Early Christian Beliefs About the Son of God

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Direct teaching

...was: one, the Word of God; the other, God. Although the Word is also God, He is God regarded as the Son of God, not as the Father. There is One through whom all things were made, and Another by whom all things were made. But in what sense we call Him Another, we have already often explained. In calling Him Another, we must mean that He is not identical. He is not identical, yet not as if separate. He is Other by divine arrangement, not by division. Therefore, He who became flesh was not the very same as He from whom the Word came. "His glory was seen, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father." John 1:14 Notice: not "as of the Father." He alone declared what was in the bosom of the Father. The Father did not reveal the secrets of His own bosom. For this is preceded by another statement: "No man has seen God at any time." Then again, when John the Baptist designates Him as "the Lamb of God," John 1:29 he is not described as being Himself the same as Him whose beloved Son He is. He is certainly always the Son of God, yet not Himself the one of whom He is the Son. Nathanael at once recognized this in Him, John 1:49 just as Peter did on another occasion: "You are the Son of Go

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching

..., that Christ was the Father? On the contrary, he had often heard and often learned that He was the Son, not that He was the Father. For when the Lord said, "If you have known me, you have known my Father also: and from now on you have known Him, and have seen Him," He did not say this because He wanted to be understood as being the Father Himself. Rather, He meant that whoever came near to the Son of God fully, completely, with all faith and all reverence, would certainly reach the Father through the Son Himself, in whom he believes, and would see Him. For, He says, "No one can come to the Father, but by me." And therefore such a person will not only come to God the Father and know the Father Himself, but he ought also to hold this and be confident of it in mind and heart: that from now on he has not only known the Father, but has seen Him. For divine Scripture often announces things that are not yet done as though they were already done, because that is how they certainly will be. And things that must happen, it does not predict as though they were still future, but tells as though they were already completed. So, although Christ had not yet been born in the days of Isaiah the

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

..., that Christ was the Father? On the contrary, he had often heard and often learned that He was the Son, not that He was the Father. For when the Lord said, "If you have known me, you have known my Father also; and from now on you have known Him and have seen Him," He did not say this because He wanted to be understood as the Father Himself. Rather, He meant that the person who came near to the Son of God completely and fully, with all faith and all reverence, would certainly reach the Father through the Son Himself, in whom he believes, and would see Him. For He says, "No one can come to the Father but by me." Therefore, such a person will not only come to God the Father and know the Father Himself, but he ought also to hold this in his mind and heart, and so be assured, that from now on he has not only known the Father, but seen Him. For divine Scripture often announces things that are not yet done as if they were already done, because that is how they certainly will be. And things that must happen, it does not predict as though they were future, but tells them as though they were already finished. So, although Christ had not yet been born in the days of Isaiah the prophet, he

Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Direct teaching

...He did not say, "I and the Father am one," but, "are one." For the word "are" is not used of one person. It refers to two persons and one power. He Himself made this clear when He spoke to His Father about the disciples: "The glory that You gave me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and You in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that You have sent me." What do the Noetians have to say to these things? Are all one body in respect to substance? Or is it that we become one in power and in the disposition of unity of mind? In the same way, the Son, who was sent and was not known by those who are in the world, confessed that He was in the Father in power and disposition. For the Son is the one mind of the Father. We who have the Father’s mind believe this about Him, but those who do not have it have denied the Son. And if, again, they choose to bring up the fact that Philip asked about the Father, saying, "Show us the Father, and it is enough for us," to whom the Lord answered in these words, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father. Do you not belie

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Supporting witness

So, it is either the Father or the Son, and day is not the same as night. In the same way, the Father is not the same as the Son, so that both of them would be one, and one or the other would be both. That is the view held by the most arrogant Monarchians. They say that He made Himself a Son to Himself. But a father makes a son, and a son makes a father. When persons are related to each other in that way, they cannot somehow become related to themselves by themselves. So the Father cannot make Himself a Son to Himself, and the Son cannot make Himself a Father to Himself. And the relations God establishes, He also preserves. A father must have a son in order to be a father. In the same way, a son must have a father in order to be a son. However, having something is one thing, and being something is another. For example, to be a husband, I must have a wife. I can never be my own wife. In the same way, to be a father, I have a son, because I can never be a son to myself. And to be a son, I have a father, because it is impossible for me ever to be my own father. These relations make me what I am when I come to possess them. I will be a father when I have a son, and a son when I have a

