All Things That the Father Has Are Mine

No one of sound mind could suppose that the light from the sun, which lights up the world, does so without the sun, since the sun’s light is united to the sun by nature. Suppose the light were to say, “I have received from the sun the power to light up all things, and to give them growth and strength by the heat that is in me.” No one would be mad enough to think that the mention of the sun is meant to separate the sun from what belongs to its nature, namely the light. In the same way, piety would have us see that the divine substance of the Word is united by nature to his own Father. For the text before us will put our question in the clearest possible light, since the Savior said, “All things that the Father has are mine.” This shows that he is always with the Father. For “all things that the Father has” shows that the Father holds the lordship, while “are mine” shows the inseparable union. [a]

We must see, then, that everlastingness, eternity, and immortality dwell in the Father. They dwell in him not as qualities added from outside, but, so to speak, as in a spring; and they dwell in the Son as well. So when you want to understand what concerns the Son, learn what is in the Father, for that is what you must believe is in the Son. If, then, the Father is something created or made, these qualities belong to the Son also. And if it is allowed to say of the Father, “There was once a time when he was not,” or “made from nothing,” let these words be applied to the Son as well. But if it is impious to ascribe these things to the Father, admit that it is impious to ascribe them to the Son too. For what belongs to the Father belongs to the Son. For whoever honors the Son honors the Father who sent him; whoever receives the Son receives the Father with him; because whoever has seen the Son has seen the Father.

As, then, the Father is not a creature, neither is the Son. And as one cannot say of the Father, “There was a time when he was not,” or “made from nothing,” so it is not right to say the like of the Son either. Rather, since the Father’s attributes are everlastingness, immortality, eternity, and being no creature, it follows that we must think of the Son in the same way. For as it is written, “As the Father has life in himself, so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself.” He uses the word “gave” to point to the Father who gives. Again, as life is in the Father, so it is also in the Son, to show that he is inseparable and everlasting. This is why he speaks so exactly, “all things that the Father has”: so that, by naming the Father in this way, he may avoid being taken for the Father himself. For he does not say, “I am the Father,” but “all things that the Father has.”