Before I continue to share some more writings of John Gavazzonie on the Eternal Son(s) of God I want to have a look at what the testimony of the early church is regarding the Mystery of Deity.

Having said this I also want to share a story that was told about Augustine. It was said that one day he went for walk at the beach, contemplating the Nature of the Godhead, when he met a little boy that had digged up a hole in the sand.

Interested in what the child was doing, he watched him carrying water in a bugget  from the near ocean and puring it into to the little hole in the ground. After some time he approached the boy and asked him what he was doing.

The child answered: 'I am trying to pur the ocean into my little pond'. Augustine answered: 'But this is foolish. How do want to pour all of this enormous ocean into this little hole in the ground'?

And the child ansered:' Do you see now? This is just as foolish as you  trying to understand the Infinite Mystery of the Godhead with your finite human mind'.

I wonder- if this is a true account- if this child was not the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father. However, it is interesting to note that Augustine struggled all his life with this issue. And while he never forgot the experience of Father's Love, later on in his life he fell prey to the temptation of intellectualism, trying to defend the Gospel with human reasoning. Thus he introduced doctrines of the carnal mind to the church that still plague us to this day.

What would have happended if he would have continued in the way that he started. Only Father knows. But this is not about bashing Augustine. After all we all a vulnerable of this very same mistake.

I discovered that the human mind is very often a hindrance when it comes to this issues. After all, we are talking here about the very Core of creation, about Eternal realities. Our intellect can't grasp these things. We need revelation. Otherwise the the scriptures will be closed to us- like on every other subject.

Okay, as promised, lets have a look at what the early church had to say on this issue.

Father

50 AD The Huleatt Manuscript

• 50 AD The Huleatt Manuscript "She poured it [the perfume] over his [Jesus'] hair when he sat at the table. But, when the disciples saw it, they were indignant. . . . God, aware of this, said to them: 'Why do you trouble this woman? She has done [a beautiful thing for me.] . . . Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and said, 'What will you give me for my work?' [Matt. 26:7-15]" (Huleatt fragments 1-3).

74 AD The Letter of Barnabas

• 74 AD The Letter of Barnabas "And further, my brethren, if the Lord [Jesus] endured to suffer for our soul, he being the Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, 'Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness,' understand how it was that he endured to suffer at the hand of men" (Letter of Barnabas 5).

80 AD Hermas

• 80 AD Hermas "The Son of God is older than all his creation, so that he became the Father's adviser in his creation. Therefore also he is ancient" (The Shepherd 12).

140 AD Aristides

• 140 AD Aristides "[Christians] are they who, above every people of the Earth, have found the truth, for they acknowledge
God, the creator and maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit" (Apology 16).

