Reading “The Lord Created Me” as a Proverb

We have gone through this much before coming to the passage in Proverbs, resisting the senseless fables their hearts have invented, so that they may know that the Son of God ought not to be called a creature, and may learn to read rightly a passage that in truth admits of a sound explanation. For it is written, “The Lord created me a beginning of his ways, for his works.” But since these are proverbs, and the saying is put in the manner of proverbs, we must not explain them bare, in their first sense. We must ask about the person who speaks, and so give the words a reverent sense. For what is said in proverbs is not said plainly; it is put forth in a hidden way, as the Lord himself has taught us in the Gospel according to John, saying, “I have spoken these things to you in proverbs; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in proverbs, but openly.” So it is necessary to unfold the sense of what is said and to seek it as something hidden, and not to explain it bare, as though the meaning were spoken ‘plainly,’ so that we do not wander from the truth by a false interpretation. If, then, what is written is about an angel, or about any other of the things that have come into being, as about one of us who are works, let it be said, ‘created me.’ But if it is the Wisdom of God, in whom all things that have come into being were framed, that speaks about itself, what should we understand but that ‘he created’ means nothing contrary to ‘he begot’? Wisdom does not number itself among the creatures as though it had forgotten that it is Creator and Maker, or did not know the difference between the Creator and the creatures. Rather, it signifies a certain sense, as is done in proverbs, not ‘plainly’ but hidden, a way of speaking it inspired the saints to use in prophecy. And soon afterward it itself gives the meaning of ‘he created’ in other but parallel words, saying, “Wisdom made herself a house.” Now it is plain that our body is Wisdom’s house, which it took upon itself in order to become man. So John, in keeping with this, says, “The Word became flesh.” And through Solomon, Wisdom speaks of itself with careful exactness. It does not say ‘I am a creature,’ but only, “The Lord created me a beginning of his ways, for his works”; yet not ‘created me so that I might have being,’ nor ‘because I have a creature’s beginning and origin.’ [a]

For in this passage the Word, speaking through Solomon, does not signify the substance of his Godhead, nor his own everlasting and true birth from the Father, but rather his humanity and his plan of salvation toward us. And, as I said before, he has not said ‘I am a creature,’ or ‘I became a creature,’ but only ‘he created.’ For creatures, having a created substance, are things that have come into being, and they are said to be created; and of course the creature is created. But this bare word ‘he created’ does not necessarily signify the substance or the birth. It points to something else that comes to pass in the one it speaks of, and not simply that he who is said to be created is at once a creature in his nature and substance. And divine Scripture recognizes this difference. Of the creatures it says, “The earth is full of your creation,” and “The creation itself groans together and travails together.” In the Apocalypse it says, “And the third part of the creatures in the sea that had life died.” So too Paul says, “Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving.” And in the book of Wisdom it is written, “Having ordained man through your wisdom, so that he should have dominion over the creatures you have made.” And these, being creatures, are also said to be created, as we may further hear from the Lord, who says, “He who created them made them male and female”; and from Moses in the Song, who writes, “Ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from one end of heaven to the other.” And Paul in Colossians says, “Who is the Image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of every creature; for in him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him, and he is before all.” [d]

These passages are enough to remind us that being called creatures, and being created, belong to things that have a created substance by nature, though Scripture is full of the like. On the other hand, David shows that the single word ‘he created’ does not simply denote the substance and the manner of birth, when he says in the Psalm, “This shall be written for another generation, and the people that is created shall praise the Lord,” and again, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” And Paul says in Ephesians, “Having abolished the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man out of the two”; and again, “Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” For David did not speak of any people created in substance, nor did he pray to have another heart than the one he had; he meant renovation according to God, and renewal. Nor did Paul signify two persons created in substance in the Lord, nor again did he counsel us to put on some other man. Rather, he called the life lived according to virtue ‘the man after God,’ and by those ‘created’ in Christ he meant the two peoples who are renewed in him. Such too is the language of the book of Jeremiah: “The Lord created a new salvation for a planting, in which salvation men shall walk to and fro.” In saying this he does not mean any substance of a creature. He prophesies the renewal of salvation among men, which has taken place in Christ for us. Since there is such a difference, then, between ‘the creatures’ and the single word ‘he created,’ if you find the Lord called a ‘creature’ anywhere in divine Scripture, produce it and fight. But if it is nowhere written that he is a creature, and only he himself says of himself in Proverbs, ‘The Lord created me,’ then shame on you, both because of the distinction just made and because the wording is that of proverbs. So let ‘he created’ be understood, not of his being a creature, but of the human nature that became his; for creation belongs to that. Indeed, is it not plainly unfair of you? When David and Paul say ‘he created,’ you do not take it of the substance and the birth, but of the renewal; yet when the Lord says ‘he created,’ you number his substance with the creatures. And again, when Scripture says, “Wisdom built herself a house; she set it upon seven pillars,” you take ‘house’ allegorically, but you take ‘he created’ just as it stands and fasten on it the idea of a creature. His being the Maker of all has carried no weight with you, nor have you feared his being the Father’s one and only Offspring, his very own. Instead you fight recklessly, as though you had enlisted against him, and you think less of him than of men. [g]

