ACC ~ John 6 v57
CHRIST IS THE LIVING IMAGE OF THE LIVING
HILARY OF POITIERS: Can lifeless copies be put on a level with their living originals? Can painted or carved or molten effigies be put on a level with the nature that they imitate? The Son is not the image of the Father after such a fashion as this; he is the living image of the Living. The Son who is born of the Father has a nature in no way different from his. And, because his nature is not different, he possesses the power of the nature that is the same as his own. The fact that he is the image proves that God the Father is the author of the birth of the Only Begotten, who is himself revealed as the likeness and image of the invisible God. And hence the likeness, which is joined in union with the divine nature, is indelibly his own because the powers of that nature are inalienably his own. ON THE TRINITY 7.37. [1]
[1] NPNF 2 9:134*.
THE SHARED BEING OF THE FATHER AND THE SON
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: All things that the Father has are the Sonâs. [1] On the other hand, all that belongs to the Son is the Fatherâs. Nothing then is unique to either one, because all things are in common. For their being [essence] itself is common and equal, even though the Son receives it from the Father. It is in this respect⌠that it is said, âI live by the Father,â not as though his life and being were kept together by the Father but because he has his being from him beyond all time and beyond all cause. ON THE SON, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 4(30).11. [2]
[1] Jn 16:15.
[2] NPNF 2 7:313. Basil solves the dilemma differently in Against Eunomius 4 (NPNF 2 8:xxxviii; PG 29:693-96) by inferring that the words must be referring to the incarnation, and not to the Godhead.
TO EAT CHRIST?
AUGUSTINE: The Lord and master was inviting his slaves, and the food he had prepared for them was himself. Who would ever dare to eat his own Lord and master? And yet he said, âWhoever eats me lives because of me.â When Christ is eaten, life is eaten. Nor is he killed in order to be eaten, but he brings life to the dead. When he is eaten, he nourishes without diminishing. So do not be afraid, brothers and sisters, of eating this bread, in case we should possibly finish it and find nothing to eat later on. Let Christ be eaten; when eaten he lives because when slain he rose again. SERMON 132A.1. [1]
[1] WSA 3 4:329*.
CHRIST HAS THE FATHER WITHIN HIMSELF
HILARY OF POITIERS: So then he lives through the Father, and just as he lives through the Father we live through his flesh. For all comparison is chosen to shape our understanding so that we may grasp the subject we are treating with the help of the analogy set before us. Christ dwelling within our carnal selves through the flesh is the reason we have life, and we shall live through him in the same way as he lives through the Father. If, then, we live naturally through him according to the flesh, that is, if we have partaken of the nature of his flesh, must not Christ naturally have the Father within himself according to the Spirit since he himself lives through the Father? And he lives through the Father because his birth has not implanted in him an alien and different nature. This is because his very being is from the Father yet is not divided from the Father by any barrier of an unlikeness of nature because within himself he has the Father through the birth in the power of the nature. ON THE TRINITY 8.16. [1]
[1] NPNF 2 9:142**. See also Ambrose On the Christian Faith 4.10.135.
NOT ONLY LIFE, BUT ETERNAL LIFE
CHRYSOSTOM: The âlifeâ of which he speaks here is not merely life but the excellent [1] life. For it is clear from this that he spoke not simply of life but of that glorious and ineffable life. For everyone lives, even unbelievers and the uninitiated who do not eat of that fleshâŚ. And he is not speaking of the general resurrection either (for all alike rise again), but he is speaking of that special, glorious resurrection that has a reward. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 47.1. [2]
[1] Gk eudokimon.
[2] NPNF 1 14:168**.
Jn