150 AD Justin Martyr

• 150 AD Justin Martyr "The Father of the universe has a Son, who also being the first begotten Word of God,
is even God." (Justin Martyr, First Apology, ch 63)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "Christ is called both God and Lord of hosts." (Dialogue with Trypho, ch, 36)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "Moreover, in the diapsalm of the forty-sixth Psalm, reference is thus made to Christ: 'God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." (Dialogue with Trypho, ch 37)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr quotes Hebrews 1:8 to prove the Deity of Christ. "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever." (Dialogue with Trypho, ch 56)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "Therefore these words testify explicitly that He [Christ] is witnessed to by Him who established these things, as deserving to be worshipped, as God and as Christ." - Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 63.
• 150 AD Justin Martyr in Chap. LXVI. He (Justin) Proves From Isaiah That God Was Born From A Virgin. (Chapter Title, Chap. LXVI)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "And Trypho said, "You endeavor to prove an incredible and well-nigh impossible thing;[namely], that God endured to be born and become man...some Scriptures which we mention, and which expressly prove that Christ was to suffer, to be worshipped, and [to be called] God, and which I have already recited to you, do refer indeed to Christ." (Dialogue with Trypho, ch 68)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "But if you knew, Trypho," continued I, "who He is that is called at one time the Angel of great counsel, and a Man by Ezekiel, and like
the Son of man by Daniel, and a Child by Isaiah, and Christ and God to be worshipped by David, and Christ and a Stone by many, and Wisdom by Solomon, and Joseph and Judah and a Star by Moses, and the East by Zechariah, and the Suffering One and Jacob and Israel by Isaiah again, and a Rod, and Flower, and Corner Stone, and Son of God, you would not have blasphemed Him who has now come, and been born, and suffered, and ascended to heaven; who shall also come again, and then your twelve tribes shall mourn. For if you had understood what has been written by the prophets, you would not have denied that He was God, Son of the only, unbegotten, unutterable God. For Moses says somewhere in Exodus the following: `The Lord spake to Moses, and said to him, I am the Lord, and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, being their God; and my name I revealed not to them, and I established my covenant with them.' And thus again he says, `A man wrestled with Jacob,' and asserts it was God; narrating that Jacob said, `I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.'" (Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, A Jew, Chap. CXXVI [See also The First Apology of Justin, Chap. XIII; XXII; LXIII; Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, A Jew, Chap. XXXVI; XLVIII; LVI; LIX; LXI; C; CV; CXXV; CXXVIII)
• [Trypho to Justin] "...you say that this Christ existed as God before the ages, and that He submitted to be born and become man" - Dialogue with Trypho, ch.48.
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "We will prove that we worship him reasonably; for we have learned that he is the Son of the true God Himself, that he holds a second place, and the Spirit of prophecy a third. For this they accuse us of madness, saying that we attribute to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all things; but they are ignorant of the Mystery which lies therein" (First Apology 13:5-6).
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "Jesus Christ is the only proper Son who has been begotten by God, being His Word and first-begotten, and power; and, becoming man according to His will, He taught us these things for the conversion and restoration of the human race" (First Apology 23).
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "But both Him, and the Son (who came forth from Him and taught us these things, and the host of the other good angels who follow and are made like to Him), and the prophetic Spirit,
we worship and adore." (Justin Martyr, First Apology, ch 6) Notice what else Justin say: "Worship God alone." (Justin Martyr, First Apology, ch 16) "Whence to God alone we render worship." (Justin Martyr, First Apology, ch 17)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "
God begot before all creatures a Beginning, who was a certain rational power from himself and whom the Holy Spirit calls . . . sometimes the Son, . . . sometimes Lord and Word ... We see things happen similarly among ourselves, for whenever we utter some word, we beget a word, yet not by any cutting off, which would diminish the word in us when we utter it. We see a similar occurrence when one fire enkindles another. It is not diminished through the enkindling of the other, but remains as it was" (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 61).
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "God speaks in the creation of man with the very same design, in the following words: 'Let us make man after our image and likeness' . . . I shall quote again the words narrated by Moses himself, from which we can indisputably learn that [God] conversed with someone numerically distinct from himself and also a rational being. . . . But this Offspring who was truly brought forth from the Father,
was with the Father before all the creatures, and the Father communed with him" (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 62).
• 150 AD Justin Martyr [Note: Justin never says Jesus is a created angel. Justin never refers to Jesus as an angel before creation, although JW’s will falsely affirm such from the text below. Justin, however, does refer to Jesus as the "angel of the Lord" after creation in various appearances to man. Many but not all Trinitarians would have no problem affirming, along side of Justin, that Jesus as uncreated God, was referred to as the Angel of Jehovah.] "HOW GOD APPEARED TO MOSES. And all the Jews even now teach that the nameless God spake to Moses; whence the Spirit of prophecy, accusing them by Isaiah the prophet mentioned above, said "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know Me, and My people do not understand." And Jesus the Christ, because the Jews knew not what the Father was, and what the Son, in like manner accused them; and Himself said, "No one knoweth the Father, but the Son; nor the Son, but the Father, and they to whom the Son revealeth Him." Now the Word of God is His Son, as we have before said.
And He is called Angel and Apostle; for He declares whatever we ought to know, and is sent forth to declare whatever is revealed; as our Lord Himself says, "He that heareth Me, heareth Him that sent Me." From the writings of Moses also this will be manifest; for thus it is written in them, "And the Angel of God spake to Moses, in a flame of fire out of the bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of thy fathers; go down into Egypt, and bring forth My people." And if you wish to learn what follows, you can do so from the same writings; for it is impossible to relate the whole here. But so much is written for the sake of proving that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and His Apostle, being of old the Word, and appearing sometimes in the form of fire, and sometimes in the likeness of angels; but now, by the will of God, having become man for the human race, He endured all the sufferings which the devils instigated the senseless Jews to inflict upon Him; who, though they have it expressly affirmed in the writings of Moses, "And the angel of God spake to Moses in a flame of fire in a bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," yet maintain that He who said this was the Father and Creator of the universe. Whence also the Spirit of prophecy rebukes them, and says, "Israel doth not know Me, my people have not understood Me." And again, Jesus, as we have already shown, while He was with them, said, "No one knoweth the Father, but the Son; nor the Son but the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him." The Jews, accordingly, being throughout of opinion that it was the Father of the universe who spake to Moses, though He who spake to him was indeed the Son of God, who is called both Angel and Apostle, are justly charged, both by the Spirit of prophecy and by Christ Himself, with knowing neither the Father nor the Son. For they who affirm that the Son is the Father, are proved neither to have become acquainted with the Father, nor to know that the Father of the universe has a Son; who also, being the first-begotten Word of God, is even God. And of old He appeared in the shape of fire and in the likeness of an angel to Moses and to the other prophets; but now in the times of your reign, having, as we before said, become Man by a virgin, according to the counsel of the Father, for the salvation of those who believe on Him, He endured both to be set at nought and to suffer, that by dying and rising again He might conquer death. And that which was said out of the bush to Moses, "I am that I am, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of your fathers," this signified that they, even though dead, are let in existence, and are men belonging to Christ Himself. For they were the first of all men to busy themselves in the search after God; Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses wrote." (Justin Martyr, First Apology, ch 63)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "It is not on this ground solely," I said, "that it must be admitted absolutely that some other one is called Lord by the Holy Spirit
besides Him who is considered Maker of all things; not solely [for what is said] by Moses, but also [for what is said] by David. For there is written by him: ‘The Lord says to my Lord, Sit on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool,’ as I have already quoted. And again, in other words: ‘Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." (Dialog of Justin with Trypho, a Jew, ch 56)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "Then I replied, "Reverting to the Scriptures, I shall endeavor to persuade you, that He who is said to have appeared to Abraham, and to Jacob, and to Moses, and who is called God, is distinct from Him who made all things, — numerically, I mean, not [distinct] in will. For I affirm that He has never at any time done anything which He who made the world — above whom there is no other God — has not wished Him both to do and to engage Himself with." (Dialog of Justin with Trypho, a Jew, ch 56)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "… even so here, the Scripture, in announcing that the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses, and in afterwards declaring him to be Lord and God, speaks of the same One, whom it declares by the many testimonies already quoted to be minister to God, who is above the world, above whom there is no other [God]." (Dialog of Justin with Trypho, a Jew, ch 60)
• 150 AD Justin Martyr "I shall give you another testimony, my friends," said I, "from the Scriptures, that God begat before all creatures a Beginning, [who was] a certain rational power [proceeding] from Himself, who is called by the Holy Spirit, now the Glory of the Lord, now the Son, again Wisdom, again an Angel, then God, and then Lord and Logos; and on another occasion He calls Himself Captain, when He appeared in human form to Joshua the son of Nave (Nun). For He can be called by all those names, since He ministers to the Father’s will, and since He was begotten of the Father by an act of will; just as we see happening among ourselves: for when we give out some word, we beget the word; yet not by abscission, so as to lessen the word [which remains] in us, when we give it out: and just as we see also happening in the case of a fire, which is not lessened when it has kindled [another], but remains the same; and that which has been kindled by it likewise appears to exist by itself, not diminishing that from which it was kindled. The Word of Wisdom, who is Himself this God begotten of the Father of all things, and Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and the Glory of the Begetter, …" (Dialog of Justin with Trypho, a Jew, ch 60)

