"The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works" (Prov. 8, 22)

by P. Joan Rovira, S.J.,

Professor of Sacred Scripture (Old Testament) at the College of St. Ignatius in Sarrià - Barcelona.

 

Regarding the sense and interpretation of this famous text in the Nicene Council, there was a controversy between the Holy Fathers and the Arians. Therefore, I consider it worthwhile to briefly discuss the value and meaning of this text among the Holy Fathers.

 

The Arians, as is known, denied the eternity and divinity of the Word. Arius used to publicly proclaim about the Son of God: "There was a time when he was not; he was made out of nothing, not born from the substance of the Father; he is from time, not from eternity; he is not true God from true God, but was created out of nothing, lesser than the Father, changeable in will and nature" (Hist. Conc. Nic. Mansi, vol. 2, 635).

 

Similarly, the Arians said these things, although some of them tried to cover and disguise their errors somewhat, as St. Athanasius says: "They indeed wrote: 'He was created, but not as one of the creatures; he was made, but not as one of the made things; he was begotten, but not as one of the begotten things.'" (St. Athanasius, Oration 2 against the Arians, no. 19, PG, 26, 185).

 

To prove their errors, the Arians chiefly alleged the aforementioned text from Proverbs, Prov. 8, 22, as an invincible argument. For it was commonly admitted that in those words of Proverbs, Wisdom or the Word of God is introduced as speaking. But it expressly says it was created: "The Lord created me." Therefore, it is expressly asserted in the sacred Scriptures that the Word is created, even if it is not as one of the created things.

 

The Holy Fathers, speaking in various ways, proposed a very simple solution to this simplest argument. They said these words were indeed spoken by the Wisdom of God, but by the incarnate divine Wisdom, that is, by Christ the Lord, whose humanity was created, and who could therefore truly say: "The Lord created me."

 

Indeed, if we must stand by the words of Gelasius of Cyzicus, the Fathers at the very Nicene Council understood these words of Proverbs to refer to rational or human wisdom. For he attributes this response to the Nicene Fathers: "... For what the Lord found by His prudence before the foundation of the world, this the Lord finally created after the world and its natures. Therefore, Solomon speaks as if from the person of human wisdom, which existed in the divine intention before the world. 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works,' introducing human and rational wisdom prepared for man made in the image of God. Thus, 'The Lord created.' For He expounded this about the one who was in the divine intention before the world." (Gelasius of Cyzicus, Commentary on the Acts of the Council of Nicaea, book 2, chapter 18. - Mansi, Concil., vol. 2, 344...).

 

But now it is not about that Nicene controversy, but about the sense and interpretation of the aforementioned text among the Holy Fathers. What the Holy Fathers thought, said, or how they understood and expounded those words of Proverbs, must certainly be drawn from their writings.

 

II

 

Therefore, let us begin with the strongest opponent and conqueror of the Arians, St. Athanasius, who considered that sentence of Proverbs in various places.

 

Thus, in the Exposition of the Faith: "Therefore, the body which He assumed for our sake is a created thing, about which Jeremiah says according to the Septuagint version: 'The Lord created for us a new salvation in planting,' in which men shall walk, Jer. 31, 22. But according to Aquila: 'The Lord created a new thing in the woman.' A new and not old salvation was created for us and not before us, Jesus is, who as Savior became man, whose name, Jesus, sometimes means salvation, sometimes Savior. Thus, a new salvation born from the Savior, as Jeremiah speaks, created a new salvation for us, or as Aquila translates: 'The Lord created a new thing in the woman,' that is, in Mary. For nothing new was created in the woman, except the Lord's body, which the Virgin Mary bore without intercourse, as it is read in the person of Jesus in Proverbs: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works.' Prov. 8, 22. He does not say, 'He created me before His works,' lest anyone should refer it to the divinity of the Son." (St. Athanasius, Exposition of the Faith, no. 3, PG, 25, 205).

 

A little differently, the same holy Father, in his Epistle on the Decrees of Nicaea, says that the word 'created' should be taken in a broad sense, that is, as 'appointed.' For he says: "Those who explain these words contrary to the mind of divine and prophetic Scripture: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways.' For, as you know, the word 'created' does not have a single meaning. Here, 'created' means 'appointed over the works made by Him through the Son.' But this word 'created' should not be understood as 'made,' for making and creating are different. Hence, Moses in the great song of Deuteronomy says: 'Is He not your Father who possessed you, made you, and created you?' Deut. 32, 6. Thus, one may rightly accuse them: 'O rash and reckless men! Therefore, the firstborn of all creation, Coloss. 1, 15, who was born from the womb before the morning star, Ps. 109, 3, who, as Wisdom says, 'Before all hills, He begets me,' Prov. 8, 25.

 

Finally, the divine Scriptures in many places say He was begotten, but nowhere that He was made: from which it is clearly proven that what they say about the Lord's generation is false." (St. Athanasius, Epistle on the Decrees of the Nicene Synod, no. 26, PG, 25, 464).

 

Especially in the second oration against the Arians, he expounds those words of Proverbs in many ways. For he says: "Thus, not understanding what is written in Proverbs: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works,' Prov. 8, 22, nor that of the Apostle: 'Who is faithful to Him who made Him,' they argue rashly and say that the Son of God is a made and created thing... If they knew Christianity, they would not conclude themselves in the infidelity of the Jews of our time, but by investigating, they would learn that 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,' John 1, 1. But when the Word, by the will of the Father, became man, then it was rightly said of Him by John: 'The Word became flesh,' John 1, 14; and by Peter: 'God has made Him both Lord and Christ,' Acts 2, 36; and by Solomon as from the Lord's own person: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works,' Prov. 8, 22; and by Paul: 'Being made so much better than the angels,' Heb. 1, 4; and elsewhere: 'He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant,' Phil. 2, 7; and again: 'Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus, who was faithful to Him who made Him,' Heb. 3, 1-2. For these and similar sayings have the same force and meaning, which is in accordance with piety and shows the divinity of the Word, as well as those that are attributed to Him in human terms, spoken as He also became the Son of Man." (St. Athanasius, Oration II against the Arians, no. 1, PG, 26, 148).

 

Later, he undertakes to examine the very text of Proverbs more carefully, presenting and refuting the objections of the Arians, where he says: "Now, if it pleases, let us consider that passage of Proverbs: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works,' although having shown that the Word is not a made thing, it is also proven that it is not a created thing. For if you say it is a made thing or a created thing, it is the same; therefore, the arguments that prove it is not made also show it is not created. Hence, it is very surprising that they invent various things to confirm their impiety and do not want to yield to the arguments presented. For at first, they tried to deceive the simpler ones by asking: 'Who made Him who was not, or who had a Son before He begot Him?' which has been shown to be futile, they invented another question: 'Is He of free will and changeable nature?' which was equally refuted, and they misinterpreted the Apostle's words: 'Being made so much better than the angels,' Heb. 1, 4. But when the truth dissolved that deception too, they now collect all these together and hope to confirm their heresy with the words 'made' and 'created'... Therefore, even though it is clear from what has been said that this effort of theirs is vain, because they carry and spread that passage of Proverbs everywhere and seem to say something to many who are ignorant of the Christian faith, it is necessary to examine that word 'created' separately, as we have discussed the words: 'Who is faithful to Him who made Him,' Heb. 3, 2, to show that, in this place as in all others, nothing but mere fabrications of their mind are proven.

 

Therefore, let us first see what they initially handed down to blessed Alexander when their heresy was formed. They indeed wrote: 'He was created, but not as one of the created things; He was made, but not as one of the made things; He was begotten, but not as one of the begotten things.'

 

But he refutes this pretense, saying: 'Indeed, with such words they more openly disclose their impiety. For if He is truly created according to you, why do you add in pretense, 'but not as one of the created things?' If He is truly made, what does it mean, 'but not as one of the made things?' In this indeed, the poison of heresy can be perceived. For when they say He is begotten, but not as one of the begotten things, they introduce many sons, of whom they consider the Lord to be one, so that according to them He is no longer the Only Begotten, but one among many brothers and is called both begotten and Son.'

 

Then he also responds that not all created things are of equal perfection, nor is one like the other: 'Certainly, the whole nature of visible things was made in six days, so that on the first day light was made, which He called day; on the second, the firmament; on the third, the dry land appeared after the waters were gathered, and various fruits were produced in it; on the fourth, the sun and moon... But neither is the light like the night, nor the sun like the moon, nor the irrational animals like man endowed with reason, nor the angels like the thrones, nor the thrones like the powers; but all these things were indeed created, yet each remains and continues in its own nature as they were made.

 

Therefore, let the Word be excluded from created things, and as Creator, let Him be rendered to the Father, and it be conceded that He is the Son by nature. Or if He is truly a created thing, let them acknowledge that He has the same order as other created things. Let each be called created, not, however, as one of the created things; let each be called begotten and made, not, however, as one of the made or begotten things... For although the Son excels far beyond other things, He is nevertheless a created thing like them; since among created things, some are more excellent than others. 'For one star differs from another star in glory,' 1 Cor. 15, 41.

 

Then he proves that the Word is not created but the Creator: 'For, as the Word itself says: 'I was with Him composing,' Prov. 8, 30. And: 'My Father works even until now, and I work,' John 5, 17. Which phrase, 'even until now,' signifies that He as the Word always exists in the Father. For it is proper to the Word to accomplish the works of the Father and not to exist outside Him. For if the same things that the Father does, the Son also does, and what the Son creates are the works of the Father; certainly, if the Son is the Father's creation, then either He makes Himself, and therefore creates Himself (since what the Father does are also the works of the Son), which is absurd and impossible; or if the Son creates and makes the Father's works, then He is neither a work nor a creation, lest, being Himself the efficient cause, He be found making among things that are made what He Himself was made: when indeed He cannot even do so. For how could it be that He who is made out of nothing should make things that are not to be, if He, as you think, is made out of nothing? But if, though created, He can produce creation: certainly, the same must be understood of each creation, that they can create. If you grant this, what need was there for the Word, since the lower could be made by the higher: or at least since each thing made could have initially heard from God, 'Let it be,' and, being made, would have thus been produced.' (St. Athanasius, Oration II against the Arians, nos. 18-21, PG, 26, 184...).

 

Thus, he continues solving the objections of the Arians and refuting their errors. After all this, having cleared the way for the explanation of the text of Proverbs, he begins to declare it, first warning that it should be understood proverbially or in the manner of Proverbs: 'These things we have premised for the sake of explaining the place of Proverbs and refuting their absurd fabrications; so that, understanding that the Son of God ought not to be called created, they may learn to read that place of Proverbs rightly, whose meaning is certainly sound. Thus, it is written: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works,' Prov. 8, 22; but because those are Proverbs, and it is spoken proverbially; these words should not be explained as they lie plainly, but attention should be paid to the person, and they should be understood in a manner consistent with piety. For things spoken proverbially are not stated clearly and openly, but obscurely, as the Lord Himself teaches in the Gospel according to John: 'These things have I spoken unto you in Proverbs: but the time comes when I shall no more speak unto you in Proverbs, but I shall show you plainly,' John 16, 25... Therefore, if it is written about an angel or some other made thing, as we are, the word 'created' may indeed be properly used. But if the Wisdom of God, in whom all things were made, here speaks about itself: what ought we to think other than that it used the word 'created' without contradicting the term 'begotten,' nor forgetting that it is both the Creator and the Maker, nor being ignorant of the difference between creating and created things, counted itself among created things, but signified some sense not plain but obscure, in the manner of Proverbs, according to which it incited the saints to prophecy, and soon after used the same word 'created' with these other words: 'Wisdom has built her house,' Prov. 9, 1. It is certain, however, that the house of Wisdom is our body, which, being assumed, He became man, from which John rightly says: 'The Word was made flesh,' John 1, 14; and Wisdom itself reasonably says of itself through Solomon, not, 'I am created,' but only: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works,' but did not say, 'He created me to be,' nor that it has a similar beginning and origin to created things.

 

For the Word, in this place, did not signify the nature of its divinity or its eternal and true generation from the Father, by the words of Solomon: but only the humanity and the dispensation assumed for our sake. Hence, as I have warned, it did not say: 'I am a created thing,' or, 'I am a made thing,' but only: 'created.' For created things, because they have a created nature, are among the things made and are said to be created, and altogether the creature is created. But the word 'created' alone does not necessarily signify nature or origin, but implies something else about the thing spoken of: nor therefore is that which is said to be created also created in nature and substance. This distinction is not unknown to the divine Scripture...

 

Therefore, those things that by nature have a created substance are called creatures, and are truly created, as is clear from these... But the word 'created' alone does not always signify nature or origin, as is evident from David, who says in the Psalms: 'Let these be written for another generation, and the people who will be created shall praise the Lord,' Ps. 101, 19; and again: 'Create in me a clean heart, O God,' Ps. 50, 12... For David was not speaking of a people to be created according to substance, nor was he praying to receive another heart than the one he already had: but he was signifying the renewal and restoration according to God...

 

For it is proved from this very place that your assertion that the Lord was created is a mere fabrication. For the Lord, knowing His nature to be the only-begotten Wisdom, the offspring of the Father, and different from made and created things, now speaks humanely, saying: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways,' as if to say: 'The Father perfected a body for me,' Heb. 10, 5: and created me for men, for the salvation of men. As indeed, when we hear from John: 'The Word became flesh,' John 1, 14, we do not understand that the whole Word was flesh, but only that it assumed flesh and became man: similarly, when we hear: 'Christ became a curse for us,' Gal. 3, 13; and: 'He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,' 2 Cor. 5, 21; we do not understand that the whole Himself became a curse and sin, but only that He assumed our curse, as the Apostle teaches with these words: 'He redeemed us from the curse,' Gal. 3, 13, and bore our sins, as Isaiah says, Is. 53, 4, and carried them in His body on the tree, as Peter writes. Therefore, similarly, if we hear the word 'created' in Proverbs, we must understand that the whole Word is not a creature, but only that it assumed a created body, and that God created it for us, and perfected a created body for Him for our sake, as it is written, so that we might be renewed and made in Him...

 

Proverbs indeed have the word 'created': but they say that the Son is not created but begotten, and according to the difference of the words 'created' and 'creature,' which we have explained earlier from the Scriptures, they acknowledge Him to be the only-begotten Wisdom and the maker of created things, which is proper to the nature of the Son. But when they use the word 'created,' they do not speak of His nature, but signify that He is made the beginning of many ways, so that the word 'created' is opposed to the word 'begotten': and that which is called the beginning of ways is opposed to the Word in that it is the only-begotten.

