CCXC. What is intended by the expression, τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θεοῦ, “of God our Savior”

It must therefore be observed 1) that this very formula, conceived elsewhere in the same words, occurs: it occurs where it is said¹, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, κατ’ ἐπιταγὴν θεοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, καὶ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἡμῶν, according to the command² of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope”; it occurs where it is read³, “but God manifested in his own times his word in the preaching which was entrusted to me κατ’ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θεοῦ, according to the precept of God our Savior”; it occurs where it is written⁴, “not defrauding, but showing good faith in all things, that they may adorn τὴν διδασκαλίαν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θεοῦ, the doctrine of God our Savior, in all things”; it occurs where it is handed down⁵, “but when the benignity and humanity τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θεοῦ, of God our Savior, appeared”; and finally, it occurs where Jude has⁶, μόνῳ θεῷ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν, “to the only God our—”

—Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, glory and magnificence.”

It must be observed 2) that, just as he is called our Savior, so God is once⁷ called my Savior: “and my spirit rejoiced ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ τῷ σωτῆρί μου, in God my Savior.”

It must be observed 3) that God is named no less our Savior and my Savior than the Savior of all men and especially of the faithful⁸: “for unto this we labor and are reviled, because we hope ἐπὶ θεῷ ζῶντι, ὅς ἐστι σωτὴρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, μάλιστα πιστῶν, in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of the faithful.”

It must be observed 4) that the appellation our Savior is made of Christ time and again: “but grace has now been manifested διὰ τῆς ἐπιφανείας τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, through the manifestation of our Savior Jesus Christ, who indeed destroyed death but illuminated life and incorruption through the Gospel”⁹; “grace and peace ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior”; “awaiting the blessed hope καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, and the advent of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ”¹⁰; “which Holy Spirit he poured forth upon us abundantly διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, through Jesus Christ our Savior”¹¹; “for thus an entrance will be ministered abundantly to you into the eternal kingdom τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”¹²; and¹³, “for if, fleeing the pollutions of the world ἐν ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these and overcome, the latter things have become worse for them than the former.”

It must be observed 5) that Christ is named the Savior of his body, which is the Church: “the husband¹⁴ is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church, καὶ αὐτός ἐστι σωτὴρ τοῦ σώματος, and he is the Savior of the body.”

It must be observed 6) that the passages of Scripture in which Christ is named Savior absolutely and simply are frequent. “For¹⁵ today there is born to you σωτήρ, ὅς ἐστι Χριστὸς κύριος, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”; “this¹⁶ Jesus, ἀρχηγὸν καὶ σωτῆρα, a prince and Savior, God exalted by his right hand, to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins”; “from the seed¹⁷ of this David, God, according to the promise, brought forth for Israel σωτῆρα Ἰησοῦν, Jesus a Savior”; “but our conversation is in heaven, whence we also await σωτῆρα, a Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ”; “that¹⁸ you may be mindful of those words which I foretold by the holy prophets, and of the precepts of your apostles, τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος, of the Lord and Savior”; “grow¹⁹ in grace and in the knowledge τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

It must be observed 7) that Christ is adorned with the appellation God the Savior. For thus the angel teaches Joseph²⁰: “but Mary shall bear a son, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν· αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” But when the reasons have been reckoned, as is fitting²¹, it must be judged: a) that the name Ἰησοῦν, in Hebrew ישוע, is said ἀντὶ τοῦ יהושוע, in place of יהושוע; b) that יהושוע is contracted from שוע and יהוה; c) that the word ישוע is a noun derived from the root ישע; d) that both the inherent signification of the root and the form of the word require that ישוע be rendered salvation; e) that nothing is more frequent than that abstract terms be employed for concrete ones—

—and thus salvation for Savior; therefore f) that ישוע, Ἰησοῦν, has the same force as Jehovah the Savior. This seems to me to be confirmed not obscurely by those things which, after the explanation of the name Jesus proposed by the angel, Matthew immediately infers²²: “Now all this was done that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying: behold, a Virgin shall have in her womb and shall bear a son, καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον, μεθ’ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted God with us.” But by what connection, finally, do these things cohere? Or how does it follow from the antecedents, in which the name Jesus is imposed upon Mary’s son, that the oracle of Isaiah, in which it was foretold that the son to be born of a Virgin would be called Emmanuel, was fulfilled? It does not escape me that many things have been diligently sought out and subtly devised in order to show that these things are mutually joined and connected. But neither does it escape me that by all these things the industry of the commentators has been approved rather than persuasion produced in the readers. Nevertheless, there was a reason, and one sufficiently easy and obvious, by which the Evangelist’s deduction might be illustrated. Certainly, it is not established that the son born of Mary was accustomed to be called Emmanuel; but it is plainly established that his most solemn name was Jesus. But although Jesus and Emmanuel differ in sound and letters, they agree in reality and in the force of signifying. For what is Emmanuel? God with us. Namely, according to the received usage of speaking in the Scriptures²³, God our avenger, God our defender. But Jesus is God the Savior, God who snatches us from evils and heaps goods upon us. Thus, therefore, Jesus and Emmanuel conspire in reality and signification, so that Matthew rightly joined the angel and the prophet, and therefore wrote that Christ was called Jesus because it had been foretold that he would be called Emmanuel; for the angelic name Jesus, God the Savior, is altogether the same as the prophetic Emmanuel.

It must be observed 8) that Christ is infinitely named the Savior of the world—

—: “we ourselves²⁴ have heard and know, ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου, that this is truly the Savior of the world”; and²⁵ “we have seen and testify, ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ ἀπέσταλκε τὸν υἱὸν σωτῆρα τοῦ κόσμου, that the Father sent the Son as Savior of the world.”

Finally, it must be observed 9) that Christ is called the Savior both of sinners and of all those who had perished: “a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance²⁶, ὅτι Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ἁμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι, ὧν πρῶτός εἰμι ἐγώ, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am first”; then²⁷, ἦλθε γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου σῶσαι τὸ ἀπολωλός, “for the Son of Man came to save that which had perished.”