150 AD Polycarp of Smyrna

• 150 AD Polycarp of Smyrna "I praise you for all things, I bless you, I glorify you, along with the everlasting and heavenly Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, with whom, to you and the Holy Spirit, be glory both now and to all coming ages. Amen" (Martyrdom of Polycarp 14).

160 AD Mathetes

• 160 AD Mathetes "[The Father] sent the Word that he might be manifested to the world . . . This is he who was from the beginning, who appeared as if new, and was found old . . . This is he who, being from everlasting, is today called the Son" (Letter to Diognetus 11).

170 AD Tatian the Syrian

• 170 AD Tatian the Syrian "We are not playing the fool, you Greeks, nor do we talk nonsense, when we report that God was born in the form of a man" (Address to the Greeks 21).

177 AD Athenagoras

• 177 AD Athenagoras "The Son of God is the Word of the Father in thought and actuality. By him and through him all things were made, the Father and the Son being one. Since the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son by the unity and power of the Spirit, the Mind and Word of the Father is the Son of God. And if, in your exceedingly great wisdom, it occurs to you to inquire what is meant by `the Son,' I will tell you briefly: He is the first- begotten of the Father, not as having been produced, for from the beginning God had the Word in himself, God being eternal mind and eternally rational, but as coming forth to be the model and energizing force of all material things" (Plea for the Christians 10:2-4).