 

For if He is begotten, why do you say He is created? For no one says that what he creates he begets, nor calls his own offspring creatures. Again, if He is the only-begotten, how is He made the beginning of ways? For if He is truly the beginning of all things created, it is necessary that He no longer be the only one, since He has others after Himself. For indeed, Reuben, who was the beginning of the sons, was not the only-begotten, but though he was first in age, he was one of those who were born after him by nature and kinship. Therefore, if the Word is the beginning of ways, it is indeed such as the ways are: 'and vice versa, the ways are such as the Word itself is, although it is first among them in time.' (St. Athanasius, Oration II against the Arians, nos. 44-48, PG, 26, 240...).

 

Again, he proves in this text that Wisdom speaks incarnate with another argument: 'For the Word of God is not a created thing, but the Creator Himself: but then proverbially says: 'The Lord created me,' when He assumed created flesh, as can be understood even from this place itself. For although He is the Son and has God as His Father, since He is His own offspring: yet He called the Father Lord in this place, not because He was a servant, but because He took the form of a servant. For just as, as the Word, He rightly calls God Father: for that is proper for a son towards a father: so, when He came to accomplish a work, and took the form of a servant, it was fitting for Him to call the Father Lord. This distinction He taught His disciples very clearly with these words of the Gospel: 'I thank you, Father'; then: 'Lord of heaven and earth,' Matt. 11, 25. For He both testifies that God is His Father, and calls Him the Lord of created things: so that from this place it is clear that when He assumed created nature, then He called the Father Lord...

 

Then He proves the same from those words: 'for His works': 'For created things are made primarily and chiefly for this reason that they may be and exist, and secondly that they may act according to what the Word commands, as can be seen in all things. For Adam was created, not to act, but first to be man; for afterwards, he received the command to act. Noah likewise... For the great Moses was first made a man, then entrusted with the rule of the people. Therefore, it can be understood similarly here. For you see that the Son is not created to be: but in the beginning, the Word was, John 1, 1, but later He is sent for the administration of the works. For before the works were made, the Son always was, but it was not necessary for Him to be created. But when the works were created, and administration was needed to restore them: then He offered Himself, and He humbled Himself to become like the works: which certainly He wanted to signify to us by the word 'created.' Something similar is taught by Isaiah the prophet with these words: 'And now thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob and Israel back to Him, I will be gathered and glorified before the Lord,' Is. 49, 5. See, here too, He is not formed to be, but to gather the tribes, which existed before He was formed. For as it is written there, 'created,' so here it is said, 'formed'; and as it is added there, 'for His works,' so here it follows, 'to gather.' Therefore, it is very clear from all sides that these words 'created' and 'formed' are said of Him only after the Word has existed. For as before the Son was formed, the tribes existed, for whose sake He was formed: so also the works, for which He was created, evidently existed before. Furthermore, when in the beginning the Word was, not yet, as I said, were the works; but when the works were made, and necessity demanded, then it was said, 'created'...

 

He then explains these same things further in this way: 'For it was fitting for Him, who was different from the works, indeed who was their Creator, also to take upon Himself their renewal: so that He, being created for our sake, might renew and recreate all things in Himself. Hence, where He said, 'created,' He immediately added the cause, namely, 'for His works,' to signify that He was made man for the restoration of these works. For it is the custom of divine Scripture, which whenever it speaks of the Word's origin according to the flesh, it adds the cause for which He became man. But when He or His servants speak of His divinity; all things are stated with simple diction and absolute sentence, with no implied cause. For the Father is the splendor; just as the Father is not for any cause, so neither is there any cause to be sought for His splendor. Thus it is written: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,' John 1, 1: of which no cause is given. But when the Word became flesh, John 1, 14, then the cause for which it was done is indicated with these words: 'And dwelt among us.' Similarly, the Apostle when he says: 'Who, being in the form of God,' Phil. 2, 6, did not give a cause until after these words: 'took the form of a servant'; then he added: 'He humbled Himself even unto death, even the death of the cross,' Phil. 2, 7-8. This is the cause why the Word became flesh and took the form of a servant.' (no. 53, PG, 26, 260).

 

He also explains these new reasons: 'Therefore, the Savior came to bear witness and to suffer death for us, and to call men back to life, and to destroy the works of the devil. This is the reason why He assumed flesh and came to us. For there could have been no resurrection without preceding death. But how could there have been death without a mortal body? Paul had learned this from Him, whose words are these: 'Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery,' Heb. 2, 14-15... John also writes: 'For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him,' John 3, 17. Again, the Savior spoke thus about Himself: 'For judgment, I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind,' John 9, 39. Therefore, He did not come for His own sake, but for our salvation, to destroy death, to condemn sin, that the blind may see, and that all might be raised from the dead. If He did not come for His own sake but for ours, then He was not created for His own sake but for us; therefore, He Himself is not created, but says these things assuming our flesh. This sense can be learned from the Apostle, who writes in the Epistle to the Ephesians: 'For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,' Eph. 2, 14-15. If two are created in Him, who are in His body: then it is rightly said that He Himself is also created. For in uniting the created in Himself, He Himself was in them, as they were in Him. Therefore, when two are created in Him, it is most fitting for Him to say: 'The Lord created me...'

 

For if, as they think, the Word was created by nature, He says, "The Lord created me," as if He were created: certainly, He would not be said to be created for our sake. But if He was not created for our sake, we were not created in Him. If we were not created in Him, then we would have Him not within us but outside of us, as if we had received teaching from Him as from a master. If this is the case with us, then doubtlessly the sin of the flesh continues to reign as before and has not been expelled. However, the Apostle contradicts this, who shortly before said: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:10). Therefore, if we are created in Christ, He is not the one who is created, but we ourselves are created in Him, and for our sake, the phrase "He created" is written. For due to our need, the Word, even though He is the Creator, does not reject the voice of created things, nor is this voice proper to Him as the Word, but "created" is our word, since we are created in Him... Hence also the reason why the word "created" is used is attached, which is namely the necessity of works. Wherefore, when a cause is added, it completely removes the difficulty of the reading. For here he assigns the works as the reason why the word "created" is used. But when the talk is about His generation from the Father, it is immediately added: "Before all hills, He begets me" (Prov. 8:25). The cause is certainly not added here, as with the word "created," where it is added "in works," but it is said absolutely: "He begets me," just as it is said: "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1). For even if no created works had existed, nevertheless the Word of God existed, and the Word was God. The Word itself would not have become man unless there had been a necessity for men. (nn. 55, 56, PG, 26, 261...)

 

Thus, he asserts that these two words, "to create" and "to beget," mean different things and are somewhat opposed to each other, and that a created thing is not the same as a begotten thing. However, since men can also be said to be begotten or born of God, he explains how these terms apply to humans: “For God not only created men but also called them sons, as if He had begotten them. For the word "begotten" indicates a son, as it is said by the prophet: 'I have begotten and exalted sons' (Is. 1:2). Therefore, whenever Scripture speaks of the Son, it does not use the word 'created,' but the word 'begotten.' John seems to signify this in these words: 'He gave them the power to become sons of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God' (John 1:12-13). It is useful to observe these words. For he uses the word 'become' because they are called sons by adoption, not by nature; but later he uses the word 'begotten,' because they also received the name of sons. But as the prophet says, 'The people have repelled the benefactor' (Is. 1:3). This is the kindness of God, that those whom He has created, He later becomes their Father by grace, which happens when created men, as the Apostle says (Gal. 4:6), receive the Spirit of His Son crying out: 'Abba, Father' in their hearts. These are those who, having received the Word, received the power from Him to become sons of God. For they cannot become sons in any other way, since by their nature they are created beings, unless they receive His Spirit, who is the natural and true Son. To achieve this, the Word became flesh (John 1:14), so that He might make man fit to receive divinity...

 

Furthermore, it is not the same thing to be created and to be begotten, but they differ both by nature and by the significance of the words, as the Lord Himself declares in the same Proverbs. For after He said: "The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways," He added: "Before all hills, He begets me." If the Word were created in nature and substance, and there were no difference between what is begotten and what is created, He would not have added "He begets me," but would have been content to use the word "created," since it would mean the same as "begotten." But where He says, "The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works," He did not simply add "He begets me," but with the conjunction "truly," thus confirming the word "created," when He says: "But before all hills, He begets me." For the word "created" combined with "He begets me" completes one sentence and indicates that "created" was said for a different reason than "He begets me." For in saying "but before all hills, He begets me," He declares Himself to be different from all created things, since it is established that none of the created things existed before the others, but all things were made at the same time by one and the same command. Hence, the words "created" and "He begets me" are not accompanied by the same attributes. After "created," it is added "the beginning of His ways," but it does not say "the beginning begets me," rather "before all hills, He begets me"...

 

Therefore, since there is such a difference between "created" and "He begets me," and "the beginning of His ways" and "before all," it must be concluded that God, who is the creator of men, becomes their Father later through His Word, which dwells in them. However, the situation is entirely different for the Word. For God, who is naturally the Father of the Word, later became its creator and maker, when the Word took on created and made flesh and became man. For just as men, receiving the Spirit of the Son, become sons through Him, so the Word of God, when it took on human flesh, is said to be both created and made... Furthermore, when He took on a created body and became like us in body, He is not undeservedly called our brother and the firstborn. For although He became man after us for our sake, and therefore is our brother due to bodily similarity, He is called and is our firstborn in that His flesh, as the body of the Word, was the first of all to be saved and liberated, and from there we, who are united with the Word in body, are saved through the same body. For in Him the Lord has shown Himself to be our guide to the kingdom of heaven and to His Father, when He said: "I am the way and the gate, and through me all must enter" (John 10:7-9; 14:6). Therefore, He is called the firstborn from the dead, not because He was the first of us to die, for we had died before, but because, having taken on death for us and destroyed it, He was the first to live as man, having raised His body from the dead for us” (nn. 59-61, PG, 26, 272...).

 

He then explains in what sense the Word or Christ is called the Only Begotten and in what sense the Firstborn: “But if He is called the firstborn of creation (Col. 1:15), it is not as if He is equal to created things or prior to them in time that He is called by this name (for how could that be, since He is the Only Begotten?), but because of the unique kindness of the Word towards created things, by which He has also become the brother of many. For he is called the only begotten to whom there are no brothers, but he is called the firstborn to whom there are brothers. Hence, nowhere in the Scriptures is it read that He is the firstborn of God or the creation of God, but these terms, Only Begotten, Son, Word, and Wisdom, refer to the Father, to whom He pertains as something proper. “For we have seen His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14), and: “God sent His only begotten Son” (1 John 4:9), and: “Your word, O Lord, endures forever” and: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God” (John 1:1). Therefore, if He is the Only Begotten, as He truly is, the term firstborn must be explained. But if He is the firstborn, He should not be called the Only Begotten. For the same one cannot be both the Only Begotten and the Firstborn unless it refers to different things, so that He is called the Only Begotten as He is begotten from the Father, as has been said: He is called the Firstborn as He has shown unique kindness towards created nature and has made many brothers for Himself. Certainly, since those two names are contrary to each other, it can rightly be affirmed that the name Only Begotten is more properly fitting for the Word, since there is no other Word, no other Wisdom, but He alone is truly the Son of the Father. Indeed, as we have noted above, there is no cause added but it is said absolutely of Him: “The Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18). But when He is called the Firstborn, a cause is attached, namely the created nature, as Paul himself indicates with these words: "For by Him all things were created" (Col. 1:16). If, therefore, all created things are created in Him, He is certainly different from created things, and He is not a created thing, but the creator of created things.

 

Therefore, he is not called the firstborn because he was begotten of the Father, but because in him all created things were made. Thus, just as before created things he was the Son through whom created things were made, so before being called the firstborn of all created things, he was nonetheless the Word with God, and the Word was God.

He then introduces a new text to prove the same point: “For it is written: When he brings the firstborn into the world, he says: Let all God's angels worship him. Let the enemies of Christ hear and be torn apart, because his entrance into the world is the reason he is called the firstborn of all. Thus, he is indeed the Father's Only Begotten Son, because he alone is from him; but he is the firstborn of created things because all become sons by adoption. Further, just as he is the firstborn among brothers and the first to rise from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20), so because it was fitting for him to hold the first place in all things, he is also the beginning of the ways of creation (nn. 62-64, PG, 26, 277...).

He then explains in what sense he is called the beginning of the ways: “Since the truth declares that the Word is not created by nature, it follows that we should now explain why he is called the beginning of the ways. Because the first way perished through Adam and we no longer tended toward paradise but had turned to death, hearing: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen. 3:19), therefore the most merciful Word of God, with the Father’s will, took on created flesh, so that what the first man, by breaking the law, had brought to death, he might restore to life by his own bodily blood, creating for us a new and living way through the veil, that is, his flesh (Heb. 10:20). This is also signified elsewhere in these words: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17). Since then a new creation was made, there had to be someone who was first among these new created things. But mere man, merely earthly, such as we have become after breaking the law, could not be that one. For in the first creation men became unfaithful and thus that first creation perished, requiring another who would renew the first and preserve the newly created. Therefore, it was not someone else but the Lord himself, in his wonderful kindness, who became the beginning of the new creation. Thus, he rightly says: The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works (Prov. 8:22), so that man would no longer live according to the former way, but having the beginning of the new creation and Christ as the beginning of his ways, we might follow him who says: I am the way (John 14:6). This the blessed Apostle teaches in his Epistle to the Colossians with these words: He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent (Col. 1:18).

For if, as it is said, he is called the beginning because of the resurrection from the dead, and that resurrection occurred when he, having taken our flesh, gave himself up to death for us, it is evident that in these words: The Lord created me the beginning of his ways, his bodily advent is signified, not his nature. For his death was proper to his body, and therefore, just as death is proper to the body, so those words: The Lord created me the beginning of his ways, are proper to his bodily presence. Since the Savior was created in this way according to the flesh, and became the beginning of those who are recreated and holds our first fruits, that is, the human flesh he assumed; suitably, after him a people would be created, about whom David says: Let this be written for a future generation, and the people created will praise the Lord (Ps. 102:18): and again in Psalm 22: Future generations will be told about the Lord, and they will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it (Ps. 22:30-31).

 

Moreover, after the work of God, that is man, was created perfect but became deficient through transgression and died in sin, since it was unfitting for the work of God to remain imperfect, the perfect Word of God took on an imperfect body; and it is said to be created in the works so that by paying the debt for us, he might complete and perfect in himself what was lacking to man. Man lacked immortality and the way to paradise. This the Savior indicates with these words: I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do (John 17:4). And again: The works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me (John 5:36). The works that he declared the Father gave him to accomplish are the same in which he is created, as he says in Proverbs: The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works. For it is the same to say: The Father gave me works to do, and: The Lord created me for his works.

