For when the eyes are spoken of, it is implied that He sees all things; and when the ear, it is set forth that He hears all things; and when the finger, a certain energy of His will is opened up; and when the nostrils, His recognition of prayers is shown forth as of odours; and when the hand, it is proved that He is the author of every creature; and when the arm, it is announced that no nature can withstand the power of His arm; and when the feet it is unfolded that He fills all things, and that there is not any place where God is not. For neither members nor the offices of members are needful to Him to whose sole judgment, even unexpressed, all things serve and are present. For why should He require eyes who is Himself the light? or why should He ask for feet who is everywhere? or why should He wish to go when there is nowhere where He can go beyond Himself? or why should He seek for hands whose will is, even when silent, the architect for the foundation of all things? He needs no ears who knows the wills that are even unexpressed; or for what reason should He need a tongue whose thought is a command? These members assuredly were necessary to men, but not to God, because man\u2019s design would be ineffectual if the body did not fulfil the thought. Moreover, they are not needful to God, whose will the works attend not so much without any effort, as that the works themselves proceed simultaneously with the will. Moreover, He Himself is all eye, because He all sees; and all ear, because He all hears; and all hand, because He all works; and all foot, because He all is everywhere. For He is the same, whatever it is. He is all equal, and all everywhere. For He has not in Him any diversity in Himself, being simple.
\n— On the Trinity VI<\/p>\n
For we find it to be written that God is called Love , and yet from this the substance of God is not declared to be Love ; and that He is called Light , while in this is not the substance of God. But the whole that is thus said of God is as much as can be said, so that reasonably also, when He is called a Spirit, it is not all that He is which is so called; but so that, while men\u2019s mind by understanding makes progress even to the Spirit itself, being already changed in spirit, it may conjecture God to be something even greater through the Spirit. …For if \u201cthe things which God hath prepared for them that love Him, neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, nor the heart of man, nor even his mind has perceived;\u201d what and how great is He Himself who promises these things, in understanding which both the mind and nature of man have failed! Finally, if you receive the Spirit as the substance of God, you will make God a creature. …But these things are rather used as figures than as being so in fact. For as, in the Old Testament, God is for this reason called Fire , that fear may be struck into the hearts of a sinful people, by suggesting to them a Judge; so in the New Testament He is announced as Spirit, that, as the Renewer and Creator of those who are dead in their sins, He may be attested by this goodness of mercy granted to those that believe.
\n— On the Trinity VII<\/p>\n
Let them, therefore, who read that Jesus Christ the Son of man is man, read also that this same Jesus is called also God and the Son of God. For in the manner that as man He is of Abraham, so also as God He is before Abraham himself. And in the same manner as He is as man the \u201cSon of David,\u201d so as God He is proclaimed David\u2019s Lord. And in the same manner as He was made as man \u201cunder the law,\u201d so as God He is declared to be \u201cLord of the Sabbath.\u201d And in the same manner as He suffers, as man, the condemnation, so as God He is found to have all judgment of the quick and dead. And in the same manner as He is born as man subsequent to the world, so as God He is manifested to have been before the world. And in the same way as He was begotten as man of the seed of David, so also the world is said to have been ordained by Him as God. And in the same way as He was as man after many, so as God He was before all. And in the same manner as He was as man inferior to others, so as God He was greater than all. And in the same manner as He ascended as man into heaven, so as God He had first descended thence. And in the same manner as He goes as man to the Father, so as the Son in obedience to the Father He shall descend thence. So if imperfections in Him prove human frailty, majesties in Him affirm divine power.