177 AD Melito of Sardis

• 177 AD Melito of Sardis "It is no way necessary in dealing with persons of intelligence to adduce the actions of Christ after his baptism as proof that his soul and his body, his human nature, were like ours, real and not phantasmal. The activities of Christ after his baptism, and especially his miracles, gave indication and assurance to the world of the deity hidden in his flesh. Being God and likewise perfect man, he gave positive indications of his two natures: of his deity, by the miracles during the three years following after his baptism, of his humanity, in the thirty years which came before his baptism, during which, by reason of his condition according to the flesh, he concealed the signs of his deity, although he was the true God existing before the ages" (Fragment in Anastasius of Sinai's The Guide 13).

180 AD Theophilus of Antioch

• 180 AD Theophilus of Antioch Chapter XV. - Of the Fourth Day. "On the fourth day the luminaries were made; because God, who possesses foreknowledge, knew the follies of the vain philosophers, that they were going to say, that the things which grow on the earth are produced from the heavenly bodies, so as to exclude God. In order, therefore, that the truth might be obvious, the plants and seeds were produced prior to the heavenly bodies, for what is posterior cannot produce that which is prior. And these contain the pattern and type of a great mystery. For the sun is a type of God, and the moon of man. And as the sun far surpasses the moon in power and glory, so far does God surpass man. And as the sun remains ever full, never becoming less, so does God always abide perfect, being full of all power, and understanding, and wisdom, and immortality, and all good. But the moon wanes monthly, and in a manner dies, being a type of man; then it is born again, and is crescent, for a pattern of the future resurrection. In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are
types of the Trinity,. of God, and His Word, and His wisdom." [Triavdo" The earliest use of this word "Trinity." It seems to have been used by this writer in his lost works, also; and, as a learned friends suggests, the use he makes of it is familiar. He does not lug it in as something novel: "types of the Trinity," he says, illustrating an accepted word, not introducing a new one.] "And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man. Wherefore also on the fourth day the lights were made. The disposition of the stars, too, contains a type of the arrangement and order of the righteous and pious, and of those who keep the law and commandments of God. For the brilliant and bright stars are an imitation of the prophets, and therefore they remain fixed, not declining, nor passing from place to place. And those which hold the second place in brightness, are types of the people of the righteous. And those, again, which change their position, and flee from place to place, which also are cared planets, they too are a type of the men who have wandered from God, abandoning His law and commandments." (180 AD, Theophilus of Antioch Chapter XV. - Of the Fourth Day, To Autolycus 2:15)