 

...Therefore, it remains to confess that he received the works when he became man. For then he accomplished those works, healing our wounds, and granted us to rise from the dead. If the Word became flesh and was given the works then, it is clear that when he became man, he was created for the works. Therefore, the word 'created' does not signify his nature, as has often been said, but his bodily origin” (nn. 65-67, PG, 26, 289...).

 

Similarly, he explains the words: Before eternity he established me, Prov. 8:23: “It is written: The Lord by wisdom founded the earth (Prov. 3). If wisdom founded the earth, how can he who founds be founded? This too is a proverbial expression, and we must seek its meaning, to understand that the Father by wisdom creates and founds the earth so that it remains firm and stable; but wisdom itself is founded for our sake, so that it may become the beginning and foundation of our new creation and renewal. Furthermore, the foundation must be such as those built upon it, so that they might fit together suitably. As the Word, he cannot have those who are like him, for he is the only begotten. But as man, he has those who are like him, having taken on similar flesh. Therefore, he is founded according to human nature, so that we too, as precious stones, might be built upon him and become a temple of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Just as he is the foundation, we are those built upon him; he is also the vine, and we are the branches, adhering not according to the nature of divinity, for that cannot be, but according to the nature of humanity (for it is necessary for the branches to be like the vine), since we are of similar flesh to his. What is founded is laid with stones upon it, which is not done in any way but with a stone taken from the mountain, placed in the depths of the earth. For as long as the stone is in the mountain, it is not yet laid in the foundation. But when it is moved by necessity and covered in the depths of the earth, if the stone had a voice, it could say: He who moved me here has now founded me. Therefore, the Lord did not begin to exist when he was founded (for he was the Word before), but after he took on our body, which he received from Mary, he said: He established me, which means: He who is the Word covered me with earthly body. Thus, he who takes on our nature is founded for our sake, so that we, having a body like his, might be fitted and joined to him and come to the perfect man (Eph. 4:13), remaining immortal and incorrupt.

 

Let no one be troubled by these expressions: Before eternity, and Before he made the earth, and Before the mountains were established (Prov. 8:23-25). For he rightly combined them with the words, he established, and, created. For these refer to his dispensation according to the flesh. For the grace given to us by the Savior appeared at that time, as the Apostle says (Tit. 2:11), and came forth when he appeared: but it was prepared before we were born, indeed before the foundation of the world. The cause of this is right and admirable. It would not be fitting for God to deliberate about us later, as it would imply he was unaware of our matters. Therefore, when God created all things through his Word, and foresaw and foreknew that we, after being made good, would break the law and thus be expelled from paradise, he, being most humane and kind, prepared in his own Word, through whom he created us, the dispensation of our salvation, so that even if we were deceived by the devil and fell, we would not remain utterly dead, but having the redemption and salvation prepared in the Word, we would be revived and become immortal, after he himself became the beginning for us, and the firstborn of all creation, and the firstborn among brothers, the first fruits of the dead, was raised. This is the doctrine of the blessed Apostle Paul, who interprets those words of Proverbs, before eternity, and, before he made the earth, in his Epistle to Timothy: Share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which has now been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light (2 Tim. 1:8-10). And to the Ephesians: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:3-5).

 

How then did He choose us before we were, unless, as He said Himself, we were already predestined in Him? Or how, as the Apostle states, were we predestined by lot, Ephes. 1, 11, unless the Lord Himself had been founded before time? So that it was His purpose, before any judgment was passed against us, to take on flesh so that we might henceforth be made His children in Him. How also did we, who were not yet but came into existence in time, receive eternal things before eternal times, unless the grace that reached us had been laid up in the Lord? Hence in judgment, when each one will receive his reward for his deeds, He will say: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," Mt. 25, 34. How then, or in whom, was it prepared before we were, unless in the Lord, who was established for that reason before time, so that we, being built upon Him as living stones, might partake in the life and grace that arise from Him?" (n. 73-76, PG, 26, 302...).

 

To all this, he adds another interpretation explaining those words from Proverbs about created wisdom or wisdom said to be diffused in created things: For he says: “Therefore, the only-begotten and very Wisdom of God is the creator and maker of all things. For all things, he says, were made in wisdom; and: The earth is filled with your creation, Ps. 103, 24. So that things not only exist but also exist well, it pleased God that His Wisdom should adapt itself to created things, to imprint some form and likeness of itself in all things together and in each individually, so that it might be evident that created things are adorned with wisdom and are worthy of God. For as our Word is the image of the Word who is the Son of God, so the wisdom made in us is also the image of that same Word, who is Wisdom itself, and in which we, having the power of knowing and understanding, are made capable of receiving the creating Wisdom and through it can know the Father. For he who has the Son, he says, has the Father also, 1 John 2, 23; and: He who receives me receives Him who sent me, Mt. 10, 40. Therefore, since the form of this Wisdom created in us and in all things is no less rightly called true and creating Wisdom, it appropriates to itself what is proper to its form, saying: The Lord created me in His works. Certainly, what the wisdom that is in us speaks, the Lord Himself as its own appropriates. Therefore, it is not the creator who is created, but on account of His image in the works created, He speaks of Himself as if He were created...

 

Nevertheless, if they will not believe these things, let them answer us whether there is any wisdom in created things or not. If there is none, why does the Apostle complain with these words: For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom? 1 Cor. 1, 21. Or if there is no wisdom, why is the multitude of the wise mentioned in Scripture?... But if there is wisdom in created things, as the son of Sirach testifies with these words: He poured her out upon all His works, and upon all flesh according to His gift, and gave her to those who love Him, Eccl. 1, 10, which outpouring certainly does not signify the nature of Wisdom which is itself and only-begotten, but of that which is expressed in the world: what then seems incredible if the creating and true Wisdom, whose form or figure is the wisdom and knowledge poured out into the world, speaks of itself: The Lord created me in His works. For the wisdom that is in the world is not the creator but is created in the works, according to which: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of His hands, Ps. 18, 2. If men have this in themselves, they will recognize the true Wisdom of God and it will be evident that they are made in the image of God...

 

Nor indeed should it seem small, if the Son of God speaks of His figure that is in us, as if of Himself, when (there is nothing to fear in repeating) Saul was persecuting the Church, in which His figure and image were, He said, as if He Himself were the one persecuted: Saul, why do you persecute me? Acts 9, 4. So that no one might wonder, as we said, if the form of wisdom that is in the works says: The Lord created me in His works, so also if the true and creating Wisdom, which is the only-begotten Word of God, appropriates what is proper to its image and speaks of itself: He created me in His works, no one should think, leaving aside the wisdom that is created in the world and the works, that the word "created" was said about the nature of Wisdom, which is itself, lest he seems to mix wine with water, Is. 1, 22, and rob the truth. For that creating and making Wisdom: its form is created in the works as the likeness of an image. Such wisdom is said to be the beginning of the ways because it is a kind of beginning and element of the knowledge of God...” (n. 78-80, PG, 26, 312...).

 

Finally, he concludes thus: “Therefore the whole earth is filled with His knowledge. For there is one knowledge of the Father through the Son, and of the Son from the Father: the Father rejoices in Him, and the Son delights in the Father, saying: I was His delight every day, rejoicing always before Him, Prov. 8, 30. These things without doubt again prove that the Son is not alien, but proper to the nature of the Father. For behold, He was not made for us, as the impious say, nor is He at all from nothing, nor did God obtain the author of His joy from outside; but these words signify something that is proper and similar. When then did it happen that the Father was not rejoicing? If He has always rejoiced, it is necessary that He in whom He rejoiced always was. And in whom indeed does the Father rejoice and delight but when He sees Himself in His own image, which is His Word? And if even after the world was perfected He delighted in the sons of men, as it is written there, it is not to be understood otherwise. For He delighted, not as if joy had come to Him, but as He beheld works made in His own image. Therefore, the delight of God has its cause in His own image. And does the Son indeed delight in any other way than when He beholds Himself in the Father?...” (n. 82, PG, 26, 320).

 

From all this, it can now somewhat be deduced what is the opinion of St. Athanasius regarding that text from Proverbs. Divine Wisdom or the Word of God cannot in any way be said to be created or made. Nor should that attenuation or simulation be admitted, in which the Arians said that it was created but not as one of the created things; since created things are not all of equal perfection, nor is one like another; therefore if the Word were created, it would eventually have the same order as the other things.

 

Therefore, the Word of God is in no way created, but is the Creator, as is proven from many passages of sacred Scripture. For what the Father does, the Son also does, but He could not create Himself, as is clear. Therefore, the Son is not created, but the Creator.

 

However, those words of Proverbs: The Lord created me, since they are found written in Proverbs, must be understood proverbially, or in the manner of proverbs. The word "created" must be understood in a certain broad sense, and thus explained, so that it says nothing contrary to the term "begotten"; it is to be understood not of the nature of the Word and His eternal generation from the Father, but of His incarnation and the humanity He assumed. For the word "created" does not necessarily signify nature or origin, but implies something else regarding the matter at hand, as is evident from David saying: Create in me a clean heart, O God, Ps. 50, 12. Here, therefore, the word "created", as in those words of John: The Word was made flesh, John 1, 14, signifies not that the whole Word is a creature, but that He assumed a created body, and that God created it for us, and perfected that created body for our sake. Hence the Proverbs, which use the word "created", say that the Son is not created but begotten, and recognize Him as the only-begotten Wisdom and the maker of created things, which is proper to the nature of the Son. But when they use the word "created", they are not speaking of His nature, but signifying that He was made the beginning of many ways. But if He is begotten, He cannot be created; for no one says that what is created is begotten. Again, if He is only-begotten, He cannot be the beginning of ways. For if He, being created, is the beginning of all things, it is necessary that He is not one alone, since He would have others after Him. These things, therefore, are to be understood not of the nature of the Word, but of His incarnation.

 

Moreover, this is abundantly proven from the text of Proverbs itself. For the Word says proverbially then: The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways in His works. Although He is the Son and has God as His Father, since He is properly His offspring: yet in this place, He called the Father "Lord", not because He was a servant, but because He assumed the form of a servant. For as He is the Word from the Father, He rightly calls God Father, so when He came to complete the work and assumed the form of a servant, it was fitting for Him to call the Father "Lord".

 

Further, He says: The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways in His works. But created things are primarily made to exist, and secondarily to do whatever the Word commands, as is evident in Adam, in Noah, in Moses, who first was made man, then was entrusted with the dominion of the people. Thus also the Son was not created, but in the beginning was the Word, John 1, 1, and later was sent into the works and their administration. For before the works existed, the Son always was, yet it was not necessary for Him to be created, but after the works were created, then He, who was their creator, took upon Himself their renewal: so that He, being created for our sake, might recreate and renew all things in Himself.

 

Moreover, to be created in the works signifies to become man. For the divine Scripture, whenever it speaks of the birth of the Word according to the flesh, adds the cause for which He was made man; but when either He Himself or His servants speak of His divinity, everything is said in simple and absolute terms, with no implicit cause. Thus it is written: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, John 1, 1, for which no cause is given. But when the Word was made flesh, then the reason for which it was done is indicated by these words: And dwelt among us, John 1, 14.

 

Moreover, the Savior came to bear witness, and to undergo death for us, to recall men to life, and to destroy the works of the devil, and He, as the Apostle says, broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, to create in Himself one new man, making peace, Eph. 2, 14, 15. If then two are created in Him, it is not without reason that He also is said to be created. For if the nature of the Word were created, certainly He would not be said to be created for us. If, however, He was not created for us: then we are not created in Him; but this contradicts the Apostle who says: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, Eph. 2, 10. If therefore we are created in Christ, it is not He who is created, but we who are created in Him.

 

Hence also the reason why the word "created" is used is given, namely the necessity of the works. But when there is talk of His generation from the Father, it is immediately added: Before all the hills He begets me, Prov. 8, 25. Here indeed no cause is added, as in the word "created", where it is added "in the works"; but it is absolutely said: He begets me, as also that: In the beginning was the Word, John 1, 1.

 

Moreover, these two words, "created" and "begotten", signify different things and are opposed to each other. For the word "begotten" indicates a son, and whenever Scripture speaks of the Son, it does not use the word "created", but "begotten". But where it says: He created me as the beginning of His ways in His works, it does not simply add "He begot me", but with the conjunction "but", to confirm the word "created", when it says: Before all the hills He begets me. For the word "created" combined with "He begets me" completes one sentence, indicating that "created" was said for another reason, as "He begets me" is before "created".

 

Similarly, there is an opposition between the only-begotten and the firstborn. For the only-begotten is said of him who has no brothers; the firstborn, however, of him who has brothers. Therefore, since the Son is truly called and is the Only-begotten, the term "firstborn" must be explained. For the same one cannot be both only-begotten and firstborn unless it refers to different things, so that He is called the Only-begotten inasmuch as He is begotten from the Father, and the firstborn inasmuch as He, by His unique kindness towards created nature, made many brothers for Himself.

 

In the same sense, He is called the beginning of the ways. For since the first way perished through Adam, and we no longer tended towards paradise but had turned towards death, therefore the most merciful Word of God, with the will of the Father, put on created flesh, so that what the first man, by violating the law, had brought to death, He might add life to by His own body’s blood, and open for us a new and living way through the veil, that is, through His flesh. Thus, Christ is the way for us, who says, "I am the way" (John 14:6), and of whom the Apostle says, "He is the head of the body, the Church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).

 

But if He is called the beginning because of the resurrection from the dead, the resurrection occurred when He, clothed in our flesh, handed Himself over to death for us. It is certainly clear from His words: "The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways" that not His nature, but His bodily advent is signified, since death pertains to the body.

 

These are also the works in which He is said to be created, namely, that having paid our debt, He fulfilled and perfected what was lacking for man by Himself. However, what was lacking for man was immortality and the way to paradise. The Savior indicates this by His words: "I have glorified You on the earth; I have finished the work which You gave me to do" (John 17:4). The works which the Father gave Him to perfect are indeed those in which He is created. For it is the same to say: "The Father gave me works" and "The Lord created me for works."

 

Similarly, those words are explained: "He founded me before the ages" (Proverbs 8:23). For it is necessary that such a foundation be like those things which are built upon it, so that they may agree with each other. But as the Word, He cannot have those similar to Him, since He is the Only-begotten. But having become man, He has those who are similar, whose similar flesh He assumed. Therefore, He is founded according to human nature.

