ACC ~ John 1 v1b

THE INFINITE BEGINNING WHEN COUPLED WITH WAS

CHRYSOSTOM: As when our ship is near shore and cities and ports pass in view before us that on the open sea vanish and leave nothing to fix the eye on, so the Evangelist here takes us with him in his flight above the created world leaving the eye to gaze upon emptiness and an unlimited expanse….

For the intellect, having ascended to “the beginning,” enquires, “What beginning?” Finding then that the “was” in the text exceeds its imagination, [the intellect] has no point on which to focus its thought. Looking intently onward but being unable to fix its gaze, it becomes wearied and turns back to things below. Indeed, this expression, “was in the beginning,” is expressive of eternal and infinite being. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.9. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:7-8**. See also Chrysostom’s Homily 3.2, where he goes into further detail on the meaning of “was” as an expression of the eternal creative word.

JOHN TAKES US BEYOND “BEGINNING”

HILARY OF POITIERS: Consider and decide whether it were the greater feat to raise the dead or impart to an untrained mind the knowledge of mysteries so deep as he reveals by saying, “In the beginning was the Word.” What does this “in the beginning was” mean? He ranges backward over the spaces of time, centuries are left behind, and ages are cancelled. Fix in your mind what date you will for this “beginning”; you miss the mark, for even then he of whom we are speaking “was.” Survey the universe; note well what is written of it: “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.” [1] This word beginning fixes the moment of creation; you can assign its date to an event that is definitely stated to have happened “in the beginning.” But this fisherman of mine, unlettered and unread, is untrammeled by time, undaunted by its immensity; he pierces beyond the beginning. For his “was” has no limit of time and no commencement; the uncreated Word “was in the beginning.” ON THE TRINITY 2.13. [2]

“WAS” AND “MADE” MUST BE DISTINGUISHED

CHRYSOSTOM: [Heretics] say that the words “in the beginning was the Word” do not denote eternity absolutely, for this same expression was also used concerning heaven and earth….

However, let us see the proofs that they give to us. “In the beginning,” it is said, “God made the heavens and the earth, and the earth was invisible and unformed.” [3] And, “There ‘was’ a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim.” [4] These are what they think are strong arguments, and they are strong—in proving the correctness of the doctrines asserted by us. Meanwhile, they are utterly powerless to establish their blasphemy. For tell me, what has the word was in common with the word made? What does God have in common with human beings? Why do you mix what may not be mixed? Why confound things that are distinct, why bring low what is above? In this text it is not only the expression “was” that denotes eternity, but also the expressions “was in the beginning” and “the Word was.” For even as the word being distinguishes present time when used in regard to human beings but denotes eternity when used in regard to God, so “was” signifies to us past time—limited at that—when used in regard to our nature but declares eternity when used in regard to God. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 3.2. [5]

[1] Gen 1:1.

[2] NPNF 2 9:56*. See also Cyril of Alexandria, loc. cit.

[3] Gen 1:2.

[4] HE WORD IN THE BEGINNING | JOHN 1:1

[5] NPNF 1 14:11**.

THE WORD OF GOD ALWAYS WAS

AMBROSE: “In the beginning,” we are told, “God created heaven and earth.” [1] And the world was therefore created and that which was not began to exist. And the word of God was in the beginning and always was. SIX DAYS OF CREATION 1.5.19. [2]

[1] Gen 1:1.

[2] FC 42:17*.

CHRIST WAS AND IS, JUST AS THE FATHER ALWAYS IS

HILARY OF POITIERS: He “was,” and he “is,” since he is from him who always is what he is…. Now since it is the special characteristic of his being that his Father always exists and that he is always his Son, and since eternity is expressed in the name “he that is,” therefore, since he possesses absolute being, he possesses also eternal being…. There can be no doubt that no one who already was in existence could be born. For no cause of birth can accrue to him who of himself continues eternal. But God Only Begotten… bears witness to the Father as the source of his being. ON THE TRINITY 12.25. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 9:224*.

THE WORD DOES NOT COME TO BE

ORIGEN: The same verb, “was,” is predicated of the Word when he “was in the beginning” and when he “was with God.” He is neither separated from the beginning, nor does he depart from the Father. And again, he does not “come to be” “in the beginning” from not being “in the beginning,” nor does he pass from not being “with God” to coming to be “with God,” for before all time and eternity “the Word was in the beginning,” and “the Word was with God.”… Perhaps John, seeing some such order in the argument, did not place “the Word was God” before “the Word was with God,” so that we might not be hindered in seeing the individual meaning of each proposition in the affirmation of the series. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.9, 11. [1]

[1] FC 80:97; SC 120:212-14.