180 AD Irenaeus

• 180 AD Irenaeus "...
so that He indeed who made all things can alone, together with His Word, properly be termed God and Lord: but the things which have been made cannot have this term applied to them, neither should they justly assume that appellation which belongs to the Creator." - Against Heresies, Book III, ch. 8, section 3.
• 180 AD Irenaeus "
But the Son, eternally co-existing with the Father, from of old, yea, from the beginning, always reveals the Father to Angels, Archangels, Powers, Virtues..." (Against Heresies, Book II, ch. 30, section 9)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "
Christ Jesus is our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King." (Against Heresies, Book I, ch. 10, section 1)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "For I have shown from the scriptures, that no one of the sons of Adam is as to everything, and absolutely, called God, or named Lord.
But that He is Himself in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, and Lord, and King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles, and by the Spirit Himself, may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth. Now, the scriptures would not have testified these things of Him, if, like others, He had been a mere man. (Irenaeus Against Heresies, chapter xix.2)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "For the Church, although dispersed throughout the whole world even to the ends of the Earth, has received from the apostles and from their disciples the faith in one God, Father Almighty, the creator of heaven and Earth and sea and all that is in them; and in one Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became flesh for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who announced through the prophets the dispensations and the comings, and the birth from a Virgin, and the passion, and the Resurrection from the dead, and the bodily Ascension into heaven of the beloved Christ Jesus our Lord, and his coming from heaven in the glory of the Father to re-establish all things; and the raising up again of all flesh of all humanity, in order that to
Jesus Christ our Lord and God and Savior and King, in accord with the approval of the invisible Father, every knee shall bend of those in heaven and on Earth and under the earth . . . " (Against Heresies 1:10:1).
• 180 AD Irenaeus "[The Gnostics] transfer the generation of the uttered word of men to the
eternal Word of God, attributing to him a beginning of utterance and a coming into being . . . In what manner, then, would the word of God--indeed, the great God himself, since he is the Word--differ from the word of men?" (Against Heresies 2:13:8).
• 180 AD Irenaeus "Nevertheless,
what cannot be said of anyone else who ever lived, that he is himself in his own right God and Lord . . . may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth" (Against Heresies, 3:19:1).
• 180 AD Irenaeus "It was not angels, therefore, who made us, nor who formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of God, nor any one else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things, to whom also He speaks, saying, "Let Us make man after Our image and likeness; " [Gen. 1:26]" (Against Heresies 4:20:1).
• 180 AD Irenaeus [Quoting John 1:1] "’...and the Word was God,’ of course,
for that which is begotten of God is God." (Against Heresies, Book I, ch. 8, section 5)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "And again
when the Son speaks to Moses, He says, ‘I am come down to deliver this people,’ (Exodus 3:8 - the burning bush). For it is He who descended and ascended for the salvation of men." (Against Heresies, Book III, ch. 6, section 2)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "Proofs From The Apostolic Writings, That Jesus Christ Was One And The Same, The Only Begotten Son Of God,
Perfect God And Perfect Man." (Against Heresies, Book III, ch. 16, Chapter Title)
• 180 AD Irenaeus [in reference to Jesus] "For I have shown from the Scriptures, that
no one of the sons of Adam is as to everything, and absolutely, called God, or named Lord. But that He is Himself in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, and Lord, and King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles, and by the Spirit Himself,...Now, the Scriptures would not have testified these things of Him, if, like others, He had been a mere man." (Against Heresies, Book III, ch. 19, section 2)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "
God, then, was made man, and the Lord did Himself save us, giving us the token of the Virgin." (Against Heresies, Book III, ch. 21, section 1)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "Christ Himself, therefore, together with the Father,
is the God of the living, who spake to Moses, and who was also manifested to the fathers." (Against Heresies, Book IV, ch. 5, section 2)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "And for this reason all spake with Christ when He was present [upon earth], and they named Him God." (Against Heresies, Book IV, ch.6, section 6)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "
God formed man...it was not angels, therefore, who made us...neither had angels power to make an image of God." (Against Heresies, Book IV, ch. 20, section 1)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "Wherefore the prophets, receiving the prophetic gift from the same Word, announced His advent according to the flesh, by which the
blending and communion of God and man took place according to the good pleasure of the Father, the Word of God foretelling from the beginning that God should be seen by men, and hold converse with them upon earth." (Against Heresies, Book IV, ch. 20, section 4)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "The Word, that is,
the Son, was always with the Father." (Against Heresies, Book IV, ch. 20, section 3)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "Christ Jesus, the Son of God, because of His surpassing love
for His creation, condescended to be born of the virgin." (Against Heresies, Book III, ch. 4, section 2)
• 180 AD Irenaeus "
Therefore neither would the Lord, nor the Holy Spirit, nor the apostles, have ever named as God, definitely and absolutely, him who was not God, unless he were truly God; nor would they have named any one in his own person Lord, except God the Father ruling over all, and His Son who has received dominion from His Father over all creation, as this passage has it: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." Here the [Scripture] represents to us the Father addressing the Son; He who gave Him the inheritance of the heathen, and subjected to Him all His enemies. Since, therefore, the Father is truly Lord, and the Son truly Lord, the Holy Spirit has fitly designated them by the title of Lord. And again, referring to the destruction of the Sodomites, the Scripture says, "Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah fire and brimstone from the LORD out of heaven." For it here points out that the Son, who had also been talking with Abraham, had received power to judge the Sodomites for their wickedness. And this [text following] does declare the same truth: "Thy throne, O God; is for ever and ever; the scepter of Thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee." For the Spirit designates both [of them] by the name, of God — both Him who is anointed as Son, and Him who does anoint, that is, the Father." (Book 3, ch 6)