Furthermore, what is founded is founded by the stones cast upon it, just as a stone taken from the mountain is placed in the lowest parts of the earth; for as long as the stone is in the mountain, it is not yet laid in the foundation. Thus also the Son, when He assumes our nature, is founded for our sake, so that we who have a similar body, being fitted and joined in likeness of the flesh in Him, might meet in the perfect man (Ephesians 4:13) and remain immortal and incorruptible.

 

Although these words are read in Proverbs: "Before the ages," and "Before He made the earth," and "Before the mountains were settled" (Proverbs 8:23-25), these can be rightly combined with the words "He founded" and "He created" and explained concerning the dispensation according to the flesh. For the grace that was given to us by the Savior appeared, as the Apostle says (Titus 2:11), and arose after He came. But before we were born, or rather before the foundation of the world, it was prepared, as is evident from many texts of Holy Scripture. Thus the Apostle says: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself" (Ephesians 1:3-5). And similarly: "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34).

 

Another explanation can be added to this. For just as our word is the image of the Word who is the Son of God, so the wisdom made in us is also an image of the same Word, which is Wisdom itself. And in this wisdom, having the power of knowing and understanding, we become capable of receiving the creative wisdom and can know the Father through it. Therefore, since the form of this Wisdom is created in us and in all, not unjustly does the true and creative Wisdom, assimilating those things which are its own proper forms, say: "The Lord created me in His works." For the wisdom that speaks in us is claimed by the Lord as His own. Therefore, He who is the creator is not created, but on account of His image created in the works, He speaks as if of Himself.

 

Finally, the Father rejoices in the Son and the Son delights in the Father, saying: "I was His delight every day, rejoicing always before Him" (Proverbs 8:30). This again proves that the Son is not alien but proper to the Father's nature. Therefore, the Son was not made, nor is He at all from nothing, nor did God obtain the joy from outside; but these words signify something proper and similar. It never happened that the Father did not rejoice. If He always rejoiced, there must always have been He in whom He rejoiced. In whom does the Father rejoice and delight if not in seeing Himself in His own image, which is His Word? And if after the creation of the world He delighted in the sons of men, He did so not as if joy had befallen Him, but in seeing the works made in His image. Therefore, the delight of God has its cause in His own image. The Son Himself delights in no other way than in seeing Himself in the Father. Thus says St. Athanasius.

 

III

 

What is found in other holy Fathers and ecclesiastical writers does not differ much from this.

 

Thus, Eusebius of Caesarea says that the term "created" is placed for "constituted" or "ordained": "If you understand wisdom of the Son, all will go well; you will encounter nothing impious here, since blessed Paul the Apostle testifies that the Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ is to be called the Wisdom of God, where he says, 'Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God' (1 Corinthians 1:24). With this prepared in this way, it follows that 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works' (Proverbs 8:22) is used in His person. If He says He was created, He did not mean that He came from non-being to being, nor that He was produced like the rest of creatures from non-being, which some have wrongly thought, but that pre-existing and pre-subsisting, He was before the world's foundation: and that the Lord His Father constituted Him as the ruler of all, with the term 'created' here meaning 'constituted' or 'ordained.' Just as the one who said, 'Create in me a clean heart' (Psalm 51:10) did not mean that he did not have a heart, but prayed that his soul be purified. Similarly, 'to create two into one new man' (Ephesians 2:15) means 'to unite them into one.' In this way, metaphorically, many such instances can be found in Scripture for those who take the time to study them: some with multiple meanings, others univocally predicated of different things, which would be too long to discuss now. Thus, in this place, 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works' is said for 'The Lord constituted me to hold primacy over His works.' Therefore, it is not said simply, 'created me,' but with the addition, 'as the beginning of His ways for His works.' This is most clearly declared by the Hebrew word. If anyone wishes to investigate the genuine sense of the most sacred Scripture, he will find that the Hebrew reading does not have 'created me,' which none of the other translators have used either." Eusebius of Caesarea, On Ecclesiastical Theology, Book 3, Chapter 2, PG, 24, 973-976.

 

Marcellus of Ancyra, cited by Eusebius, explains these words concerning the incarnate Word: "Thus, considering the matter in this way, it follows that we consider that proverbial phrase: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways.' Truly, He created what was not, the Lord our God. For the flesh which the Word assumed, when it did not exist, He created." And he adds: "Therefore, in the very last times, although this new mystery was revealed, it was foretold by the prophet, who said: 'Before the ages, He founded me,' meaning, of course, the flesh. And he infers: 'In the beginning, before He made the earth. What earth? Surely our flesh, which after the transgression became earth. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return' (Genesis 3:19). Therefore, 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works' refers to the person of the Savior, who confessed to be the same one speaking in Proverbs; thus he says these very words: 'Therefore, as all old things have passed away, and all things are made new, through and because of the nobility of our Savior, our Lord Christ proclaims through the prophet, saying: The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways.'" Having said this, he directs his thought to the flesh of the Savior, saying: "Truly, He created what was not, our Lord God. For He took up our non-existent flesh, and in assuming it, made it the beginning of His ways." He then explains what those ways are, saying: "Thus, for us who wish to establish a just life according to reason, He became the way of piety, the beginning of all subsequent ways." He also adds: "The beginning of the ways for this very reason is our Lord and Savior: because He was the beginning of the ways which we entered after the first way. He refers to the traditions received from the divine apostles, who, along with the highest prophecy, announced this new mystery to us." Marcellus concludes thus: "Therefore, 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works,' applies to the Savior's flesh, acknowledging Him to be the same who speaks in Proverbs; and so he says in these same words: 'For the Lord created me as the beginning of His ways.'" Eusebius of Caesarea, On Ecclesiastical Theology, Book 3, Chapter 2, PG, 24, 980.

 

In the next chapter, Eusebius provides other interpretations of Marcellus, explaining: "He also interprets 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works.' What works does he mean? Surely those which the Savior refers to: 'My Father works until now, and I work' (John 5:17), and again: 'I have finished the work which You gave me to do' (John 17:4). He adds, as if explaining the meaning of these words: 'Who would have believed before the demonstration by works that the Word of God, born of a Virgin, would assume our flesh? And yet He demonstrated all the deity residing in Himself bodily.' And as if explaining perfectly, he adds: 'Therefore, this is: The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works.'" Eusebius, On Ecclesiastical Theology, Book 3, Chapter 3, PG, 24, 984, 985, 996.

 

Marcellus continues with many other allegorical interpretations, which Eusebius, a man of suspect faith, vigorously attacks and refutes, unjustly accusing him of Sabellianism. Marcellus himself, a fierce opponent of the Arians, firmly establishes two principles: that before the world existed, the Word was already in the Father, and at that time nothing existed except God, thus the Word is not created but is God. The words of Proverbs: "The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works," must be understood and explained concerning the incarnate Word, whose flesh and humanity were truly created. Therefore, the addition "as the beginning of His ways" and "for His works" refers to the way of salvation and the work of redemption and restoration of the human race, entrusted to Christ by the Father.

 

Didymus the Blind explains these words concerning created or mundane wisdom. He says: "Is it not evident that the Wisdom which is the cause and creator of all things, the great God the Word, who is above all, whom this text cannot indicate, is not said by Solomon in Proverbs: 'The Lord created me'? But he spoke of mundane wisdom, the wisdom of, for example, learning well, commanding armies, healing, constructing buildings, in short, the wisdom found in all wise men endowed with any notable science. Indeed, if anyone prudently and piously considers what precedes and follows this text: 'The Lord created me,' he will quickly, even immediately, find many things in the same place by which heretics can be refuted. Solomon previously stated: 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and a good understanding have all those who do His commandments' (Proverbs 1:7), and again: 'By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice; by me princes rule, and nobles, all the judges of the earth' (Proverbs 8:15-16). And in the following verses, he says: 'The Lord created the barren places and the inhabited extremities of the earth under heaven. When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He set a circle upon the face of the deep; when He established the clouds above; and when He secured the fountains of the deep; when He gave to the sea its decree, that the waters should not pass His commandment' (Proverbs 8:26-29). He who made the earth from non-earth, who beautifully fashioned the circles of the heavens from non-heavens, who created the sun to complete its swift courses, illuminating all things everywhere in the heavens and the earth, who in short, created everything by the word, and made it appear, He is the only-begotten Son, the Word of God, who was celebrated and called the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). As the power and wisdom of His eternal and true Father, He has no beginning, as John teaches when he says: 'All things were made through Him' (John 1:3), and Paul writing to the Hebrews says: 'To the Son He says: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.' And again: 'You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands' (Hebrews 1:8, 10). Therefore, the person who said all these things in Proverbs is different from the wisdom which says: 'The Lord created me,' and is not the same. He later adds: 'And the waters shall not pass His commandment' (Proverbs 8:29). Thus wisdom, as created, explains what it said, showing that it speaks of the intelligible mouth of the Creator, namely the Word of God. Therefore, Solomon spoke all these things about mundane wisdom. For when he mentions the Wisdom of God the Father and the only-begotten and true Son in these very Proverbs, struck with admiration and as if overwhelmed with wonder, he says: 'God taught me wisdom, and I have known the knowledge of the saints. I know holy things. Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know?' (Proverbs 30:3-4). Concerning the words: 'Before the hills, He generated me' (Proverbs 8:25), these are said of created wisdom, which is generated by creation, and, so to speak, is born daily with each wise man. For the Son of God, generated together with the generator as the Word, and the brightness, and the express image of His substance, is not generated any more."

 

Didymus, however, adds another explanation to this, in which he interprets the aforementioned text concerning the Incarnate Word, saying: “But even if it must be conceded that Solomon did not speak from the person of the wisdom which is in us, his words would still have to be understood as having been spoken from the person and respect of the wise and incomprehensible incarnation, and in no way about the eternal and invisible nature of the only-begotten God. For he does not say without addition: 'He created me,' but he added: 'in his works'; as if to say: 'He created me when I came to men, who are his works, or when I dwelt among them, taking flesh from them. For he who exists and pre-exists, and who was made not for himself, but for others, had already been one of those for whom he was made and to whom he was made similar. How can this be understood?...

 

Again, therefore, he foretells the beginning of his incarnation, not the nature of his eternal deity. For when men had lost the way which leads to God, he became for us in the incarnation the new and living way: and just as he said because of the incarnation: 'I am the way'; and again: 'No one comes to the Father, except through me.' John 14:6, that is, except through faith in my incarnation, let him go: so for the same reason he also said: 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways.' For he was begotten indeed from the substance of the Father, from eternity, ineffably; but from the inviolate Virgin, in so far as he, indeed knowing all things as God, and predestining the Incarnation, was begotten before the ages (as Paul writes to the Colossians: 'The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints,' Colossians 1:26; and Peter in his first epistle, speaking of Christ, says: 'He indeed was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you'); but he was born in reality when he appeared and shone from on high to those who had long sat in darkness and in the shadow of death; when the stone was called by a parable; when he became the beginning of the ways, and our foundation: to which foundation and stone the Scriptures thus bear witness; Paul indeed writes in the first epistle to the Corinthians: 'For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,' 1 Corinthians 3:11...

 

Since this is so, the proverb in question must certainly be referred, if not to the wisdom that is in our disciplines, at least to the Lord's sinless Incarnation; but in no way to the ineffable divine nature of the Son, the Word of God, through whom, and by whom, and in whom all things were made and adorned. For when he says: 'The Lord created me,' adding: 'Before all hills he begets me,' it is as if he said: 'When I was of him, and existed together with him, he created me later, inasmuch as by his will I shared a common nature with men, yet without change and without sin, as I said a little earlier. But the Father begot him impassibly and from eternity and ineffably before all hills; because deity is above all incorporeal things. For that 'before,' especially when spoken of him, is indefinite. Moreover, the particle 'but,' that is, 'however,' proves the same. For if he created, how did he beget? But if he begot, how did he create? For someone can call the offspring of the Creator a creature, just as we are called sons of the Most High: but one who is truly begotten or offspring is never called the creature of the begetter; nor have we ever known this to have been said by anyone... Indeed, creation by a kind of verbal abuse refers to humanity, as does worldly wisdom... And indeed, if anyone says: He (whoever it may be) founded this, or made a bishop, or a king, or an army; he does not mean that some substance was produced from nothing, even though he uses the ambiguous word, founded, or made; but he designates that those who already existed, or the matter already subsisting, was endowed with a certain order or disposition. And the hymnodist speaks in the same way from the womb that already had it, as if it still had to be given to him, while he thus prays: 'Create in me a clean heart, O God...'” Didymus the Blind, On the Trinity, book 3, chapter 3, PG, 39, 808...

 

Similarly, St. Epiphanius, who at first indeed denies that these words are said of the Son of God: “I will therefore begin with that saying of Solomon, which they persuaded themselves could sow the bitter root of their doctrine: 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways in his works,' Prov. 8:22. Which place the Scripture has nowhere confirmed by repetition, nor has any of the apostles mentioned it to apply it to Christ. Therefore, it speaks in no way about the Son of God, even though it adds: 'I, Wisdom, have dwelt in counsel, and have called upon knowledge and understanding,' Prov. 8:12. For how many things are called the wisdom of God by a kind of verbal abuse? But there is one above all that is called the only-begotten, which claims this name in reality, not by verbal abuse. For indeed, all things that pertain to God are wisdom, and those that proceed from him; but one is properly called the supreme wisdom of all, namely the only-begotten Son of God, who is not called wisdom by accommodation of speech, but by the truth of the matter: who is with the Father perpetually, as the power and wisdom of God,” 1 Cor. 1:24.

But then he adds another explanation, referring the aforementioned words to Christ: “For since the whole book is composed of proverbs, whatever is expressed in a proverb bears one thing in words, but signifies another in sense itself through allegory; if it were that Solomon's intention, as they suppose, and some dare to refer it to the Son of God: first, it is altogether impious to understand it of his divinity; then, if perhaps it can be understood to refer to the human nature assumed by him. Since: 'Wisdom has built herself a house,' Prov. 9:1. If so, it can be thought that it is said from human nature without impiety, which speaks of his divinity: 'The Lord created me,' that is, 'built me in the womb of Mary, the beginning of his ways, in his works.' For indeed the beginning of the ways, and the coming of Christ into this world, is his body assumed from Mary, and the work of justice and salvation undertaken. For indeed, the divinity made the flesh and the assumed human nature as the beginning of his ways, and for his works; that is, those which pertain to the salvation and goodness of men. Then indeed in the progress of things itself, he says, 'he founded me, in the beginning.' Where we can piously observe that the human soul is declared by these words. For these words, 'The Lord created me,' if they are referred to that sense, are to be understood as used by humanity. But when he says he founded, it refers chiefly to the soul; in consideration of which, he is said to be founded. Now what is added: 'Before all hills he begot me,' should be understood as demonstrating that heavenly generation. And we say this not to definitively state it to be so, but still piously consider it of our Lord Christ's incarnation, since such should be the sense of this place. Although no one can force us to think that it was said about Christ. However, granting it to refer to Christ, it can have its sense; which is not fabricated by prediction, but proceeding from the piety of the mind, lest anyone think any deficiency in God, or persuade himself that the divinity of the Son is inferior in essence to the Father. For indeed some orthodox Fathers have interpreted that place of Solomon about the incarnation of Christ: 'The Lord possessed me, and founded me.' And this is the sense conformable to piety, since, as I said, some great Fathers have understood it so.” - St. Epiphanius, Against Heresies. Heresy 69, numbers 20, 21, 23, 24. PG, 42, 232...