\n— On the Trinity XI<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause thou hast prevailed with God, and art powerful with men.\u201d For which reason the same Jacob, perceiving already the force of the Mystery, and apprehending the authority of Him with whom he had wrestled, called the name of that place in which he had wrestled, the Vision of God … \u201cFor I have seen,\u201d said he, \u201cGod face to face, and my soul has been saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
He saw God, with whom he wrestled as with a man; but still indeed he held the man as a conqueror, though as an inferior he asked a blessing as from God. Thus he wrestled with God and with man; and thus truly was that struggle prefigured, and in the Gospel was fulfilled, between Christ and the people of Jacob<\/p>\n
For against this man Jacob\u2019s people struggled, in which struggle Jacob\u2019s people was found to be the more powerful, because against Christ it gained the victory of its iniquity: at which time, on account of the crime that it committed, hesitating and giving way, it began most sorely to halt in the walk of its own faith and salvation; and although it was found the stronger, in respect of the condemnation of Christ, it still needs His mercy, still needs His blessing.
\n— On the Trinity XIX<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Divine Simplicity For when the eyes are spoken of, it is implied that He sees all things; and when the ear, it is set forth that He hears all things; and when the finger, a certain energy of His will is opened up; and when the nostrils, His recognition of prayers is shown forth as of odours; and when the hand, it is proved that He is the author of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[22],"tags":[56,59,60],"class_list":["post-1166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-novatian","tag-divine-simplicity","tag-doctrine-of-the-trinity","tag-dual-natures-of-christ"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":843,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/augustine-the-trinity-and-divine-simplicity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1166,"position":0},"title":"Augustine: The Trinity and Divine Simplicity","author":"Nemo","date":"July 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"For that which is begotten of the simple Good is simple as itself, and the same as itself. These two we call the Father and the Son; and both together with the Holy Spirit are one God; and to this Spirit the epithet Holy is in Scripture, as it were,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Augustine of Hippo"","block_context":{"text":"Augustine of Hippo","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/augustine-of-hippo\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1192,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/novatian-on-the-trinity-iii\/","url_meta":{"origin":1166,"position":1},"title":"Novatian: On the Trinity III","author":"Nemo","date":"May 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Son was Begotten of the Father Thus God the Father, the Founder and Creator of all things, who only knows no beginning, invisible, infinite, immortal, eternal, is one God; to whose greatness, or majesty, or power, I would not say nothing can be preferred, but nothing can be compared;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Novatian"","block_context":{"text":"Novatian","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/novatian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1317,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/lactantius-on-the-spiritual-significance-of-the-works-and-sufferings-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":1166,"position":2},"title":"Lactantius On the Spiritual Significance of the Works and Sufferings of Christ","author":"Nemo","date":"January 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Works of Christ [Those divine works which He performed] had a figurative meaning and great significance, and power, which had weight both for the present, but also for the future. [Christ] opened the eyes of the blind, and gave light to those who did not see; and by this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lactantius"","block_context":{"text":"Lactantius","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/lactantius\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":347,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/theophilus-of-antioch-on-the-trinity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1166,"position":3},"title":"Theophilus of Antioch On the Trinity","author":"Nemo","date":"February 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Image of God For God is seen by those who are enabled to see Him when they have the eyes of their soul opened: for all have eyes; but in some they are overspread, and do not see the light of the sun. Yet it does not follow, because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theophilus of Antioch"","block_context":{"text":"Theophilus of Antioch","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/theophilus-of-antioch\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22111,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/hilary-of-poitiers-on-the-trinity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1166,"position":4},"title":"Hilary of Poitiers: On the Trinity","author":"Nemo","date":"November 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\"I Am that I Am, and again, He that is hath sent me unto you\" I confess that I was amazed to find in them an indication concerning God so exact that it expressed in the terms best adapted to human understanding an unattainable insight into the mystery of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hilary of Poitiers"","block_context":{"text":"Hilary of Poitiers","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/hilary-of-poitiers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":999,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/tertullian-on-the-trinity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1166,"position":5},"title":"Tertullian On the Trinity","author":"Nemo","date":"January 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Word is a Substantive Being For you will say, what is a word, but a voice and sound of the mouth, and air when struck against, intelligible to the ear, but for the rest a sort of void, empty, and incorporeal thing. I, on the contrary, contend that nothing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tertullian"","block_context":{"text":"Tertullian","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/tertullian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peqR9l-iO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}