190 AD Clement Of Alexandria

• 190 AD Clement Of Alexandria [note:
Clement NEVER calls Jesus a creature.] "There was then, a Word importing an unbeginning eternity; as also the Word itself, that is, the Son of God, who being, by equality of substance, one with the Father, is eternal and uncreated." (Fragments, Part I, section III)
• "that so great a work was accomplished in so brief a space by the Lord, who, though despised as to appearance, was in reality adored, the expiator of sin, the Saviour, the clement, the Divine Word, He that is truly most manifest Deity, He that is made equal to the Lord of the universe; because He was His Son, and the Word was in God, not disbelieved in by all when He was first preached, nor altogether unknown when, assuming the character of man, and fashioning Himself in flesh, He enacted the drama of human salvation: for He was a true champion and a fellow-champion with [ie. God among creatures, not that Jesus is classed as a creature] the creature." (Exhortations, Chap 10)
• 190 AD Clement Of Alexandria "
I understand nothing else than the Holy Trinity to be meant; for the third is the Holy Spirit, and the Son is the second, by whom all things were made according to the will of the Father." (Stromata, Book V, ch. 14)
• 190 AD Clement Of Alexandria "When [John] says: 'What was from the beginning [1 John 1:1],' he touches upon the generation without beginning of the Son,
who is co-equal with the Father. 'Was,' therefore, is indicative of an eternity without a beginning, just as the Word Himself, that is the Son, being one with the Father in regard to equality of substance, is eternal and uncreated. That the word always existed is signified by the saying: 'In the beginning was the Word' [John 1:1]." (fragment in Eusebius History, Bk 6 Ch 14; Jurgens, p. 188)
• 190 AD Clement Of Alexandria
'For both are one — that is, God. For He has said, "In the beginning the Word was in God, and the Word was God." (The Instructor, Book 1, ch 8)
• 190 AD Clement of Alexandria "Despised as to appearance but in reality adored, [Jesus is] the Expiator, the Savior, the Soother,
the Divine Word, he that is quite evidently true God, he that is put on a level with the Lord of the universe because he was his Son." (Exhortation to the Greeks, 10:110:1).
• 190 AD Clement of Alexandria "The Word, then, the Christ, is the cause both of our ancient beginning, for lie was in God, and of our well-being. And now this same Word has appeared as man. He alone
is both God and man, and the source of all our good things" (Exhortation to the Greeks 1:7:1).
• 190 AD Clement Of Alexandria "Now, O you, my children, our Instructor is like His Father God, whose son He is, sinless, blameless, and with a soul devoid of passion;
God in the form of man, stainless, the minister of His Father’s will, the Word who is God, who is in the Father, who is at the Father’s right hand, and with the form of God is God." (Instructor, Book I, ch. 2)
• 190 AD Clement Of Alexandria "His Son Jesus, the Word of God, is our Instructor….
He is God and Creator." (Instructor, Book I, ch. 11)
• 190 AD Clement Of Alexandria "This is the New Song, the manifestation of the Word that
was in the beginning, and before the beginning. The Savior, who existed before, has in recent days appeared. He, who is in Him that truly is, has appeared; for the Word, who "was with God," and by whom all things were created, has appeared as our Teacher. The Word, who in the beginning bestowed on us life as Creator when He formed us, taught us to live well when He appeared as our Teacher; that as God He might afterwards conduct us to the life which never ends." (Exhortation To The Heathen, ch 2)
• 190 AD Clement Of Alexandria "This Word, then, the Christ, the cause of both our being at first (for He was in God) and of our well-being, this very Word has now appeared as man,
He alone being both, both God and man" (Exhortation To The Heathen, ch 2)
• 190 AD Clement Of Alexandria "For it was not without divine care that so great a work was accomplished in so brief a space by the Lord, who, though despised as to appearance, was in reality adored, the expiator of sin, the Savior, the clement, the
Divine Word, He that is truly most manifest Deity, He that is made [made = appointed not created, ie. made king after resurrection.] equal to the Lord of the universe; because He was His Son, and the Word was in God, not disbelieved in by all when He was first preached, nor altogether unknown when, assuming the character of man, and fashioning Himself in flesh" (Exhortation To The Heathen, ch 10)
• 190 AD Clement Of Alexandria "Now, O you, my children, our Instructor is like His Father God, whose son He is, sinless, blameless, and with a soul devoid of passion; God in the form of man, stainless, the minister of His Father’s will, the Word who is God, who is in the Father, who is at the Father’s right hand, and with the form of God is God." (The Instructor, Book 1, ch 2)

The Person of Salvation - Part 5
Let's Not Lose the "And/With"
By John Gavazzoni

The relationship of Christ to, particularly the believer, but finally understood, to the whole of humanity, is consistent with, and an outgrowth of the relationship of the Father and the Son. The Divine Nature which, though subjecting Itself with us to contrianism, is really what natures all things, and that nature, as the saying goes, "will out." That is, it cannot be forever suppressed. Reality will allow for no other ultimate destiny than Itself.

What is the relationship between the Father and the Son? Jesus summed it up most succinctly: "I and the Father are one." Minds undisciplined regarding the things of God, interpret that sublimely beautiful expression of the relationship that constitutes all relationship according to the preference of their distinctive mental temperament.

One prefers to ignore the "and" of Jesus statement in favor of a simplistic misunderstanding of the nature of divine oneness, while the other mental temperament prefers to dilute the depth of the oneness in favor of the god who is the supreme object above all other objects, while having, some ill-defined unity. To even speak of the relationship of the Father and the Son, really says it all, for stark oneness cannot have relationship, unless it be a relationship that is even sicker than that of the sociopath.