More clearly and briefly the same St. Epiphanius in the Ancoratus: “But indeed they say, it is written: 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways in his works,' Prov. 8:22. But clearly those most vain men are ignorant of the title and name of the book. For this book is entitled The Proverbs of Solomon. And whatever is said in the manner of a proverb is not the same as the force and property of the words... Moreover, we do not clearly know whether the author of Proverbs, Solomon, uttered the earlier words about the Son of God. For there is not one kind of wisdom... And the Apostle writes: 'The world through the wisdom of God did not know God,' 1 Cor. 1:21. And: 'God has made foolish the wisdom of this world,' 1 Cor. 1:25...

Although I see those things said in that place opposed to themselves violently and scarcely aptly, if they are referred to that eternal wisdom. For he speaks thus: 'He created me the beginning of his ways in his works, before the ages he founded me: before all the hills he begot me. Now indeed what is begotten, how is it founded? How indeed is that which is begotten said to be created? For if it was created, it is certainly not begotten: for we do not create what we beget, and what we create, we do not beget: for we are created, and what is begotten by us is created. But in the uncreated God what is begotten cannot be created: for if he begot, he did not create. But if after he created it is said he again begot, how is that which was created in the beginning later begotten? Therefore, if what is said in that place is to be taken of Christ, it must be referred to his incarnation. Therefore, he mentions first what is nearer, then subjoins what is older. For when he wants to persuade about the nearest men, he starts from the flesh. For indeed the beginning of the ways of evangelical justice is this: 'The Word was made flesh for us in Mary,' John 1:14; the soul indeed was founded in his flesh, so that what is higher shows what is later. Moreover, we say that from the bosom of the Father he descended from heaven to earth, since later he came to us, so that he might complete all his administration. Therefore, the Word was not created: by no means; nor has the Scripture proposed anything tortuous and indirect for us in any matter.” St. Epiphanius, Ancoratus, 42-43. PG, 43, 92...

Similarly, St. Basil explains the same about the Incarnate Word: “If he who is in the flesh says: 'I am the way'; and the same: 'No one comes to the Father except through me.' John 14:6; he is also the one who said: 'The Lord created me the beginning of his ways,' Prov. 8:22. Indeed, generation is called creation and work, as in: 'I created man through God'; Gen. 4:1; and again: 'He made sons and daughters,' Gen. 5:4; and David: 'Create in me a clean heart, O God,' Ps. 51:12, not asking for another thing, but requesting that what is be cleansed. It is called a new creation, not that another creation is made, but that those who are enlightened are prepared for better works. If the Father created the Son for works, he created him not for himself, but for the works. But what is made for another, not for itself, either is part of that for whose sake it was made, or is less than it. Therefore, the Savior will be either part of the creation or less than the creation. Hence it must be understood of his humanity. One can also say that Solomon spoke these things about that wisdom which the Apostle also mentions, where he said: 'For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom,' 1 Cor. 1:21. Moreover, it is not the prophet who said it, but the writer of Proverbs. Proverbs are images of others, not those things themselves which are said. If it were the Son of God who said: 'The Lord created me,' he would rather have said: 'The Father created me.' For he never called him his Lord, but always the Father.

Therefore, 'begot' must be understood of the Son of God: 'created,' of him who took the form of a servant. Otherwise, in all these things we do not speak of two, God separately, and man separately (for there was one), but in thought we consider the nature of each. For Peter did not understand two, where he said: 'Since therefore Christ suffered for us in the flesh,' 1 Pet. 4:1. If the Son, they say, is begotten, not made, how does the Scripture say: 'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ?' Acts 2:36. Here too it must be said that this was spoken about him who is from Mary according to the flesh: as the angel who brought the good news to the shepherds says: 'For to you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord,' Luke 2:11. For the voice, 'this day,' cannot be taken of him who is before the ages. But what follows shows the same more clearly, where he says: 'This Jesus whom you crucified,' Acts 2:36...” St. Basil, Against Eunomius, book 4, on 'The Lord created me,' PG, 29, 704.

Similarly, St. Gregory of Nyssa: “But if they wish to use that: 'The Lord created me,' Prov. 8:22, as testimony for their doctrine, that the Lord is created, as if the Only-begotten himself does not deny this voice, they are not to be heard. For they do not clearly prove that these words are to be referred to our Lord at all; nor can they adapt this sense to the words from the Hebrew, as the other interpreters have rendered the word 'possessed' or 'constituted'; nor would it have made a clear and simple sense even if this word had been explicitly put in the original Scripture, since parabolic teaching usually does not plainly, but obscurely, and as it were under a veil and by oblique insinuation, show the scope, force, and meaning of the sayings. Therefore, from the context of the words that are placed here, anyone can recognize the difficulty of the speech... Therefore, from these things, there can arise no suspicion that the Lord is created among those who consider and weigh these things piously, especially among those who have been taught from the Gospel that all things were made through him, and in him they subsist. For all things, he says, were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made, in him, John 1:3. Surely, the evangelist would not have said this if he had believed that the Lord was one of those things made. For how are all things made through him, and how do all things subsist in him, if he who made all things is not of a nature completely different from the things made, not creating himself, but the creation?...” Against Eunomius, book 1, PG, 45, 344.

 

Saint Gregory says something similar in his book on Faith: “Therefore, if our own God is the true God, and if the Only Begotten God is not of the nature of the true God, as the heretics say, then He is a foreign god and not our God. The Gospel says that the sheep do not obey a stranger, John 10:5. Whoever says that He is created makes Him alien to the nature of the true God. What then do they do who say that He is created? Will they worship Him who is created, or not? For if they do not worship, they follow the Jews who deny the worship of Christ; but if they do worship, they are idolaters, for they worship one who is alien to the true God. Hence it is equally impious either not to worship the Son or to worship a foreign god. Therefore, it is necessary to declare the true Son of the true Father so that we may worship Him and not be condemned as worshipping a foreign god. Against those who quote the Proverb: 'The Lord created me,' Prov. 8:22, and think by this they have a strong argument to prove that the creator of all things is created, it is fitting to say that the Only Begotten God became many things for our sake. For when the Word became flesh, and being God became man; and though incorporeal, became a body; and even more than these, He became sin, and a curse, and a stone, and an ax, and bread, and a lamb, and a way, and a door, and a rock, and many such things, though in nature He is none of these, but became such for our sake through dispensation and administration.

Therefore, just as He, being the Word, became flesh for our sake; and being God, became man; so being the creator, He became a creature for our sake, since flesh is a created thing. Thus, as He said through the prophet: 'Thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be His servant,' Isaiah 49:5, He also said through Solomon: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works.' For every creature serves, as the Apostle says. Therefore, He who was formed in the womb of the Virgin according to the word of the prophet is a servant, not the Lord: that is, He who is man according to the flesh, in whom God was manifested, and He who was created there as the beginning of His ways, is not God but man: in whom God was manifested to us so that the corrupted and shattered way of human salvation might be renewed. Therefore, since we determine and believe two things about Christ, one divine and the other human, in nature indeed divine, in administration and dispensation that which is according to man: consequently, we attest to the eternal deity, and assign the created to human nature. For as He was formed as a servant in the womb according to the prophet, so also according to Solomon, through this servile creature in the flesh He was manifested. Furthermore, when they say: 'If He was, He was not born; and, If He was born, He was not,' let them be taught that it is not right to attribute the properties of carnal birth to divine nature. For indeed bodies that were not are born: but God causes things that are not to exist: He Himself does not exist from what is not. Therefore, Paul also calls Him the brightness of glory, Heb. 1:3, so that we may be taught that just as light from a lamp is of the nature of the light-giver, and one with it (for as soon as the lamp shines, the light that comes from it also shines forth), so here also the Apostle orders us to understand that the Son is from the Father, and that the Father is never without the Son: for it is impossible for glory to exist without brightness, just as it is impossible for a lamp to exist without light." S. Gregory of Nyssa, On Faith to Simplicius, PG, 45, 137.

 

Similarly, Saint Gregory Nazianzus: “They have only this one thing readily at hand: ‘The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works,’ Prov. 8:22. How then shall we counter this argument? Shall we accuse Solomon? Shall we annul his previous sayings because of his later lapse? Shall we say that this saying is of wisdom itself, and as it were of the reasoning of the artist according to which all things were created? For Scripture often introduces inanimate things as speaking through prosopopoeia... But let us grant this saying indeed to the Savior Himself, that is, to the true Wisdom. Let us consider it a little. What is there among all things that is without cause? Divinity. For no one can state the cause of God: otherwise that would be prior to God. But what cause existed for humanity assumed by God for our sake? Surely that salvation might be prepared for us. For what other cause can be alleged? Therefore, since here we find 'created' and 'begotten,' let us deem it simply spoken. For what we find connected with a cause, we must assign to humanity; but what is without cause, we must ascribe to divinity. Come then, does not 'created' have an attached cause? 'For He created me,' He says, 'as the beginning of His ways for His works.' But His works are truth and judgment, Ps. 110:7, for the sake of which He was anointed with divinity. For this is the anointing of humanity. But 'begotten' has no cause. Otherwise show what is attached to it. Who then will deny that wisdom, according to the inferior generation, is created, but according to the first and more incomprehensible generation is begotten?” S. Gregory Nazianzen, Oration XXX, Theological IV, n. 2. PG, 36, 105.

 

Saint John Chrysostom says similarly: "But Paul says: 'Consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus Christ, who is faithful to Him who made Him,' Heb. 3:1-2. And in another place: 'God made Him both Lord and Christ,' Acts 2:36. And Solomon says: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works,' Prov. 8:22. Do you see how Scripture indicates Him as a creature and a work? But the Scripture following this rebukes you, adversary of God. For it says: 'Every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices,' Heb. 5:1. For He took from us created flesh without sin, which He offered as a sacrifice for us to the Father. Therefore, understand that He made Him according to the flesh, and not according to divinity, just as He made Him Lord and Christ. For before the dispensation He is proclaimed as God everywhere, as has been shown, and never does anyone call Him a creature, but because of the union of the created flesh, He says: 'God made Him both Lord and Christ,' Acts 2:36, because of the dullness of the hearers: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways.' Do you see that He says creature? But let us proceed to what follows there: 'He established me before the ages, before the hills He begets me,' Prov. 8:23-25. First, O follower of vain glory, learn that the book is called Proverbs. What is said through a parable is not the same as the power and letter of the word. For the Lord likened the kingdom of heaven to a net, and to leaven, and to a mustard seed (Mt. 13), and to many other things, yet we do not say that the kingdom of heaven is something of this kind. But I will speak plainly: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways, before the ages He established me, before all the hills He begets me.' How then can that which is begotten be created or established? or how can that which is created be begotten? For if He is created, He is not begotten. We do not create what we beget: nor do we beget what we create. And how is it possible for the uncreated Father to have a created Son? For we who are created, beget created beings: but the Father, who is uncreated, begot an uncreated Son. But Aquila translates: 'He possessed me,' he says. Therefore, when He says, 'created me,' He foretells the future, as if it had already happened. For this is the custom of Scripture, as when it says: 'They pierced my hands and my feet,' Ps. 22:16: as if He were saying: 'I, whom you see, have assumed created flesh by my own will, from the beginning, I am not from Mary: For in the beginning was the Word, John 1:1: and: Before Abraham was, I am, John 8:58. Therefore, confess the Son as uncreated, and co-eternal with the Father, so as not to give a beginning to the Father when He began to be the Father." S. John Chrysostom (or another author) Homily on the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, n. 3, PG, 47, 1093.

 

Similarly, Saint Cyril of Alexandria says in his Treasury: “The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways,” Prov. 8:22, if anyone wishes to understand exactly, he will find that 'created' here does not signify the essence of the Word as made, but another proper sense. For things that already exist and those that are not yet made are said to be created. But how something that already exists is said to be created and to acquire another beginning needs to be examined. For if it is said of things not yet made, 'created' means they are translated from non-existence to existence: but of things that already exist and do not need creation to exist, 'created' does not signify essence, but a transition from one state to another. As when David says: 'And the people who will be created will praise the Lord,' Ps. 102:18. And again: 'Create in me a clean heart, O God,' Ps. 51:10... Surely David did not signify a people to be created in essence, but translated from error to the knowledge of God. Nor does he ask for another heart to be created in himself besides what he has, but desires to be transferred to a pure heart... Therefore, if 'create' does not always signify essence, what reason is there, or how would it not be foolish, to accept it as written correctly about those who are truly creatures, but interpret it maliciously about the Word of God, in whom it should especially be observed? For the Lord says: 'created me,' nor does He rest on this word 'created,' but adds 'the beginning of His ways for His works,' not translating to existence, but 'created the beginning of His ways for His works;' which you will understand thus: The legal life was cultivated by the Jews, but the life according to righteousness was in no way known to the Gentiles. Therefore, the Word of God was made, or created, flesh, that is, man, so that He might be found the beginning of the ways and works of the Lord for all. For the evangelical life first shone in Christ. And what else do we think the ways and works of the Lord are but His precepts? which performing and executing we proceed to Him by many and various ways. But hear what sacred Scripture says: 'Woe to those who do the work of the Lord deceitfully,' Jer. 48:10. Blessed David, calling the precepts of God His ways, exclaims: 'Make known to me Your ways, O Lord, and teach me Your paths,' Ps. 25:4.

