XVII. For we have learnt to believe in and
to teach the Deity of the Son from their great and lofty
utterances. And what utterances are these? These:
God—The Word—He That Was In The Beginning and With The
Beginning, and The Beginning. “In the Beginning was The
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” John i. 1. and “With Thee is the
Beginning,” Ps. cx. 3. and “He who
calleth her The Beginning from generations.” Isa. xli. 4. Then the Son is Only-begotten:
The only “begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, it
says, He hath declared Him.” John i. 18. The Way,
the Truth, the Life, the Light. “I am the Way, the Truth,
and the Life;” and “I am the Light of the
World.” John vii. 12; ix. 5; xiv. 6. Wisdom and
Power, “Christ, the Wisdom of God, and the Power of
God.” 1 Cor. i. 24. The
Effulgence, the Impress, the Image, the Seal; “Who being the
Effulgence of His glory and the Impress of His Essence,” Heb. i. 3 R.V. and “the Image of His
Goodness,” Wisd. vii. 26. and “Him hath
God the Father sealed.” John vi. 27. Lord, King,
He That Is, The Almighty. “The Lord rained down fire from
the Lord;” Gen. xix. 24. and “A
sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy Kingdom;” Ps. xlv. 6. and “Which is and was and is to come,
the Almighty” Rev. i. 8.—all which are
clearly spoken of the Son, with all the other passages of the same
force, none of which is an afterthought, or added later to the Son or
the Spirit, any more than to the Father Himself. For Their
Perfection is not affected by additions. There never was a time
when He was without the Word, or when He was not the Father, or when He
was not true, or not wise, or not powerful, or devoid of life, or of
splendour, or of goodness.