ACC ~ John 14 v28b
THE FATHER IS GREATER IN THE SENSE OF CHRISTâS HUMAN NATURE
DIDYMUS THE BLIND: How then is âgreaterâ to be understood? Does it pertain to the size of bodies? Or does it mean âmore advancedâ in age? Or does it mean âadorned with more virtueâ? But all these things can be quantifiedâwhatever can be perceived and measured. But in God there is nothing that can be perceived or measured. Thus, the words greater and less cannot be spoken concerning the Word of God or concerning the Father. For by nature God cannot be measured or quantified. But if you say that the Father is greater since he is unbegotten while the Son is begotten, we reply that these words speak of their natures, not of their properties of existence. And especially in the cases of those incorporeal beings one does not diminish the value of those of the same substance by granting more or less to this one or to that one. For by nature Absolute Being cannot be measured in essence or in knowledge simply by any measure or quantity of size. Then why did [Christ] say these things?
The Savior in one word set forth a double manner of teaching, for the meaning of the word he spoke is twofold. It is just as in the phrases âthe one sending meâ and âI departâ: he alluded to the body embraced by definite locations, inasmuch as it is circumscribed by them, and he did not refer to the uncircumscribed divine nature that embraces all things. By analogy, then, when he says âgreater,â he indicates that his divinity can be equaled to that of the Father, since he is of the same substance with him, but the Father is greater because the Son accepted a body, since the Sonâs nature is understood to be less than that of the Father inasmuch as the Son has become man. And do not marvel that the Savior says that he is less than the Father since he became man, since he also has said that he became lower than the angels, as in this verse: âWe see Jesus made lower than the angels for a little time because of the suffering of his death, but now crowned with glory and honor.â [1] He was also said to be lower than his own disciples, for he said, âI am in your midst as your servantâ and as the least. [2] Therefore, things that are compared share the same substance, but things that are undivided (whether in our knowledge or by their essence) cannot admit of âgreaterâ and âless.â Now if you wish to understand the sentence, âThe Father who sent me is greater than me,â to apply to the divinity of the Son apart from considering that he has taken on flesh, you will have to suppose that he is enclosed in and restricted to certain places and that he was sent where he had not previously been and removed from where he had been. But this makes no sense. FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 17. [3]
[1] Heb 2:9.
[2] See Mt 20:26.
[3] JKGK 184-85.
FORM OF SERVANT, FORM OF GOD
HILARY OF POITIERS: We must confess the Father to be in the Son and the Son in the Father, by unity of nature, by might of power, as equal in honor as begetter and begotten. But, perhaps you say, the witness of our Lord himself is contrary to this declaration, for he says, âThe Father is greater than I.â ⌠Can you be ignorant that the incarnation for your salvation was an emptying of the form of God and that the Father, unaffected by this assumption of human conditions, abode in the blessed eternity of his own incorrupt nature without taking our flesh? We confess that the only-begotten God, while he abode in the form of God, abode in the nature of God, but we do not at once reabsorb into the substance of the divine unity his unity bearing the form of a servant. Nor do we teach that the Father is in the Son, as if he entered into him bodily. ⌠God, born of God, being found as man in the form of a servant but acting as God in his miracles, was at once God as his deeds proved, and yet man, for he was found in the fashion of man. ON THE TRINITY 9.51. [1]
[1] NPNF 2 9:173*; CCL 62A:428-30. See also On the Trinity 1.30; 3.12; 9.54; Ambrose Of the Christian Faith 2.8.59.
HOW THE FATHER IS GREATER AND THE SON NOT LESS
HILARY OF POITIERS: The Father, therefore, is greater, because he is the Father; but the Son, because he is the Son, is not less. By the birth of the Son the Father is constituted greater: the nature that is his by birth does not suffer the Son to be less. The Father is greater, for the Son prays to him to render glory to the manhood he has assumed. The Son is not less, for he receives back his glory with the Father. Thus are consummated at once the mystery of the birth and the dispensation of the incarnation. The Father, as Fatherâand as glorifying him who now is Son of manâis greater. Father and Son are one in that the Son, born of the Father, after assuming an earthly body is taken back to the glory of the Father. ON THE TRINITY 9.56. [1]
[1] NPNF 2 9:175*; CCL 62A:435-36.