The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works. This word 'created' does not signify the essence of the Word: for it would be blasphemous and impious to say that He who always exists in the same way with the Father is created. Thus, you will more easily understand: He says, 'created me as the beginning of His ways.' Here He calls Moses the lawgiver and the prophets His ways, whom Christ is established as a kind of beginning and power over them; translating what was said by them to the newness of evangelical preaching, and this with absolute propriety. For the law says: 'You shall not commit adultery,' Exod. 20:14; but Christ: 'But I say to you: You shall not covet,' Matt. 5:27-28. He calls the saints His ways, as they can lead to God by their admonitions... For if anyone applies his mind to the holy prophets as to certain ways, not lightly passing over them, but accurately eliciting their meaning, he will learn the good way, that is, Christ saying: 'I am the way,' John 14:6, through which he will be purified, obtaining the remission of sins. Therefore, He says, 'created me,' that is, constituted me having principality and power over the law and the prophets, not establishing their typical sayings universally, but transferring the law into His better works. That 'created' does not absolutely signify essence, has been sufficiently stated before.

The Lord created me, is as if He said: The Father constituted for me a body, and as it were created me a man for the salvation of men. Just as John says: 'The Word became flesh,' John 1:14; and Paul of Christ: 'He became a curse for us,' Gal. 3:13; and again: 'He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,' 2 Cor. 5:21; we do not believe that the Word was changed into flesh, nor that Christ really became a curse or sin, but as sacred Scripture speaks so, we piously understand: in the same way if the Word of God says of Himself: 'created me,' it is to be understood: He made me a man, and not to be interpreted as said of His essence.” S. Cyril of Alexandria, Treasury on the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, Assertion XV. PG, 75, 261.

 

Lastly, Saint John of Damascus: “Other things are also said in a prophetic manner; of which there are two kinds. Some are spoken as future, as: 'He will manifestly come,' Ps. 50:3. And that of Zechariah: 'Behold, your King comes to you,' Zech. 9:9... But some, though future, are yet spoken as past, as: 'This is our God: and after this He was seen upon earth and lived among men,' Bar. 3:38. And again: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works,' Prov. 8:22. And again: 'Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows,' Ps. 45:7: and the like.” S. John of Damascus, On the Orthodox Faith, book 4, c. 18. PG, 94, 1184.

Here, therefore, Saint John of Damascus cites the aforementioned words from Proverbs among those things said of Christ in a prophetic manner, which, though future, are yet spoken as past.

 

IV

 

To all these expositions of the Greek Fathers, some can be added from the Latin Fathers.

First, therefore, Saint Hilary says this: “The testimony of Wisdom against us is brought forward, which taught that it was created with these words: The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways, Proverbs 8:22...”

Thus the holy Doctor distinguishes between creation at the beginning of God's ways and the foundation before the ages, and he speaks in this manner: “(Wisdom)... which now says it was created at the beginning of God’s ways and works from the age; lest it should be thought that it did not remain before Mary: nor did it refer its creation to the understanding of birth; because it was created at the beginning of the ways and works; but indeed, lest anyone should consider that this beginning of the ways, which is surely the beginning of human thoughts about divine matters, is to be subjected to time and infinite birth, it professed itself to be founded before the ages: so that while one thing is to be created at the beginning of the ways and works, and another to be founded before the ages, the foundation is understood to be prior to creation: and this very thing, that it was founded in works before the age, shows the mystery of creation; because the foundation is before the age, and the creation is in the beginning of the ways and works after the age.

Indeed, lest creation and foundation offend the faith of divine birth, it follows: Before he made the earth, before he established the mountains, before all the hills, he begot me, Proverbs 8:25-26. Now he is begotten before the earth, who was founded before the age: not only before the earth but also before the mountains and hills. And indeed, because Wisdom speaks of itself, it speaks more than is heard. For all things that are signified to the understanding of infinity ought to be of such a kind, that nothing of the kind or genus should be secondary in time. Moreover, temporal things by no means fit into the demonstration of eternity: because through those things that are later than others, they do not by themselves manifest the beginning of infinity; since they themselves have a temporal beginning. For what great thing is it that God begot the Lord Christ before the earth, when the origin of the angels is found to be older than the creation of the earth? Or why should he who is said to be begotten before the earth also be manifested as born before the mountains, and not only before the mountains but also before the hills: since the signification of the hills is after the mountains, but the understanding of the mountains is after the earth? Through which it cannot be thought that these things were said for the purpose of understanding that he, who is before the earth and the mountains and the hills, excels by the eternity of his infinity...

For his generation cannot be comprehended by these things, the creation of which we conceive in our minds, who is prior to all these things, so that although he surpasses in time, he is not infinite, to whom this alone is attributed, that he was born before temporal things. For while those things are subject to time in their constitution, he, although he is prior to all these things, is not free from time: because the temporal constitution of these things shows the time of his birth, who was born before; since this very time is for him, which is preferred to temporal things.

But the word of God and the true wisdom’s teaching speak perfectly, and it signifies absolutely, teaching that it is not prior to temporal things, but to infinite things. For when heaven was being prepared, he was present with God. Is the preparation of heaven temporal to God, as if the sudden movement of thought had crept into the mind, which was previously sluggish and stupefied, and in a human way sought the expense and tools of making heaven?... What then is it, that wisdom begotten of God was present to him preparing heaven; since neither the creation of heaven consists of preparation, nor is it the nature of God to dwell in contemplation of preparation? For nothing has ever been with God, whatever is in things: which, although they began to be created, were not yet begun in God's knowledge or power. And the prophet is a witness to us, saying: God who made all things that are to be (Isa. 45:11 according to the Septuagint). For although they are yet to be made in that which will be created, they are already made to God, for whom nothing in creating things is new and sudden: while the dispensation of times is that they be created, and they are already in the divine virtue of foresight efficiency created. And therefore now Wisdom, teaching that it was born before the ages, shows that it is not only prior to those things that are created, but co-eternal with eternal things, namely the preparation of heaven, and the distinction of God’s seat. For the seat is not then distinguished when it is made: because it is one thing to say the seat, another to compose it. Nor was heaven then prepared when it was prepared: for it was with the preparer and the discerner. But afterward he composed it with the preparer: his eternity is present with the preparer, and he shows his ministry when he composes it with the preparer... For the preparation of things to be created is perpetual and eternal: nor is the body of this universe formed by the parts of thoughts, that it was first thought of about heaven, and then afterward God entered into the care and treatment of the earth... But since all things under heaven were made by God, and Christ was present composing heaven, and he himself precedes the eternity of the prepared heaven; this does not allow us to think in God the particularities of minute things, because the preparation of all these things is co-eternal with God. For although it has its own dispensation, according to Moses, Gen. 1:5-25, the solidification of the firmament, the exposure of the dry land, the gathering of the sea, the constitution of the stars, the generation of waters and earth producing living beings: but the creation of heaven, earth, and the other elements is not discerned even by a slight moment of operation; because their preparation stood with equal infinity of eternity before God.

Therefore, when Christ was present in these infinite and eternal things in God, he allowed us only the consciousness of his birth: so that as much as the understood birth of God advanced faith, so much the knowledge of the eternity of the birth advanced the accepted religion: because from the eternal Father, neither reason nor sense admits but to proclaim the eternal Son.

But the name and profession of creation move us. Let the name of creation indeed move us, if birth before the ages, and creation at the beginning of God’s ways and in his works are proclaimed. For birth cannot be taken for creation: since birth is before the cause, but creation is through the cause. For before the preparation of heaven, and before the age, he was founded who is created at the beginning of God’s ways and works. Or is it the same understanding to be created at the beginning of God’s ways and works, and to be born before all things? One of which has time in deeds, the other contains timeless understanding.”

Therefore, the holy Doctor distinguishes birth before the age and creation from the age, at the beginning of God's ways and works. For he adds below: “But finally, by the revelation of Catholic doctrine, learn what it is for Christ to be created at the beginning of God’s ways and works, in the beginning heretically known, and learn from the words of Wisdom the foolishness of your impious disposition. For it began thus: If I shall declare to you the things that are daily, I will remember to enumerate the things that are from the age (Prov. 8:21 according to the Septuagint)... Wisdom, therefore, professing to remember the things that are from the age, says: The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways in his works, Prov. 8:22. Therefore, the signification of things done from the age is this: not of generation before the ages proclaimed, but the doctrine of dispensation begun from the age.

And it must be asked what it is for God born before the ages to be created again at the beginning of God’s ways and works. Because where there is birth before the age, there is the eternity of infinite generation: but where there is creation from the age in the ways and works of God, creation is adapted to the works and ways. And first, because Christ is Wisdom, it must be seen whether he himself is the beginning of the way of God’s works. And, I think, it is not doubted: for he says: I am the way, John 14:6; No one goes to the Father except through me. The way is the guide of those going, the course of those hastening, the security of the ignorant, and a kind of teacher of unknown and desired things. Therefore, he is created at the beginning of the ways in the works of God: because he is the way, and leads to the Father. But the reason for this creation, which is from the age, must be sought. For it is the sacrament of the final dispensation, in which also created in the body, he professed himself to be the way of God’s works. But he was created in the ways of God from the age: when, subject to visible appearance, he took on the condition of creation.

According to the holy Doctor, the ways of God are various theophanies or manifestations of God in which some created appearances were assumed by the Word. For he says: “Let us therefore see in which ways of God, and in which works from the ages, Wisdom created, born of God before the ages, has been created. Adam heard the voice of one walking in the paradise, Gen. 3:8. Do you think the sound of walking was heard except in the form of assumed creation: that in some creation he stood, who was heard walking? I do not inquire what form spoke to Cain and Abel and Noah, and what kind also blessed Enoch. The angel speaks to Hagar, Gen. 16:9-13: and certainly it is the same God. Is he of the same appearance when the angel is seen, as he is in that nature in which he is God? Certainly, the appearance of an angel is shown, where afterward the nature of God is mentioned. But why do I speak of an angel? A man comes to Abraham, Gen. 18:2. Was Christ present in that form of creation as a man, just as he is God? But a man speaks, and sits in the body, and is fed: nevertheless, God is worshipped... Run through the times and understand what he appeared as, whether to Joshua, the prophet of his own name, or even to Isaiah when he is proclaimed to have seen him with evangelical testimony, John 12:41, or to Ezekiel, taken up even to the understanding of resurrection, Ez. 37:1-10, or to Daniel confessing the Son of Man in the eternal kingdom of ages, Dan. 7:13-14, and to others, to whom he appeared in the form of various creation, in the ways of God and the works of God, to the knowledge of God and the advancement of our eternity. Why does this dispensation of human salvation now devise such an impious insult to eternal birth? This creation is from the ages: but before the ages there is infinite birth. Certainly, strive to force us to say, if the Prophet, if the Lord, if the Apostle, if any word referred the name of creation to the birth of eternal divinity.”

Therefore, Saint Hilary says, according to the doctrine received among the ancient Fathers, that in those manifestations of God which were made in the Old Testament, the Word of God appeared, assuming for this various figures or created appearances, and because of this the Word of God or Wisdom is said to be created in the ways and works of God. These manifestations were followed by the incarnation of the Word, about which he says: “But the blessed and true birth of the flesh conceived within the virgin, because then both the nature and the appearance of our creation were being born, the Apostle called it creation and making. And certainly with him (according to him) this is the name of true birth according to man, when he says: But when the fullness of time came, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, Gal. 4:4-5. Therefore, his Son is he who is in man and from man creation; not creation only, but also creature, as it is said: As the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, Eph. 4:21-24. Therefore, the new man is to be put on, who is created after God. For he who was the Son of God, was also born the Son of Man. Because it was not the birth of divinity, but the creation of flesh; the new man received the signification of his kind, created according to the God born before the ages. And why the new man should be created after God, he shows by adding according to this: In righteousness, and holiness, and truth, Eph. 4:24. For deceit was not in him: and he was made unto us righteousness and sanctification, and he is the truth. Therefore, we put on this Christ, who is created as a new man according to God. But he is created according to God: because according to God’s righteousness, and sanctification, and truth, man without sin is created.

Therefore, if Wisdom, saying that it remembers the things done from the age, said that it was created in the works of God and in the ways of God; and thus created, that it taught that it was founded before the ages, lest the sacrament of that assumed and often creation should seem to have changed nature, since the firmness of foundation would not admit disturbance of status; but indeed lest the foundation should seem to show anything other than birth, it professed itself to be born before all things: now, however, why is creation referred to birth, when that which is born before all things is itself founded before the ages; and that which is founded before the age is itself created in the beginning of God's ways and works from the ages: so that creation from the ages might be understood to differ from that which is before the ages and that which is the birth before all things.” These are the words of Saint Hilary, De Trinitate, book 12, no. 35-49, PL,, 10, 454...

 

St. Ambrose: "So then let that also pass, about which they are accustomed to calumniate, and let them learn how it is said: 'The Lord created me,' Prov. 8:22. He did not say: 'The Father created,' but 'The Lord created me.' The flesh acknowledges the Lord, glory signifies the Father: our creature confesses the Lord, love knows the Father. Therefore, who does not know that this is said because of the cause of the incorporation? Thus, he says that he is created in that in which he also testifies to being a man, saying: 'Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you?' John 8:40. He says he is a man, in whom he was also crucified and died and was buried. Nor should there be any doubt that he put the past for what was to come: for this is the custom of prophecy, to say of things future as if they were present or already done. Thus, you have read in Psalm 21: 'Fat bulls surrounded me,' Ps. 21:13; you have also read: 'They divided my garments among them,' Ps. 21:19; which the evangelist signifies was prophesied about the time of the Passion; for to God what is future is present: and to him who knows all things beforehand, future things are as if done, as it is written: 'He who made future things' (Is. 45:11, according to the LXX). Nor is it surprising if he says he was founded before the ages, when you have read that he was predestined before the times of the ages." St. Ambrose, De Fide, Book I, Chapter 15, Numbers 96-98, PL, 16, 573.

 

In the same work, he says: "From this, we understand that what is written about the incarnation of the Lord: 'The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways for his works,' Prov. 8:22, signifies that the Lord Jesus was created from the Virgin to redeem the works of the Father. For it cannot be doubted that this is said about the mystery of the incarnation, since the Lord took flesh to free his works from the servitude of corruption; that by the suffering of his body, he might destroy him who had the power of death. For the flesh of Christ is for the works, his divinity is before the works; for he is before all things, but all things exist in him. Therefore, the divinity is not for the works, but the works for the divinity: as the Apostle declared, saying that all things are for the Son of God. For it is written: 'For whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering,' Heb. 2:10. Did he not clearly expound that the Son of God, who created all things because of his divinity, later assumed flesh and the suffering of death for the salvation of the people?

 

For which works he was created from the Virgin, the Lord himself showed when he healed the blind man, saying: 'I must work the works of him who sent me,' John 9:4. And he added, so that we would believe it was said about his incarnation: 'While I am in the world, I am the light of the world,' John 9:5. Indeed, as a man, he is in this world for a time; for as God, he is always. Thus, elsewhere he says: 'Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age,' Mt. 28:20.