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching

...er by saying, "I and the Father," He separates and distinguishes the proper character of His own person, that is, the Son's person, from the Father's authority. He does this not only in the sound of the name, but also in the order of the distribution of power. Since He might have said, "I, the Father," if He had in mind that He Himself was the Father. And since He said one thing, let the heretics understand that He did not say one person. For "one," placed in the neuter, points to social concord, not personal unity. He is said to be one in the neuter, not one in the masculine, because the expression is not referred to number, but is declared with reference to association with another. Finally, He adds and says, "We are," not "I am," so as to show, by His saying, "I and the Father are," that they are two persons. Moreover, when He says "one," this refers to agreement, and to identity of judgment, and to loving association itself, just as the Father and Son are rightly one in agreement, in love, and in affection. And because He is of the Father, whatever He is, He is the Son. The distinction still remains, however, that He is not the Father who is the Son, because He is not the So

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

...s the Father by saying, “I and the Father,” He separates and distinguishes what is proper to His person, that is, the Son’s person, from the Father's authority. He does this not only in the sound of the name, but also in the order of the distribution of power, since He might have said, “I the Father,” if He had intended that He Himself was the Father. And since He said “one,” let the heretics understand that He did not say “one person.” For “one,” placed in the neuter, points to social concord, not personal unity. He is said to be one in the neuter, not one in the masculine, because the expression is not referred to number, but is declared with reference to the association of another. Finally, He adds and says, “We are,” not “I am,” so as to show, by the fact that He says, “I and the Father are,” that they are two persons. Moreover, that He says “one” refers to agreement, and to identity of judgment, and to loving association itself, just as the Father and Son are reasonably one in agreement, in love, and in affection. And because He is of the Father, whatever He is, He is the Son. The distinction, however, remains, that He is not the Father who is the Son, because He is not the

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

If as the Father, why do they not follow those who appear to maintain blasphemies of that kind?

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching

...o not understand." Jesus the Christ, because the Jews did not know what the Father was, or what the Son was, similarly accused them; and He said, "No one knows the Father except the Son; nor the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son reveals Him." The Word of God is His Son, as we mentioned earlier. He is called Angel and Apostle because He declares what we ought to know and is sent to reveal whatever is declared, as our Lord Himself says, "He who hears Me, hears Him who sent Me." This is also evident from the writings of Moses, for it is written in them, "And the Angel of God spoke to Moses from a flame of fire in the bush, saying, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of your fathers; go down into Egypt and bring forth My people." If you wish to learn what follows, you can refer to the same writings, as it is impossible to relate everything here. But this much is written to prove that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and His Apostle, previously the Word, and appearing sometimes as fire, sometimes like angels. Now, by God’s will, He has become man for the human race, enduring all the sufferings which the devils incited the s

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching

No one can know the Father except through the Word of God, meaning through the Son revealing Him; nor can anyone have knowledge of the Son except through the good pleasure of the Father. The Son does the Father's good pleasure; the Father sends, and the Son is sent, and comes. His Word knows that His Father is, to us, invisible and infinite, and since no one else can declare Him, He declares Himself to us. On the other hand, only the Father knows His own Word. Both these truths our Lord has declared. Therefore, the Son reveals the knowledge of the Father through His own manifestation. For the manifestation of the Son is the knowledge of the Father, as all things are shown through the Word. So that we might know that the Son who came is the one who gives knowledge of the Father to those who believe in Him, He said to His disciples, “No one knows the Son but the Father, nor the Father but the Son, and those to whom the Son reveals Him,” thus presenting Himself and the Father as they truly are, so that we may not accept any other Father except Him who is revealed by the Son.

Origen, Against Celsus Direct teaching

the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Direct teaching

the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Tatian, The Diatessaron Direct teaching

and who the Father is, save the Son, and to whomsoever the Son wills 39 to reveal him.

Clement of Alexandria, Connection to Luke 10:22 Direct teaching

Of late, then, God was known by the coming of Christ: "For no man knoweth God but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal Him."

Clement of Alexandria, Connection to Luke 10:22 Direct teaching

And He first announced the good righteousness that is from heaven, when He said, "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; nor the Father, but the Son."

