What “God” and “Father” Mean

The Eastern churches almost all deliver this article in the form, “I believe in one God the Father Almighty.” And in the next article, where we say, “And in Christ Jesus, his only Son, our Lord,” they deliver it as, “And in one Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son.” That is, they confess “one God” and “one Lord,” following the authority of the apostle Paul. But we will come back to this later. For now, let us turn our attention to the words, “In God the Father Almighty.” [a]

“God,” as far as the human mind can form an idea of it, is the name of that nature or substance which is above all things. “Father” is a word that expresses a hidden mystery beyond words. When you hear the word “God,” you must understand by it a substance without beginning and without end, simple and not made of parts, invisible, without a body, beyond words, beyond all measuring, having nothing in it that has been either added or created. For he who is absolutely the cause of all things has no cause himself. When you hear the word “Father,” you must understand by it the Father of a Son, and that Son is the image of the substance we have just described. For just as no one is called “lord” unless he has a property or a servant whose lord he is, and no one is called “master” unless he has a disciple, so no one can possibly be called “father” unless he has a son. The very name “Father,” then, shows plainly that together with the Father a Son also exists.

But I would not have you discuss how God the Father begot the Son, or pry too curiously into this deep mystery, in case, by peering too eagerly into the brightness of the light no one can approach, you lose the faint glimpse which God has given as a gift to mortals. Or, if you think this is a subject to be examined with every possible scrutiny, first set yourself questions that concern ourselves. Then, if you can deal with them satisfactorily, hurry on from earthly things to heavenly ones, from the visible to the invisible. Work out first, if you can, how the mind that is within you gives birth to a word, and what the spirit of memory within it is; and how these, though different in reality and in working, are yet one in substance or nature, and though they proceed from the mind, are never separated from it. And if these, though they are in us and in the substance of our own soul, seem hidden from us to the degree that they are invisible to our bodily eyes, let us take for our inquiry things more open to view. How does a spring give birth to a river from itself? By what spirit is it carried along into a swiftly flowing stream? How is it that while the river and the spring are one and inseparable, yet the river cannot be understood to be the spring or be called the spring, nor the spring the river, and yet whoever has seen the river has seen the spring as well? Practice first on explaining these. Explain, if you can, the things you have under your hands, and then you may come to higher matters. Do not think, however, that I would have you climb all at once from the earth to beyond the heavens. With your permission, I would first draw your attention to this sky which our eyes see, and ask you to explain, if you can, the nature of the great light we see in it: how that heavenly fire gives birth from itself to the brightness of light, how it also produces heat, and how, though these are three in reality, they are yet one in substance. And even if you are able to investigate each of these, you must still admit that the mystery of the divine begetting is different and higher by as much as the Creator is more powerful than his creatures, the craftsman more excellent than his work, and he who always is nobler than what had its beginning out of nothing. [b]

That God, then, is the Father of his only Son our Lord is to be believed, not argued over; for it is not right for a servant to dispute about his lord’s birth. The Father has borne witness from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: listen to him.” The Father says that he is his Son and tells us to listen to him. The Son says, “Whoever sees me sees the Father also,” and “I and the Father are one,” and “I came out from God and have come into the world.” Who is the man who can push himself in as a debater between these words of Father and Son? Who can divide the Godhead, separate its will, break apart its substance, cut its spirit into pieces, and deny that what the Truth says is true? God, then, is a true Father, as the Father of the Truth. He does not beget from outside himself; he begets the Son from what he himself is. That is, as the All-wise he begets Wisdom, as the Just he begets Justice, as the Everlasting the Everlasting, as the Immortal Immortality, as the Invisible the Invisible. Because he is Light, he begets Brightness; because he is Mind, he begets the Word. [c]