 

Nor does any question remain about the beginning, when asked in the flesh: 'Who are you?' he replied: 'The beginning, who also speaks to you,' John 8:25. This not only refers to the eternal substance of divinity but also to the demonstration of virtues. For from this he proved himself to be eternal God; because he is the beginning of all things, and the author of every virtue, because he is the head of the Church, as it is written: 'For he is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,' Col. 1:18. Therefore, it is clear that the 'beginning of his ways' is said about the incarnation, which seems to refer to the mystery of the assumed body. For this reason, he took on flesh, to pave the way to heaven for us. Therefore, he says: 'I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God,' John 20:17. Therefore, to know that the almighty Father prescribed his ways according to the incarnation to the Son, you have in Zechariah where it is said to Jesus, clothed in filthy garments by the angel: 'Thus says the Lord Almighty: If you walk in my ways and keep my commandments,' Zech. 3:7. What is that filthy garment, if not the assumption of flesh? Therefore, the ways of the Lord are like certain paths of a good life, which are directed by Christ, who says: 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life,' John 14:6. The way, therefore, is the divine virtue. Christ is the way for us. And a good way, which opened the kingdoms of heaven to believers. The ways of the Lord are straight ways, as it is written: 'Make known to me your ways, O Lord,' Ps. 25:4. The way is chastity, the way is faith, the way is abstinence. There is the way of virtue, and there is the way of iniquity, as it is written: 'And see if there is any wicked way in me,' Ps. 139:24.

 

Therefore, Christ is the beginning of our virtue. The beginning of integrity, who taught virgins not to expect marriage but to dedicate the integrity of mind and body more to the Holy Spirit than to a husband, 2 Cor. 2:2. The beginning of frugality is Christ, who became poor, though he was rich, 2 Cor. 8:9. The beginning of patience is Christ, who when he was reviled, did not revile; when he was struck, did not strike back, 1 Pet. 2:23. The beginning of humility is Christ, who took the form of a servant, Phil. 2:7, while he equaled the Father in the majesty of virtue. For from him, every virtue received its beginning.

 

And therefore, that we might learn these kinds of virtues: a Son is given to us, whose beginning is upon his shoulders, Is. 9:6. That beginning is the cross of the Lord; the beginning of strength, by which the way of saints is opened to martyrs for the struggle of holy passion." St. Ambrose, De Fide, Book 3, Chapter 7, PL, 16, 623.

The same holy Doctor briefly: "The first intercession had the complaint that good things were deferred, whose fruits were already desired. The second intercession, that the awaited advent of Christ was delayed to the prudent, which the law had announced, which the prophets had promised, and the hearts of the righteous burned more impatiently because they knew he would come for the redemption of all. All of whom? To whom he would open the way of virtue by the evangelical path, and show the paths of good works, as he himself said in Proverbs: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways,' Prov. 8:22. Therefore, it was said to him: 'Where is your God?' Ps. 41:11, because Christ had not yet come, but was expected. Thus the devil raged to crush those he knew would believe in the advent of the Lord, and afflicted them with various torments. Therefore, David intercedes, to stir the delaying one with prophetic complaint, urge him to hasten, and remind him to help. We have a similarity of this intercession also in later times, where the same prophet says: 'Why have you cast us off forever, O God?' Ps. 73:1." St. Ambrose, De interpellatione Job et David, Book 2, Chapter 7, Number 26, PL, 14, 861.

 

Similarly, St. Augustine: "According to the form of God, it is said: 'He begot me before all hills,' Prov. 8:25, that is, before all heights of creatures; and: 'Before the morning star I begot you,' Ps. 109:3, that is, before all times and temporal things: but according to the form of a servant, it is said: 'The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways,' Prov. 8:22. For according to the form of God, he said: 'I am the truth;' and according to the form of a servant: 'I am the way,' John 14:6. For he himself, the firstborn from the dead, Rev. 1:5, made a way for his Church to the kingdom of God to eternal life, of which he is the head to the immortality of the body also, therefore created in the beginning of God's ways in his works. For according to the form of God, he is the beginning who also speaks to us, John 8:25; in which beginning God made heaven and earth, Gen. 1:1: but according to the form of a servant, the Bridegroom coming forth from his chamber, Ps. 19:5. According to the form of God, the firstborn of all creation, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together, according to the form of a servant, he is the head of the body, the Church, Col. 1:15, 17, 18." St. Augustine, De Trinitate, Book 1, Chapter 12, Number 23, PL, 42, 837.

 

St. Jerome: "And up to this place, God will come, or the first power which is the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. And to this tower comes the first power, or the first principality, he who said: 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last,' Rev. 22:13. And who says in the person of the assumed man in Proverbs: 'The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways for his works,' Prov. 8:22, or as it is written in Hebrew: 'The Lord possessed me,' for 'kanani' does not mean 'created me,' but 'possessed me.'" St. Jerome, In Michaeam, 4, 8-9, PL, XXV, 1191.

 

The same holy Doctor expresses this more clearly in his commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians, where he says: "And because we have come to the name of creature, and Wisdom in Proverbs of Solomon says it was created at the beginning of the ways of God, Prov. 8:22, many fear, lest they are compelled to say that Christ is a creature, they deny the whole mystery of Christ, so as to say that it is not Christ in this wisdom, but the wisdom of the world is meant: we freely proclaim that there is no danger in calling him a creature, whom we profess as a worm, and a man, and crucified, and a curse, with the whole confidence of our hope: especially since from the two verses that precede, the same wisdom promises to say what things will be after the ages. But when Christ made the ages, and the things that follow are those which he promised to say after the ages, they must be referred to the mystery of the incarnation, not to the nature of God: although in Hebrew manuscripts it does not have: 'The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways,' but, 'The Lord possessed me.'" St. Jerome, In Epistolam ad Ephesios, 2, 10, PL, XXVI, 271.

 

St. Fulgentius: "Thus, he also, through Solomon, insinuating the truth of his generation and creation, said: 'The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways for his works,' Prov. 8:22. But before saying this, he gave a clear indication of his future incarnation, saying: 'I will announce to you what happens daily, I will recall what has been from the age' (Prov. 8:21, according to the LXX). Then enumerating, he added: 'The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways for his works.' This creation is indeed from the age, not before the age. For afterwards, he says: 'He founded me before the ages;' and shortly after: 'He begot me before all hills.' Here, when he says, 'before the ages,' and 'before all hills,' he wanted the eternity of his divine birth to be understood. Both before the age and after the age, eternity is. And so the eternity of the Son of God before the age has no beginning, just as his eternity after the age has no end. So then, placing the past for the future, Wisdom says: 'The Lord created me,' for what is 'will create me;' and thus he spoke as if done what was certainly to be done: as through blessed David he said: 'They pierced my hands and my feet: they counted all my bones. They looked and stared at me. They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots,' Ps. 22:16-18. Therefore, saying, 'The Lord created me,' he showed how he was crucified. Just as it was certainly to be, which he sang through David about his passion as if it had happened; so it was to be which he prophesied about his incarnation through Solomon as if it had been done. For Solomon himself said shortly before: 'Wisdom has built her house,' Prov. 9:1, which pertains to the origin of the Lord's incarnation... Who then does not see that all that was said by the prophets about the humanity and passion of the only-begotten Son of God was to be in truth as it is now in truth past. To show the immutability of the divine counsel, it was made so that prophetic Scripture should speak as if past what was expected to happen in the work. For God, of whom the prophet here says: 'He who made future things' (Is. 45:11, according to the LXX), wanted to narrate what was to be done as if done, because what happens in time by the mutability of time, he firmly established by the immutability of his eternal disposition. Therefore, even in those things in which there is not yet the effect of the work, the firm disposition of the creator remains in eternity. Thus, the Son of God, when he was to be created with his work, said he was created, just as he did not doubt to say he was crucified when he was to be crucified." St. Fulgentius, Contra Sermonem Fastidiosi Liber Unus, Chapter 8, PL, LXV, 516, 517.

 

Finally, the Venerable Bede says: "Another translation begins here: 'The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways for his works,' which the Fathers understand to be said about the incarnation of the Lord, saying, that for the certainty of the mystery he said: 'The Lord created me,' and not 'The Father created me.' The flesh, they say, acknowledges the Lord, glory signifies the Father. The creature confesses the Lord, love names the Father; the beginning; or at the beginning of his ways, as he himself says: 'I am the way,' because rising from the dead, he made a way for his Church to the kingdom of God, to eternal life. For his works, because to redeem the works of the Father, he was created from the Virgin; assuming flesh, to free the works of the Father from the servitude of corruption. For the flesh of Christ is for the works, his divinity is before the works." Venerable Bede, In Parab. Salomonis Allegorica Expositio, PL, XCI, 966.

 

V

 

The primary explanations of the Holy Fathers concerning the text of Proverbs are generally as follows. From all of these, the following can be gathered:

 

As has been said and proven, and as the Venerable Bede explicitly asserts in the words cited above, the Fathers generally understood and explained the text from Proverbs: "The Lord created me..." as referring to the incarnation of the Lord. Indeed, there was some diversity among them in certain accessories, such as in explaining the words: "He founded me before the ages," which St. Hilary referred to the divinity of the Word existing before the ages; however, St. Athanasius and St. Ambrose referred the same words to the incarnation of the divine Word foreseen and predestined before the ages. But the aforementioned words: "The Lord created me at the beginning of His ways in His works," the Fathers commonly referred to the incarnation of the Word of God, who became man and, according to the human nature assumed, says: "The Lord created me," and not "The Father created me." Therefore, according to this interpretation, the words of Proverbs contain a certain prediction or foreshadowing of the incarnation, since often in divine sayings, future events are presented as if they were present or past. Consequently, Christ, the Word of God made flesh, is called the beginning of the ways of God, that is, the ways of redemption and salvation, whether these ways are understood as Christ Himself, who says of Himself: "I am the way," John 14:6, and who opened the way for men to approach God and enter the kingdom of heaven by His teaching, examples, passion, and death; or whether the ways are understood as Moses and the prophets and the apostles, who endeavored to lead men to God by their admonitions and examples; or whether they are understood in general as the faithful and the just, whose head is Christ, who is called the beginning of the ways of God in the same way as, for example, He is called by the Apostle the firstborn from the dead, Col. 1:18, or the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, 1 Cor. 15:20. Similarly, according to this interpretation of the Fathers, Christ is said to be created in the works of God, namely, in the work of the salvation of men, in the work of redemption, which the Father entrusted to His incarnate Son to accomplish, John 17:4.

 

Thus said the Holy Fathers. However, when the Arians objected to that text of Proverbs, they first responded that those words in Proverbs were written in the manner of proverbs and therefore should be understood according to the nature of proverbs, that is, an occult and hidden meaning should be sought, which lies in proverbs or parables, just as in those evangelical parables proposed by Christ the Lord.

 

Then indeed, they responded to the arguments of the Arians in two ways, indirectly and directly.

 

Indirectly, they responded that divine Wisdom or the Word or the Son of God is not a creature, nor can it in any way be said to be created, which they invincibly proved with many and various texts, taken both from the whole of sacred Scripture and especially from that very place in Proverbs, which the Arians objected to. For there, divine Wisdom expressly says that it was begotten before all the hills (πρὸ πάντων βουνῶν, πρηξί μέ), Prov. 8:25, that it was with God or in God during the very creation of things, arranging all things, and that it was the object of divine joy, in which God delighted (ἤμην παρ' αὐτῷ ἀρμόζουσα, Prov. 8:30).

 

Directly, they responded by explaining the words in which the whole question revolved, "The Lord created me," in two ways. First, some, such as St. Athanasius, Eusebius, and others, said that the word "created" (ἔκτισε) should not be taken, nor is it always taken in sacred Scripture in its proper and strict sense, as signifying production out of nothing, but should be taken in a broad sense, that is, to mean appointed, ordained, constituted, etc. But moreover, they said that those words were not simply spoken by divine Wisdom but by divine Wisdom incarnate, by the Son of God, who became man, and having taken the form of a servant, calls God His Father, saying: "The Lord created me" (Κύριος ἔκτισέ με). Of these two explanations, the first seems exegetically more accurate and more conformable to the context of Scripture. The latter, however, was clearer dogmatically and more effective in refuting the Arians.

 

For the first explanation, which understands and explains the word "created" in a broad sense, both solves the objection clearly and is sufficient in itself, as the most illustrious and well-known interpreter Cornelius a Lapide rightly understands and explains: "You may ask: How can it be said of the Son of God: 'The Lord created me'? For from this, the Arians conclude that the Son of God is not God, but created and a creature... I respond secondly: ἔκτισε does not only mean 'created' but also 'established,' 'made,' 'worked.' Thus, in Scripture, 'created' often means 'made'; moreover, the Father made or established His Son because He begot Him. Thus, in Scripture, these three, 'create,' 'make,' 'beget,' are often taken for the same; for the word 'create' is taken in a very broad sense, as I showed a little earlier. Thus St. Athanasius, sermon 3 Against the Arians, and St. Cyril, book V Thesaurus, chapter VI." These are the words of Lapide.

 

To this is added the explanation of St. Thomas: "As for the fact that wisdom is said to be created, it can first be understood not of the wisdom that is the Son of God, but of the wisdom that God imparted to creatures... It can also refer to the created nature assumed by the Son... Or by the fact that wisdom is called both created and begotten, the mode of divine generation is insinuated to us. For in generation, what is generated receives the nature of the one generating, which is a perfection: but, in the generations that are among us, the generator itself is changed, which is an imperfection; in creation, however, the creator is not changed, but the created does not receive the nature of the creator. Therefore, the Son is called both created and begotten, so that from creation the immutability of the Father is understood, from generation the unity in the Father and the Son; and thus the Synod explained the understanding of such Scriptures, as is evident from Hilary." St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles, book IV, chapter 8.

 

Therefore, according to this explanation, the Word of God or the Son can be called both created and begotten, provided these terms are correctly understood. That is, in a broad sense, created, to express the immutability of the generating Father; and in the proper sense, begotten, to signify the unity of nature or consubstantiality of the Son with the Father. Thus, this explanation alone would suffice both to clarify the aforementioned text from Proverbs and to solve the objection of the Arians.

