16 May 2021
One God
For
to us there is but One God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and One Lord
Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things; and One Holy Ghost, in Whom are all
things; 2 Corinthians 8:6 yet these words, of, by, in, whom, do not denote a
difference of nature (for if this were the case, the three prepositions, or the
order of the three names would never be altered), but they characterize the
personalities of a nature which is one and unconfused. And this is proved by
the fact that They are again collected into one, if you will read — not
carelessly — this other passage of the same Apostle, Of Him and through Him and
to Him are all things; to Him be glory forever, Amen. Romans 11:36 The Father
is Father, and is Unoriginate, for He is of no one; the Son is Son, and is not
unoriginate, for He is of the Father. But if you take the word Origin in a
temporal sense, He too is Unoriginate, for He is the Maker of Time, and is not
subject to Time. The Holy Ghost is truly Spirit, coming forth from the Father
indeed, but not after the manner of the Son, for it is not by Generation but by
Procession (since I must coin a word for the sake of clearness ); for neither
did the Father cease to be Unbegotten because of His begetting something, nor
the Son to be begotten because He is of the Unbegotten (how could that be?),
nor is the Spirit changed into Father or Son because He proceeds, or because He
is God — though the ungodly do not believe it. For Personality is unchangeable;
else how could Personality remain, if it were changeable, and could be removed
from one to another? But they who make Unbegotten and Begotten natures of
equivocal gods would perhaps make Adam and Seth differ in nature, since the
former was not born of flesh (for he was created), but the latter was born of
Adam and Eve. There is then One God in Three, and These Three are One, as we
have said.
St. Gregory of Nazianzus
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