For the very passage proves that calling the Lord a creature is only an invention of your own. The Lord knew that his own substance is the one and only Wisdom and Offspring of the Father, and other than the things that have come into being and the creatures of nature. Yet in his love for humankind he says, “The Lord created me a beginning of his ways,” as if to say, ‘My Father has prepared a body for me, and has created me for men, for their salvation.’ When John says, “The Word became flesh,” we do not think that the whole Word himself is flesh, but that he put on flesh and became man. And when we hear, “Christ has become a curse for us,” and “He made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin,” we do not simply take it that the whole Christ has become curse and sin, but that he took upon himself the curse that lay against us. As the apostle has said, he “has redeemed us from the curse”; as Isaiah has said, he “has carried our sins”; and as Peter has written, he “has borne them in the body on the wood.” In the same way, if it is said in Proverbs, ‘he created,’ we must not think that the whole Word is by nature a creature. We must understand that he put on the created body, and that God created him for our sakes, preparing the created body for him, as it is written, for us, so that in him we might be able to be renewed and deified. What, then, deceived you, you senseless people, into calling the Creator a creature? Or where did you buy this new idea, to parade it about? For Proverbs says ‘he created,’ but it does not call the Son a creature; it calls him Offspring. And by the distinction already described in Scripture between ‘he created’ and ‘creature,’ it acknowledges what belongs to the Son by nature: that he is the one and only Wisdom and the Maker of the creatures. And when it says ‘he created,’ it says it not with respect to his substance, but signifies that he was becoming a beginning of many ways. So ‘he created’ stands over against ‘Offspring,’ and his being called ‘Beginning of ways’ over against his being the one and only Word. [i]

For if he is Offspring, how can you call him a creature? No one says that he begets what he creates, nor calls his own offspring creatures. And again, if he is the only Son, how does he become ‘a beginning of the ways’? For if he was created a beginning of all things, he is of necessity no longer alone, since he has others who came into being after him. Reuben, when he became the beginning of the children, was not an only son. He was first, indeed, in time, but in nature and relationship he was one among those who came after him. So if the Word too is ‘a beginning of the ways,’ he must be such as the ways are, and the ways must be such as the Word, even if in point of time he was created first of them. For the beginning, or first foundation, of a city is like the other parts of the city, and the members, too, once joined to it, make the city whole and one, as the many members make one body. It is not that one part of it makes and another comes to be and is subject to the first; rather, the whole city alike has its government and constitution from its maker. If, then, the Lord is created as a ‘beginning’ of all things in this sense, it would follow that he and all other things together make up the one whole of creation. He would not differ from all the others, even though he became the ‘beginning’ of all, nor would he be their Lord, even though older in time. He would have the same manner of making and the same Lord as the rest. Indeed, if he is a creature, as you hold, how can he be created alone and first at all, so as to be the beginning of all? For it is plain from what has been said that among the creatures none has a nature that stood on its own and was formed before the others; each has its origin together with all the rest, however it may excel others in glory. As for the separate stars, or the great lights, it was not that this one appeared first and that one second; in one day and by the same command they were all called into being. Such too was the original forming of the four-footed animals, and of birds and fishes and cattle and plants. So too the race made after God’s Image, namely men, came to be. For though Adam alone was formed out of earth, yet in him was contained the succession of the whole race. [k]