The "and" of Jesus statement finds its parallel in Paul's "with." For Paul, Christ was both in us and with us. That is, He, in us constitutes our humanness and our personhood, while at the same time possessing a distinctive anotherness as pertaining to us. Paul desired that the believer come to fully realize the indwelling of Christ, but also to know that while, to be sure, He is in us, He with us in us. He is He, and we are we, yet we are one.

Without that full-orbed understanding, eastern mysticism's reduction of divine oneness leaves us with the most subtle form of legalism's gospel of self-effort, for if there is only one, then that one must save itself, since there is no other to save it, and it is left with the hilariously idiotic necessity of taking on the task of disciplining its mind to discover that there is no other god except itself. We thus have, not the God who identifies Himself, as "I AM," but the god who is struggling to discover who he is.

I remember when I was pastoring a charismatic church years ago, we had a former Hindu guru whom Christ had gloriously dragged to Himself, and wonderfully filled with His Spirit, demonstrate the technique whereby he used to attempt to look within to discover that he is God. He demonstrated the most difficult technique of rolling his eyes upward and backward into his head to find the God who was himself. Having come into a saving relationship WITH Jesus Christ, his self-effacing demonstration was both sobering and hilarious to behold. In the mutually supportive, co-dependency that combines the anti-dynamic propensity of western Christianity to know only an external Christ, and the eastern propensity to explain away the anotherness of the One who is in us, makes for a mix that serves to strengthen and more deeply root the sad inadequacy of both theologies.

The west's history has included what amounts to creating a vacuum of true subjective experience of Christ, and what with nature abhorring a vacuum, eastern mysticism has been quietly coming in to fill that vacuum with a disarmingly deceptive appeal that artificially gives a mystical sugar-high.

Jesus, was not, as some suppose, simply ahead of His time in discovering His sonship, so as to teach us how to discover the same. He was the uniquely, single/only-begotten of the Father, who reproduces the re-productivity of His Father by birthing many sons in His image. The Son, in the likeness of His Father, became Himself a Father. The Father reproduced Himself in total in one Son, while the Son reproduced many sons, yet they all have their Primal Origin in the one Seed of God.

Abraham had his one son of promise, Isaac, out from whose loins have come all the generations of the children of Abraham. No matter, who is the direct father of each generation, they are all children of the original father by virtue of that first generating initiation. If we seek to discover our divinity by looking inward, we will find the one who appears as an angel of light, and one day we will find ourselves admiring ourselves at being so wise as to know that we are our own source of being.

But if we seek the face of our Beloved, we shall know Him as He is, and know Him as He is in us, in union with us. Is it a matter of black and white as to where many teachers are coming from. In some cases, yes; but in most cases, it's a matter of mixture. I recently read a book by a man who has just become a very controversial figure in respect to what I've dealt with above. There was much in the book that I found to be insightful, yet at the same time, there were elements that deeply disturbed my spirit.

May our Lord grace us with the spirit of wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

The Person of Salvation - Part 4
Deity's Development
By John Gavazzoni

One of the glorious truths that "sings" with revelation is the truth that God's perfection is not static, but eternally developmental. God is expansive, drawing forth from the artesian well of the Divine Nature never-ending out-flowings of love's glory. As we have several times pointed out, God becomes more and more of all that He is out from the depths of all that He is. Nothing can add to Him, but He can add to Himself out from the depths of Himself, and humanity is integral to that divine development as consummated in the Man, Christ Jesus.

I say it "sings," because it, as all truth, requires that it be received in the apparent paradoxical tension intrinsic to its sublime nature. As the strings of a stringed musical instrument must be tuned by the tension of being stretched to the degree appropriate to their contribution to a musical piece by being tightened sufficiently to add it's part to the song, so truth, if it is to sing to our spirit, comes to us often with what feels like intolerable intellectual tension.

Expansive perfection; absoluteness intensified; unqualified provision adding to its store of resources from within; The increase of All-Sufficiency; the source of all growth growing — THAT'S the tension of which I write. It is the development of the Being in whom we all have our being, into Personhood --- Personhood that is internally relational and family-constituted so that out from THE BEING proceeds the Divine Family that has no end.