HOW THE FATHER IS GREATER
THEODORET OF CYR: Sometimes, therefore, I [Jesus] say that I am equal to the Father, [1] and at other times I say that the Father is greater. I am not contradicting myself, but I am showing that I am God and a human beingâGod through the lofty words, and a human being through the humble ones. But if you want to know how the Father is greater than I, I was talking from the flesh, not from the person of the divinity. DIALOGUE 1.56. [2]
[1] See Jn 10:30.
[2] FC 106:83.
HUMANITY ASSUMED AND EXALTED
AUGUSTINE: Let us, along with the disciples, listen to the Teacherâs words, and not, with strangers, give heed to the wiles of the deceiver. Let us acknowledge the twofold substance of Christ, namely, the divine, in which he is equal with the Father, and the human, in respect to which the Father is greater. And yet at the same time both are not two, for Christ is one. And God is not a quaternity but a Trinity. For as the rational soul and the body form but one man, so Christ, while both God and man, is one. Thus Christ is God, a rational soul and a body. In all of these we confess him to be Christ. We confess him in each. Who, then, is he who made the world? Christ Jesus, but in the form of God. Who is it that was crucified under Pontius Pilate? Christ Jesus, but in the form of a servant. And this is true of the several aspects of which he consists as man. Who is he who was not left in hell? Christ Jesus, but only in respect of his soul. Who was to rise on the third day, after being laid in the tomb? Christ Jesus, but solely in reference to his flesh. In reference, then, to each of these, he is likewise called Christ. And yet, all of them are not two or three but one Christ. On this account, therefore, he said, âIf you loved me, you would surely rejoice, because I go to the Father.â For human nature is worthy of congratulation in being so assumed by the only-begotten Word as to be constituted immortal in heaven and, earthly in its nature, to be so sublimated and exalted that, as incorruptible dust, it might take its seat at the right hand of the Father. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 78.3. [1]
âGREATER THANâ IMPLIES BEING OF ONE SUBSTANCE WITH THE FATHER
BASIL THE GREAT: âGreaterâ is used when talking about size, time, dignity, power, or the cause of something. The Father cannot be called greater than the Son in size because he is incorporeal. He cannot be called greater than the Son in time because the Son is the creator of time. You canât say that he is greater in dignity either, because he was not made into something that he had not previously been, nor can you say he is greater in power since, âwhatever the Father does, the Son does as well.â And finally, no one can say the Father is greater because he is the cause of the Sonâs existence, because he is also the cause of our existence, and this would place the Son on a similar footing with us. Instead, see the words as expressing the honor that is given by the Son to the Father instead of devaluing the Son who speaks these words. You should also realize that what is greater is not necessarily of a different essence. One human being is called greater than another human being, just like one horse is called greater than another horse. If the Father is called greater, it does not immediately follow that he is of another substance. In a word, the comparison lies between beings of one substance, not between those of different substances. A human being is not properly said to be greater than a brute or an inanimate thing. Human beings are compared to human beings, just as brutes are compared with other brutes. The Father is therefore of one substance with the Son, even though he is called greater. AGAINST EUNOMIUS 4. [2]
âLESS THANâ IMPLIES ORIGIN
AUGUSTINE: Whenever ⌠it seems that the Son is shown to be less than the Father, interpret it as spoken ⌠not to show one is greater or less than the other but ⌠that one has his origin from the other. ANSWER TO MAXIMUS 2.14.8. [3]
[1] CCL 36:524-25; NPNF 1 7:341-42*. See also Augustine on this passage in On Eighty-three Varied Questions 83.69.1.
[2] NPNF 2 8:xxxviii*; PG 29:693-96.
[3] PL 42:775.
THE FATHER IS GREATER IN TERMS OF CAUSATION
JOHN OF DAMASCUS: If we say that the Father is the origin of the Son and greater than the Son, we do not suggest any precedence in time or superiority in nature of the Father over the Son (for through his agency he made the ages) or superiority in any other respect except causation. And we mean by this that the Son is begotten of the Father and not the Father of the Son, and the Father naturally is the cause of the Son. So then, whenever we hear it said that the Father is the origin of the Son and greater than the Son, let us understand it to mean in respect of causation. [1] ORTHODOX FAITH 1.8. [2]
[1] But see Basil above.
[2] NPNF 2 9:8-9. Irenaeus also speaks of the Father being greater because he has greater knowledge than the Son since he alone knows the time of judgment. See Against Heresies 2.28.2.
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