Irenaeus, Connection to Matthew 11:27 Direct teaching

Wherefore, although "no one knows the Father, except the Son, nor the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him,"

Irenaeus, Connection to Matthew 11:27 Supporting witness

the Saviour spoke falsely when He said, "No one knoweth the Father but the Son,"

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

nor any one the Father, save the Son.

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Direct teaching

And, the Son being in the Father and the Father in the Son, in oneness and power of spirit, the understanding and reason (νοῦς καὶ λόγος) of the Father is the Son of God.

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching

And again, the Son of God, through whom all things were created, is named Jesus Christ and the Son of man.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, On the Trinity Direct teaching

...at there is a soul within us joined with the body. Thus then we reason and believe that the Word is begotten by the Father, although we neither possess nor know the clear rationale of the fact. The Word Himself is before every creature, eternal from the Eternal, like spring from spring, and light from light. The word Word, indeed, belongs to those three genera of words which are named in Scripture, and which are not substantial: namely, the word conceived, the word uttered, and the word articulated. The word conceived certainly is not substantial. The word uttered, again, is that voice which the prophets hear from God, or the prophetic speech itself. And even this is not substantial. And lastly, the word articulated is the speech of man formed in air, composed of terms, which also is not substantial. But the Word of God is substantial, endowed with an exalted and enduring nature, and is eternal with Himself, and is inseparable from Him, and can never fall away, but shall remain in an everlasting union. This Word created heaven and earth, and in Him all things were made. He is the arm and the power of God, never to be separated from the Father, by virtue of an indivisible nature,

Tatian, Address to the Greeks Direct teaching

... His simple will, the Word springs forth. And the Word, not coming forth in vain, becomes the first-begotten work of the Father. We know that He, the Word, is the beginning of the world. But He came into being by participation, not by separation. For what is cut off is separated from the original substance. But what comes by participation, choosing its function, does not make deficient the one from whom it is taken. For just as many fires are lighted from one torch, yet the light of the first torch is not lessened by the kindling of many torches, so the Word, coming forth from the Word-power of the Father, has not stripped from Him who begot Him the Word-power. I myself, for example, speak, and you hear. Yet surely I, who am speaking, do not become deprived of speech by the passing on of speech. Rather, by the utterance of my voice, I try to bring order to the unarranged matter in your minds. And as the Word, begotten in the beginning, in turn begot our world, after first creating for Himself the necessary matter, so also I, in imitation of the Word, being begotten again and having received the truth, am trying to bring order to the confused matter that is akin to myself. For ma

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book I Direct teaching

... all, establishes a certain principle—that is, what was first-born by God, which he called both the only-begotten Son and God, in whom the Father, in a seminal way, brought forth everything. Through him, the Word was produced, and in him the entire substance of the Æons, which the Word later gave form to. Since he addresses the first origin of things, he rightly begins his teaching from the start, that is, from God and the Word. And he expresses himself like this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God.” Having first distinguished these three—God, the Beginning, and the Word—he again unites them, to show the production of each, that is, of the Son and the Word, and at the same time show their union with one another, and with the Father. For “the beginning” is in the Father and from the Father, while “the Word” is in the beginning and from the beginning. Very appropriately, then, did he say, “In the beginning was the Word,” for He was in the Son; “and the Word was with God,” for He was the beginning; “and the Word was God,” naturally, for what is begotten of God is God. “The same was in the beginning

Origen, Commentary on John Direct teaching

...d made the ages through His Son. The “through whom,” when the ages were being made, belonged to the Only-begotten. Thus, if all things were made, as in this passage also, through the Word, then they were not made by the Word, but by One stronger and greater than He. And who else could this be but the Father? Now if, as we have seen, all things were made through Him, we must ask whether the Holy Spirit also was made through Him. It appears to me that those who hold that the Holy Spirit was created, and who also admit that all things were made through Him, must necessarily conclude that the Holy Spirit was made through the Word. The Word would then be older than He. And anyone who refuses to allow that the Holy Spirit was made through Christ must, if he admits the truth of the statements of this Gospel, conclude that the Spirit is uncreated. There is a third possibility besides these two, besides saying that the Spirit was made by the Word and besides regarding Him as uncreated. It is to say that the Holy Spirit has no essence of His own beyond the Father and the Son. But on further thought, one may perhaps see reason to consider that the Son is second beside the Father, He being