Salvation/wholeness/well-being must be understood in the light of Deity's development. If we lose the Person-root of the message of universal salvation, we lose its essence. THE Being which is the source of all wholeness unfolded as Family-relational Personhood: Potential Fatherhood, from whose side came the potential of Motherhood, fulfilling Itself/Their-self by the impregnation, conception and birthing of the One who, by His eternal begottenness, qualified and fulfilled the Paternal potential of the Divine Nature.

This brings us to the fact that only that which is fulfilled, i.e., brought to complete development is existentially whole and sound. That which lacks fulfillment is vulnerable to being filled with that which is alien to its nature. Adam and Eve were existentially unfulfilled, which condition was at the heart of their vulnerability to deviation.

Our Lord Jesus is the fully developed, complete and fulfilled Man. We speak of the finished work of Christ, but fail to realize that Christ is the finished work of God. Only in sharing His fullness, His fulfillment — as God has indeed accomplished — can we saved so as to be safe from false filling, that is, "being filled with all uprightness." To experience Christ in all His fullness is to be truly, without qualification, saved.

Whatever be the "it" of eternal worth, Christ does not point to "it," "it" points to Christ. Soundness of being (salvation) is a participation in the soundness of God, reproduced and given to us in a Son. Well-being is relational in its essence.

Mere theological conceptualization amounts to an avoidance of intimacy with the Son of God. The issue is, as with Peter, "Loveth thou me." And, as with Paul, ".... the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord."

When Jesus "presences" (parousia), salvation comes to us. We are on the cutting edge of the eternal dynamic within the eons when His presence is our expectation and our delight. Nothing compares to the "presencing" of Christ. Oh, the satisfaction; Oh the filling to fulfillment. There in that Presence we are made whole.

"In the secret of His Presence, how my soul delights to hide; Oh how precious are the lessons that I learn at Jesus side. Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low; for when satan comes to tempt me to that secret place I go; to that secret place I go."

The Person of Salvation - Part 3
The Larger Message
By John Gavazzoni

Most of us, I'm sure, are familiar with the very rhetorically colorful expressions heard mostly among young people, as in, in one form or another: "Well---duhh;", "That's a no-brainer." "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out." Such creative communication devices came to mind as I realized that we, of the final restoration conviction, are found laboriously going to great lengths to present an apologetic for the universal effectiveness of God's grace in Jesus Christ.

Though the apostles, and particular Paul, did stoop to confronting stupid notions seeking recognition within the community of believers, they did so without dignifying the stupidity. They set thinking straight quickly and deftly, in a way analogous to a martial arts master teaching an arrogantly disrespectful student a painful and humiliating lesson.

Paul got quickly to the point and dismissed doctrinal monstrosities, so that all that was left to say was, "well---duhh!" "That's a no-brainer." Sometimes the way we go on, and on, and on disputing religious insanity, does amount to dignifying its claim of defining orthodoxy. It is not un-loving to declare that such screw-loose, vain imagination is not even worthy of a place on the platform of reasonable theological consideration.

Away with such malicious nonsense. We have better things that call for the devotion of our minds and hearts. Your bellowing is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Your bellicose pretensions of orthodoxy are the equivalent of one deliberately and loudly passing gas at an elegant dinner party, and expecting everyone to honor your contribution to the evening's conversation. Shame on you.

Let us get on with the larger message, for as God grants us the needful anointing to boldly declare "the mystery hidden from ages past," the contrast between light and darkness will become glaringly evident. When we make clear what God has purposed for all creation from the beginning---which purpose He has entrusted to His gloriously faithful and competent Son, in whose hands the Father's desire will most certainly prosper, men and women will find themselves, as we once did, comparing what we once blindly believed, with the effective, unfailing Lordship of Jesus Christ, saying, in effect, to themselves, "well---duhh, left to myself, I really missed a no-brainer."

Keep the message on target. Jesus, the Lord, the Lord OF ALL, has by His death and resurrection, defeated death and sealed the destiny of glory FOR ALL. Because of Him, all the earth, and all that God has formed from the earth, shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Declare the certainty of the exercise of His authority in heaven and earth. Let there be no disconnect between the message and your devotion to the Person who IS the Message. There is an element of intellectually-pretentious discomfort, even embarrassment, extant and growing, that would much prefer to distance itself from that holy, apostolic insistence that the fulness of the Godhead bodily has come to us uniquely in Jesus Christ of Nazareth by whose death alone, the full glory of eonian life has been released.

There are dark days ahead on the earth, and what the world needs now, which need will become increasingly apparent, are men and women so captured by the fulfillment of God's and man's deepest desire in the Person of His Son, that their devotion to Him, and the Truth in Him, will put to shame any and all other heart attachments.