Section CCCIII

For while I ponder with myself the apostolic words, “for there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” I understand well that the causes which moved Paul to repeat with manifest care the unity of God and of Christ the mediator cannot be lacking. And indeed they are not lacking; rather, two are present, of which the one immediately discloses itself, while the other is somewhat more inward and hidden. Accordingly, 1) for the same reason Paul writes, “for there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” for which in the catholic creeds¹ we read: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and I believe in one Jesus Christ.” But each profession of the Creeds by its own nature pertains to this: that no less a multitude of gods and mediators be excluded than that the one God of all and the one Mediator of all be affirmed. Therefore Paul inculcates the unity of God and the unity of Christ the mediator for this reason: that his purpose is as much to refute errors concerning the plurality of gods and the multitude of mediators as to defend the truths concerning the one God of all and concerning the one and same common mediator of all, Christ Jesus. For defending and illustrating these truths, these things² conduce excellently: “Is he God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Indeed, of the Gentiles also, ἐπείπερ εἷς ὁ θεός, since indeed God is one.” And³ again: “But the justice of God through faith in Jesus Christ⁴, εἰς πάντας καὶ ἐπὶ πάντας, unto all and upon all who believe in him; for there is no⁵ distinction. For all have sinned and need—”

—the glory of God.” Then⁶ elsewhere: “For there is no distinction of Jew and Greek. ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς⁷ κύριος πάντων, πλουτῶν⁸ εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἐπικαλουμένους αὐτόν. For there is one and the same Lord of all, rich unto all who invoke him. For⁹ everyone whosoever shall invoke the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

But 2) to this cause another succeeds, which can scarcely be explained more fittingly than if it be said that Paul therefore wrote, “for there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” because it was established for him to reduce things which in themselves are various and diverse to a certain supreme unity, and from this to conclude more forcefully that Christians ought consequently to be borne by a common affection toward all men and to be solicitous for the salvation of all, because all things proceed from one and the supreme principle. Indeed, when the Apostle writes, “for there is one God,” by the appellation God he signifies the Father. But the Father is the ultimate principle both of the divine persons and also of all creatures, and therefore the supreme origin of the whole τὸ ὄν, being. Hence Gregory Nazianzen¹⁰ calls him ἕνωσις, unition, while Theodore Abucara¹¹ calls him ἀνακεφαλαίωσις, the collection and comprehension in unity of all things which exist. For as Richard of St. Victor¹² is the authority, “without doubt the Father alone has it that he be according to principality. For the others are according to reception, and according to the likeness of another. Here, therefore, is gathered why unity is, as it were, specially attributed to him according to this consideration.” Therefore, to say with the Apostle, “for there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” is equivalent to speaking thus—

—“for there is one God the Father, who is from himself, proceeds from no other, and is the font and origin of all; and one mediator of God and men with the Father, by whom he was sent, Christ Jesus.” But when we speak thus, just as we reduce all things to the Father as to the universal cause, so we refer all things to the Son as to the common and universal mediator with the Father.

Paul discourses splendidly concerning this relation, who, having first established this as a theorem¹³, “we know and have ascertained that an idol is¹⁴ nothing in the world, and that there is no¹⁵ other God besides that one whom we worship”; and then, having comprehended the superstition of the Gentiles in these words¹⁶, “for although there are those who in the¹⁷ estimation of men are held to be gods, whether in heaven or on earth”; finally concludes by inference¹⁸, ἀλλ᾽ ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτόν· καὶ εἷς κύριος, Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, δι᾽ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἡμεῖς δι᾽ αὐτοῦ, “but for us Christians there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we¹⁹ unto him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” Here a) when the Father and Son are enumerated together, the former is named God, the latter Lord, according to the solemn law; b) but this is attributed to the Father, that he be and be believed the supreme²⁰ καὶ μία τῶν πάντων ἀρχή, and the one cause of all, and therefore he in whom²¹ the august dogma of monarchy shines forth; but c) among those things, both visible and invisible, of which the Father is the principle without principle, the Son excels—

—inasmuch as he proceeded from his substance, consubstantial with him, the first of all and altogether coeternal; and indeed d) proceeded²² as the only-begotten Son, as the Word, as Wisdom, as Power, as he through whom all things were made; and therefore e) as he who by his origin²³ and by his personal mark stood as a middle between the Father and all other things. Paul signifies this f) concerning him²⁴, saying: ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, “who is the begotten image of the invisible God, the firstborn²⁵ of every creature.” But why? ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα, τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα … τὰ πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται. “Because through him were created all things heavenly and terrestrial, visible and invisible … all things were created through him and²⁶ unto him.” Whence g) nothing is truer than what Alexander of Alexandria²⁷, speaking of God the Father and of the universe of things produced by him, writes as regards the Son: ὧν μεσιτεύουσα φύσις μονογενής, δι᾽ ἧς τὰ ὅλα ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐποίησεν ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου, ὡς ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ὄντος πατρὸς γεγέννηται, “between which two the only-begotten nature holds the middle, through whom the Father of God the Word made all things from nothing, but who was begotten from the Father himself who is.”