 

However, as has been stated and proven, the Holy Fathers generally did not use this explanation. They commonly referred to the words of Proverbs: "The Lord created me..." as relating to the created nature assumed by the Son. It should be noted that the Holy Fathers, almost all of them, explained the aforementioned words of Proverbs not in their commentaries or expositions but in disputation or controversy with the Arians. In disputes, it is customary not only to consider what Scripture says but also what the adversaries object and what is more fitting and effective to refute them. The Arians did not object to that text from Proverbs alone but together with other texts of the New Testament, which were indeed to be understood about Christ the Lord. For example, the words of St. Paul: "Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus: who was faithful to him who made him," (Hebrews 3:1-2), or also the words of St. Peter: "Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified," (Acts 2:36). Since these texts were understood and explained about the Incarnate Word, it was natural that the other text from Proverbs, about Wisdom incarnate, should also be understood and explained in the same way.

 

Moreover, this explanation, as has been stated, was clearer dogmatically and more effective in refuting the Arians, for it could be retained without harming the propriety of the words and without injuring piety. For the Arians, like heretics often do, covered their errors with the ambiguity of words, claiming that the Word of God was different from all other things; that it was indeed created but not like one of the created things; that it was begotten but not like one of the begotten things. Therefore, the Fathers, to more effectively close every way of escape for them, firmly asserted that Wisdom or the Word of God could in no way be truly and properly called created, and that the words of Proverbs: "The Lord created me," were to be understood about the Incarnate Word, according to the humanity assumed by Him.

 

Nevertheless, the Holy Fathers, as has been stated, did not propose this explanation of the text as the only one; indeed, some of them, to respond to the Arians, cited the version of Aquila and other ancient versions, by which, once admitted, the entire difficulty completely disappears.

 

VI

"The Lord possessed me..."

This version was already cited by Eusebius of Caesarea, in these words: "If anyone, therefore, wishes to investigate the genuine sense of the most sacred Scripture, he will find that the Hebrew reading does not have 'created me,' which none of the other translators used. Aquila reads: 'The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his ways.' Symmachus: 'The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his ways.' So too Theodotion: 'The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his way.' And this interpretation is not far from reason. For He whom the Father begot as the Only Begotten was the head of all the progeny of the visible and invisible: concerning their origin and their salvation."

 

He adds below: "Or according to the presented interpretation: 'The Lord possessed me.' For indeed the Only Begotten Son was the great possession of God: because the Son was begotten from Him: and because He was constituted as profiting all and bringing salvation, He was the greatest and was called the possession of His Father. For no possession was more honorable and pleasing to the Father than the Son. Hence Adam, the first-created, when he first possessed a son, said as a man: 'I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord,' Genesis 4:1. In Hebrew, the word for 'possessed' is 'kanithi' (קָנִיתִי): and for 'possessed,' 'kana' (קָנָה). Thus it is used of Abraham: 'The field which Abraham purchased,' Genesis 25:10; in Hebrew, it is 'kana' (קָנָה), the same word used in: 'The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his ways for his works.' Therefore, since the word 'kana' (קָנָה) is there, all the translators have consistently rendered it as 'possessed.' However, the word 'created' is rejected by the Hebrews and is not found in the present scripture. Indeed, there is a great difference between 'created' (בָּרָא) and 'possessed' (קָנָה): the former signifies the common notion of the process of creatures from non-being to existence; the latter denotes the possession of a pre-existing thing and the peculiar property of the possessor. Therefore, the Son of God, saying: 'The Lord created me, the beginning of his ways for his works,' simultaneously indicates His pre-existence and special property concerning the Father; as well as the utility that the Father’s works would receive from His administration and providence: hence, he adds: 'Before the ages, he established me. In the beginning, before he made the earth, before the springs of water came forth, before the mountains were established, before all the hills, he begot me,' Proverbs 8:23-25. By these individual points, it is declared how useful and necessary He was to the universe: and it is taught that He was, and was before, and existed before the whole universe, and presided over all things." Eusebius of Caesarea, "On Ecclesiastical Theology," book 3, chapter 2, PG, 24, 977.

 

These are the words of Eusebius, in which any idea of the consubstantiality of the Word with the Father is sought in vain, though he clearly and rightly distinguishes between the sense of the word 'created' and 'possessed,' and between the notion of true creation, or the process of creatures from non-being to subsistence, and the notion of the peculiar possession and property of the possessor.

 

Thus says Didymus of Alexandria, in the passage cited above: "But beyond all these things, which are subject to no doubt, I have something else to oppose; no one, however, can even think of anything against it, much less argue it. For Aquila, one of the interpreters, thus translated this passage of Scripture, which in Hebrew reads: 'Adonai kanani' (properly קָנָנִי): 'The Lord possessed me,' and he did not use his word: for if we accurately render the meaning of the word, it should be translated: 'The Lord hatched me,' that is, 'begot me.' For properly, when speaking of those who come out of an egg, and not those who are created, it is said: 'hatched,' or 'caused to spring forth,' and 'is hatched,' and 'causes to spring forth'; and what causes to spring forth is not of a different substance from that which springs forth from it. Therefore, whether we consider the etymology of the word or the sense of the entire speech, it is contrary to the truth to say what the heretics say." Didymus of Alexandria, "On the Trinity," book 3, chapter 3, PG, 39, 825.

 

Thus, therefore, Didymus, who, not content with Aquila’s interpretation: "The Lord possessed me," composes or proposes another himself: "The Lord hatched me," deducing, evidently, that word from the Hebrew root קָנָה, which signifies 'nest.'

 

Similarly, St. Epiphanius, who seems also to have liked this latter interpretation. For he says: "Indeed, if we wish to speak properly, the reading among the interpreters is not conceived in this way. For Aquila thus translated: 'The Lord acquired me.' Since in Hebrew it is thus read: 'Adonai kanani.' This, as we have said, can be interpreted in this way. But even when we deal with our own children, we usually say they were acquired from someone. Indeed, that sense of the place did not so seal the meaning that another could not be accommodated. For indeed those same words: 'Adonai kanani,' can be explained in this way: 'The Lord has hatched me as a chick,' Κυριος kvóасeἐv tie. St. Epiphanius, "Ancoratus," chapter 44, PG, 43, 96.

 

The same holy Father expanded more broadly on this in his "Panarion," where he says: "Indeed, it is read quite differently in Hebrew, and therefore Aquila translates it thus: 'The Lord possessed me.' For those who receive children usually say: 'I have acquired a son.' Although Aquila did not sufficiently express the force. For 'I have acquired a son' signifies something recent and new, of which there is nothing in God. But even if someone grants that, nevertheless the Son begotten by the Father is not considered created. And so indeed begotten, without time or beginning. For no time intervened between the Son and the Father, so that no part of time is said to have preceded the origin of the Son... And indeed in Hebrew it is read thus: 'Adonai,' that is, 'Lord,' 'kanani,' that is, either 'begot me as a chick,' or 'possessed me.' But it is much more fitting to render it in the former way, 'begot me as a chick.' For which chick does not proceed from the same nature as that from which it was begotten?...

 

And so if we interpret those words, 'Adonai kanani,' that is, 'the Lord has hatched me'; whatever generates another, surely generates something similar to itself. Therefore, a human generates a human, and God generates God: the former by flesh, the latter by spirit. Just as the generating human is, so too is the begotten. The human who generates, being subject to affections, generates a son in the same way; but God, being free from all affection, generates the Son from Himself without the same affection, and indeed truly, not only in appearance, from Himself, not outside Himself; a spirit surely, without any, as I said, affection, and without the same spirit generating, God free from affection generating a true God without affection." St. Epiphanius, "Panarion against heresies," heresy 69, n. 25, 26. PG, 42, 241.

 

Briefly and clearly, St. Basil says: "Meanwhile, let us not omit to mention the other interpreters who more appropriately captured the meaning of the Hebrew words and rendered 'possessed me' instead of 'created me': this will be a great impediment to the blasphemy of the Arians. For the one who said: 'I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord' (Genesis 4:1), evidently used this word not because he had created Cain, but because he had begotten him." St. Basil, Against Eunomius, book 2, n. 20. PG, 29, 616.

 

Similarly, St. Gregory of Nyssa says: "If they want to use the phrase 'The Lord created me' (Proverbs 8:22) as a testimony for their doctrine, that the Lord was created, as if the Only Begotten Himself denies this, they should not be listened to. For they do not clearly prove that these words should refer to our Lord; nor can they fit this meaning to the words from the Hebrew, since other interpreters have rendered the word 'created' as 'possessed' or 'constituted'." St. Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius, book 1. PG, 45, 344.

 

From the Latin Fathers, it suffices to bring up St. Jerome, who says: "And he who, in the person of the assumed man, says in Proverbs: 'The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways for His works,' (Proverbs 8:22), or as it is written in Hebrew: 'The Lord possessed me': for CANANI (קָנָנִי) means not 'created me' but 'possessed me' or 'held me'." St. Jerome, On Micah IV, 8-9. PL, 25, 1191.

 

The same holy Doctor says similarly in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians: "When Christ made the ages, and what follows, He promised to speak of the things that He would say after the ages, they should be referred to the mystery of the incarnation, not to the nature of God. Although in the Hebrew texts it is not written: 'The Lord created me, the beginning of His ways,' but: 'The Lord possessed me.' There is a great difference between possession and creation: because what is possessed surely exists and subsists, and is the property of the possessor. But he who is created did not exist before he was made: or certainly, if he was, he is transferred into something else, as we are now said to be created in Christ Jesus. Created, indeed, not because we were not before, but created in good works." St. Jerome, On the Epistle to the Ephesians II, 10-11. PL, 26, 471.

Finally, the same St. Jerome insists that this reading should be uniquely accepted in Isaiah, saying: "They pray for this, that after peace is restored to them, they may become the possession of God. Which indeed we also read of Wisdom, which according to the Hebrew speaks in Proverbs: 'God possessed me, the beginning of His ways,' (Proverbs 8:22), although some copies wrongly have 'creation' instead of 'possession.' Finally, it follows: 'Before all the hills, He begets me.' For how can the generation of a creature be adapted, which more properly belongs to possession?" St. Jerome, On Isaiah XXVI, 13. PL, 24, 298.

 

Therefore, this reading and explanation is to be preferred, which our Vulgate also has: "The Lord possessed me." For, as St. Jerome rightly noted, and the more ancient Fathers also said, such as St. Athanasius, Didymus of Alexandria, St. Epiphanius, and others, the generation of a creature cannot be properly adapted. For what is created is not begotten, and what is begotten is not created. But here Wisdom clearly states that she is begotten, Proverbs 8:25: "Before all the hills, I was brought forth" (LXX), or: "Before the hills, I was brought forth" (Vulgate). Therefore, it is consistent that Wisdom does not call herself created, and consequently, the reading 'possessed' is better and more coherent with the entire context, in which the word 'created' is omitted. Furthermore, this is also evident from the force and meaning of the Hebrew word קָנָנִי, which means and is rendered not 'created' but 'possessed,' as is evident from Hebrew versions, namely those of Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and St. Jerome, as well as from parallel texts, in which at least in most cases the word קָנָנִי is rendered in the LXX version with the Greek word ἐκτήσατο and its derivatives. The reason some Fathers allege, namely, that the words should be understood about the incarnate Wisdom because it is said: 'The Lord created me,' and not, 'The Father created me,' has no force unless the LXX version: Κύριος ἔκτισέν με is also supposed. For in Hebrew, there is no word Adonai (אֲדֹנָי), which properly means 'Lord,' but the proper and ineffable name of God, the name Yahweh (יהוה).

 

Once the version 'The Lord possessed me' is admitted, everything, without any difficulty, can be appropriately and coherently explained about the notional divine Wisdom or the Word of God, which was with the Father.

 

"The Lord possessed me, the beginning of His ways,—before His works, from then.
From eternity I was established (or anointed),—from the beginning, from the origins of the earth.
When the depths were not yet, I was conceived,—when the springs with water were not yet flowing:
Before the mountains were set in place,—before all the hills, I was brought forth:
He had not yet made the earth and the fields,—and the beginning of the dust of the world.
When He prepared the heavens, I was there,—when He set a circle upon the face of the deep.
When He made firm the skies above,—when He established the fountains of the deep:
When He gave to the sea its decree,—that the waters should not pass His commandment:
—when He appointed the foundations of the earth:
I was by His side as a master craftsman:—and I was His delight day by day,
—playing before Him all the time:
Playing in His habitable earth:—and my delights were with the sons of men."

 

In these words, therefore, as has been said, it is Wisdom of God speaking. The notional divine Wisdom, and says she was with God already before the creation of all things, as the beginning of His way, or of His ways. The ways of God are often called in sacred Scripture the works of God ad extra, whether they are natural or supernatural. Here, however, the ways of God are evidently the ways of creation, by which God, as it were, goes outside Himself, namely, by sharing and manifesting His divine perfections to His creatures, and by which in turn intellectual creatures can come to know the existence of God and His attributes and divine perfections, according to the words of the Apostle Paul: Romans 1:20. "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead."

 

Thus, in the cited words, the preexistence of the notional divine Wisdom before the creation of all things is exhibited, since she was possessed by the Lord from then, before His works, Proverbs 8:22, and was with God, or by His side, Proverbs 8:24, 30. Also exhibited is the procession of the same Wisdom from God by generation, since she is said to be conceived, and brought forth before the hills, Proverbs 8:24, 25. Furthermore, her intervention in the creation and formation of things is exhibited, since she was by God's side as a master craftsman; this seems to be the truer interpretation of the Hebrew word, as is also evident from the ancient versions, from the LXX version, which has ἡγοῦσα; in the old Vulgate, disposing; in the Hieronymian, composing all things; and similarly in the Syriac version. Moreover, Wisdom is shown as the object of divine joy, as God's delight, since she was His delight day by day, playing in God's presence all the time, or, as the LXX version has: ἐγὼ ἤμην ἡ προσέχαιρουσα αὐτῷ, Proverbs 8:30. "I was the one who delighted Him."

 

Therefore, Venerable Bede rightly explains these words of Proverbs (PL, 91, 965) and compares them with the beginning of the Gospel of St. John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him," John 1:1-3. But furthermore, as has been said, Wisdom is shown to be begotten by God, as God's delight: she is the Only Begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, John 1:18, the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased, Matthew 3:17; 17:5. Indeed, in those words spoken by the Wisdom of God: "And my delights were with the sons of men," Proverbs 8:31, we can now, after the fact, reasonably say that the divine counsel regarding the future incarnation is somehow hinted at.

 

These, therefore, are what are contained in the cited text of Proverbs, not indeed taken plainly or considered by itself, but compared with other biblical texts and splendidly illuminated by the clearer and more open revelation of the New Testament.

 

Thus understood and explained, this text contains not only no difficulty against the divinity of the Word of God but rather an unequivocal assertion of the eternal preexistence of the same Word and His divine generation from the Father, not indeed entirely clear and manifest, but somewhat veiled and hidden among the shadows and clouds of the Old Testament.