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

who brought all things out of nothing into being by Your only begotten Son, but begot Him before all ages by Your will, Your power, and Your goodness, without any instrument, the only begotten Son, God the Word, the living Wisdom, the First-born of every creature, the angel of Your Great Counsel, and Your High Priest, but the King and Lord of every intellectual and sensible nature, who was before all things, by whom were all things.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

He begets me before all the hills.’ ” When I repeated these words, I added: “You perceive, my hearers, if you bestow attention, that the Scripture has declared that this Offspring was begotten by the Father before all things created;

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

Hence, if one were to ask how there is but One God, if there is also a God of God, we would reply that that is a term proper to the idea of original causation, so far as the Father is the one First Cause.

Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians (Long Version) Direct teaching

He, being begotten by the Father before the beginning of time, was God the Word, the only-begotten Son, and remains the same for ever;

Gregory Thaumaturgus, On the Trinity Supporting witness

The Word Himself is before every creature — eternal from the Eternal, like spring from spring, and light from light.

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Supporting witness

holy also Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom You have made all things;

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching

But that God, the Son of God, Born of God the Father from Everlasting, Who Was Always in the Father, is the Second Person to the Father, Who Does Nothing Without His Father's Decree;

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching

If as the Son, why do they deny that the Son of God is God?

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

If as the Son, why do they deny that the Son of God is God?

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Direct teaching

...chs and apostles, and of all the saints. And we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. He was not begotten from things that are not, but from Him who is the Father. He was not begotten in a bodily manner, by excision or division, as Sabellius and Valentinus thought, but in a certain inexplicable and unspeakable manner, according to the words of the prophet quoted above: "Who shall declare His generation?" Isaiah 53:8. Since no nature that is begotten can investigate His subsistence, just as no one can investigate the Father, because the nature of rational beings cannot receive the knowledge of His divine generation by the Father. But men who are moved by the Spirit of truth have no need to learn these things from me. For the words spoken before by Christ on this very matter are sounding in our ears: "No man knows the Father, save the Son; and no man knows who the Son is, save the Father." Matthew 11:27. We have learned that He is, equally with the Father, unchangeable and immutable, lacking nothing, the perfect Son, and like the Father. In this alone He is inferior to the Father: that He is not unbegotten. For He is the exact image of the Father, differi

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

and this is Christ. What in the world is the reason that we should hesitate to call Him God, who in so many ways is acknowledged to be proved God?

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

And it is He whom we call Son of God— Son of that God, namely, whom, to quote the words of Celsus, we most highly reverence;

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Supporting witness

Where, showing that He is the true and genuine Son, He signifies that there are no other genuine sons besides Himself.

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Background

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God;

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Direct teaching

Again, when Martha later acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, in John 11:27, she was no more mistaken than Peter in Matthew 16:16 and Nathanael in John 1:49. And yet, even if she had been mistaken, she would at once have learned the truth. For look, when He was about to raise her brother from the dead, the Lord looked up to heaven and addressed the Father, of course as the Son. He said, "Father, I thank You that You always hear me. It is because of these crowds standing by that I have spoken to You, so that they may believe that You have sent me," in John 11:41-42. But later, in the trouble of His soul, He said, "What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause I have come to this hour. Only, Father, glorify Your name," in John 12:27-28. In this He spoke as the Son. At another time He said, "I have come in my Father's name," in John 5:43. Accordingly, the Son's voice alone was indeed enough when it was addressed to the Father. But look, with abundant witness the Father replies from heaven, in order to testify to the Son: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him," in Matthew 17:5. So again, in that declaration, "I have both glorified, and wi

Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Direct teaching

...in your power to acquaint yourself with the Maker's practiced and indescribable art, or method, but only to see, and understand, and believe that man is God's work. Moreover, you are asking for an account of the generation of the Word, whom God the Father in His good pleasure begot as He willed. Is it not enough for you to learn that God made the world? Do you also dare to ask from where He made it? Is it not enough for you to learn that the Son of God has been manifested to you for salvation, if you believe? Do you also inquire curiously how He was begotten after the Spirit? Truly, no more than two have been entrusted to give the account of His generation after the flesh. And are you then so bold as to seek the account of His generation after the Spirit, which the Father keeps with Himself, intending to reveal it then to the holy ones and those worthy of seeing His face? Rest satisfied with the word spoken by Christ, namely, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit," just as, speaking by the prophet of the generation of the Word, He shows the fact that He is begotten, but reserves the question of the manner and means, to reveal it only in the time determined by Himself. For

