Cyril of Jerusalem
Lecture 7
“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father,... of whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named….” — Ephesians 3:14, 15
Summary: The dignity of Fatherhood is defined by God’s nature, uniting Father and Son as One God; this also extends to our natural fathers; yet, it also applies to the Father by our adoption: our wills combining with His power brings the works of faith.
Preview: 1. God is
the sole Principle, of Whom we have not words enough: for we are limited by infirmity. “Now let us shake off” the review of
heretics, to return to “the saving doctrines of the true faith, connecting the dignity
of Fatherhood with that of the Unity, and believing In One God the Father: for we
must not only believe in one God; but this also let us devoutly receive, that He
is the Father of the Only-begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2. We
think beyond the Jews, who admit that there is One God; in that we believe also
in the Son of God. 3. “Let the Jews … suffer their … unbelief.” Let us worship and believe in the Father and
the Christ. 4. The name Father suggests the Son; as Son also
indicates Father; yet, “Only-begotten is [not] second in rank to heaven and
earth … for, between Son and Father”, no created thing comes.[i] 5. God
is by nature Father of only One, the Only-begotten; He is eternally Father,
eternally Son. 6. We worship the Father of Christ[ii];
“we shall not … sever the Old Testament from the New”: yet, shall embrace the
Father’s Temple. 7. Should any suppose that Christ is merely
righteous man; Christ alone speaks of My Father, rather than our Father: for
our son-ship is by adoption; His is by nature; even our permission to speak in
such a manner is “by the grace of the Father, through the Son and Holy Spirit….” 8. We,
who are clay, learn to call God, Father, from Moses and Esaias, by grace and
adoption. 9. Natural fathers are not the only fathers: for
Paul considers himself father to his converts; Job … father of the needy; John …
son of [Virgin] Mary; yet, Joseph, who is not Christ’s natural Father, is also
called father; Mary, likewise, is called mother; showing a parentage of
nurture. 10. God is also “improperly” called Father,
concerning Abraham and us, who are Abraham’s children; Father of the
fatherless; but, Christ is eternally Son by nature… the Father, Father of the
Son by nature. 11. So, we believe in One God, Whom the
Only-begotten has declared, which Angels have seen. “But the undimmed vision of the Father is reserved
in its purity for the Son with the Holy Ghost.”
12. Considering God’s
loving-kindness in allowing grasshoppers to call Him Father; we observe the
amazing ingratitude of man in calling a stick, father; and a stone, my
begetter. 13. Some have even chosen Satan as a father; who
“do the deeds of their father, the devil”; who consent to him of their own
will: for we come to such a sonship by choice, not by necessity, as did
Judas. Else, Judas could not cast out
devils; “Satan casts not out Satan”; nor Paul turned from persecuting to preaching;
each chose: “But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power[iii] to become
the children of God, even to them
that believe in His name. John 1:12
For not before their believing, but from their believing they were counted
worthy to become of their own choice the children of God.” 14. “Therefore,
let us walk spiritually, that we may be counted worthy of God's adoption. For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
The title Christian is worthless unless works of faith follow; “loving not the world, neither the things that
are in the world: for if any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15 Wherefore, my beloved children, let us by our
works offer glory to our Father which is
in heaven, that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father which is in
heaven. Matthew 5:16 Let us
cast all our care upon Him, for our Father knows what things we have need of.”
15. Let is honor our Father, and
our parents. “For when our fathers on earth are of a contrary mind to our Father in heaven,
then we must obey Christ's word. But when
they put no obstacle to godliness in our way, if we are ever carried away by ingratitude,
and, forgetting their benefits to us, hold them in contempt, then the oracle will
have place which says, He that curses father or mother, let him die the death.”
16. The first virtue of
Christians is to honor parents, to requite and comfort them….
[i]
It is true that St. Cyril does not use here, the exact language of the final
canonical creed; which may still be wet ink, and which will not be ratified
until 381; which, even then, will remain in flux until at least 451, possibly
even 787. Hence, St. Cyril can hardly be
faulted in the words he has chosen in defense of the full Deity of Christ: for
even the humanity of Jesus the Christ is a created thing which cannot intervene
between Father and Son. The only
reasonable interpretation of St. Cyril’s language is that the Son is fully God,
as is also the Father.
[ii]
We sense that St. Cyril is striving to certify the plausibility of that which
was difficult for the theologians: for it must have seemed at first
implausible, or at least inexplicable to many of the laity, who could neither
read nor write… that God was and is Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity; One
in essence and undivided; One ousia in three hypostases. It is St. Cyril’s task, not only to present
this as truth; but also, to prove it from Scripture, with numerous examples. If we still struggle with the profundity of
this today, how can we fault St. Cyril?
[iii]
The will has no power, only desire; God supplies the power to those who will;
He removes it from those who will not.
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