof salvationwilleffect a greatriskof death from the overthrowof the faith. 1Matt,xxiii.42 etseq. 2 Gal.iv.4. * Lukevi.5.