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching

...and man. But now, by explaining separately the ordinance and the reason of so great a mystery, he clearly showed, when he said, "And that Holy Thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God," the proof that the Son of God descended, and that by taking the Son of man into Himself He consequently made Him the Son of God, because the Son of God joined and united Him to Himself. So, while the Son of man in His birth clings to the Son of God, by that very mingling He holds by pledge and derivation what He could not possess by His own nature. And so, by the word of the angel, the distinction is made, against the desire of the heretics, between the Son of God and man, yet with their association also preserved. This presses them to understand that Christ, the Son of man, is man, and also to receive the Son of God and man, the Son of God; that is, the Word of God, as it is written, as God. And thus to acknowledge that Christ Jesus the Lord, joined on both sides, so to speak, is on both sides woven in and grown together, and united in the same agreement of both substances, by the binding together of a mutual alliance: man and God, by the truth of Scripture, which declares

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

...and man. But now, by explaining separately the ordinance and the reason of so great a mystery, he clearly showed, in saying, “And that Holy Thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God,” the proof that the Son of God descended, and that, by taking the Son of man up into Himself, He consequently made Him the Son of God, because the Son of God associated and joined Him to Himself. So while the Son of man, in His birth, cleaves to the Son of God, by that very mingling He holds as pledged and derived what by His own nature He could not possess. And so, by the word of the angel, the distinction is made, against the desire of the heretics, between the Son of God and man, yet with their association. This presses them to understand that Christ, the Son of man, is man, and also to recognize that the Son of God, who is God and man, is the Son of God; that is, the Word of God, as it is written, as God. And so they must acknowledge that Christ Jesus the Lord, joined on both sides, so to speak, is on both sides woven in and grown together, and associated in the same agreement of both substances, by the binding to one another of a mutual alliance: man and God, by the truth

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

He became both the Son of God through the Spirit, and the Son of man through the flesh — that is, both God and man.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

The Son of God suffered that He might make us sons of God, and the son of man will not suffer that he may continue to be a son of God!

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

but the Son of God is the Word of God: and the Word of God was made flesh, and dwelt among us;

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...have delivered us from error and ignorance. You have sent Christ among men as a man, being the only begotten God. You have made the Comforter dwell among us. You have set angels over us. You have put the devil to shame. You have brought us into being when we were not. You take care of us after making us. You measure out life to us. You give us food. You have promised repentance. Glory and worship be to You for all these things, through Jesus Christ, now and forever and through all ages. Amen. Meditate on these things, brothers; and may the Lord be with you on earth, and in the kingdom of His Father, who both sent Him and has delivered us by Him from the bondage of corruption into His glorious liberty, Romans 8:21, and has promised life to those who through Him have believed in the God of the whole world.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...mself to Christ, let him say: “And I join myself to Christ, and believe, and am baptized into one unbegotten Being, the only true Almighty God, the Father of Christ, the Creator and Maker of all things, from whom all things come; and into the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, the First-born of the whole creation, who before the ages was begotten by the good pleasure of the Father, by whom all things were made, both the things in heaven and the things on earth, visible and invisible; who in the last days came down from heaven, and took flesh, and was born of the holy Virgin Mary, and lived in holiness according to the laws of His God and Father, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died for us, and rose again from the dead on the third day after His passion, and ascended into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father, and will come again at the end of the world with glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. And I am baptized into the Holy Spirit, that is, the Comforter, who worked in all the saints from the beginning of the world, but was afterward sent to the apostles by the Father, according to the promise of our Savior

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

and into the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, the First-born of the whole creation, who before the ages was begotten by the good pleasure of the Father, by whom all things were made, both those in heaven and those on earth, visible and invisible;

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

who did not disdain that Your only begotten Son should be born of a woman;

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Supporting witness

You who art the only-begotten Son and Word of God, immortal;