And from the visible creation we clearly see that his invisible things too, “being perceived by the things that are made,” are not independent of one another. It was not first one and then another; all at once they were established, each after its kind. For the apostle did not count them one by one, so as to say ‘whether angel, or throne, or dominion, or authority’; he names them all together according to their kinds, ‘whether angels, or archangels, or rulers.’ For that is how the creatures come into being. If, then, as I have said, the Word were a creature, he must have been brought into being, not first of them, but together with all the other Powers, however far he excelled the rest in glory. For we find it so in their case: they came to be all at once, with neither first nor second, and they differ from one another in glory, some on the right of the throne, some all around it, and some on the left, but one and all praising and standing in service before the Lord. So if the Word were a creature, he would not be first, or the beginning of the rest. Yet if he is before all, as indeed he is, and is himself alone First and Son, it does not follow that he is the beginning of all things as to his substance; for what is the beginning of all is in the number of all. And if he is not such a beginning, then neither is he a creature. It is very plain that he differs in substance and nature from the creatures and is other than they, and that he is the Likeness and Image of the one and true God, being himself one and only as well. That is why Scripture does not class him with creatures. Rather, David rebukes those who dare even to think of him as such, saying, “Who among the gods is like the Lord?” and “Who is like the Lord among the sons of God?” And Baruch says, “This is our God, and no other shall be reckoned beside him.” For the One creates, and the rest are created; and the One is the Word and Wisdom that belongs to the Father’s own substance, and through this Word the things that came to be, which did not exist before, were made. [m]

So your famous claim that the Son is a creature is not true; it is only your own fancy. Indeed, Solomon, whom you have slandered many times over, convicts you. For he has not called him a creature, but God’s Offspring and Wisdom, saying, “God in Wisdom established the earth,” and “Wisdom built herself a house.” And the very passage in question proves your impious spirit, for it is written, “The Lord created me a beginning of his ways, for his works.” So if he is before all things, and yet says ‘he created me,’ not ‘so that I might make the works,’ but ‘for the works,’ then unless ‘he created’ refers to something later than himself, he will seem to be later than the works. He would find them already in existence before him when he was created, and it would be for their sake that he is brought into being. And if so, how is he before all things after all? And how were all things made through him, and how do they hold together in him? For look: you say that the works stood before him, the works for which he is created and sent. But it is not so; perish the thought! The heretics’ supposition is false. For the Word of God is not a creature but Creator, and he says, in the manner of proverbs, ‘he created me,’ when he put on created flesh. And something more may be understood from the passage itself. Though he is Son and has God for his Father, being his own Offspring, yet here he calls the Father Lord. This is not because he was a servant, but because he took the servant’s form. For it was fitting for him, on the one hand, as the Word from the Father, to call God Father, since this belongs to a son toward his father; and on the other hand, having come to finish the work and having taken a servant’s form, to call the Father Lord. He himself has taught this difference by an apt distinction, saying in the Gospels, “I thank you, Father,” and then, “Lord of heaven and earth.” For he calls God his Father, but of the creatures he names him Lord; and by these words he shows clearly that it was when he put on the creature that he called the Father Lord. In the prayer of David the Holy Spirit marks the same distinction, saying in the Psalms, “Give your strength to your Child, and help the son of your handmaid.” For the natural and true Child of God is one, and the sons of the handmaid, that is, of the nature of things that have come into being, are others. That is why the One, as Son, has the Father’s might, while the rest are in need of salvation. [o]

(If they talk idly because he was called ‘Child,’ let them know that Isaac too was called Abraham’s child, and the son of the Shunammite woman was called a young child.) It is reasonable, then, that when he became like us, who are servants, he too calls the Father Lord, as we do. And he has done this out of love for humankind, so that we too, who are servants by nature, receiving the Spirit of the Son, might have the confidence to call him Father by grace, who by nature is our Lord. But just as we, in calling the Lord Father, do not deny that we are servants by nature (for we are his works, and “it is he who made us, and not we ourselves”), so when the Son, on taking the servant’s form, says, “The Lord created me a beginning of his ways,” let them not deny the eternity of his Godhead, and that “in the beginning was the Word,” and “all things were made through him,” and “in him all things were created.” [r]