Against Heresies: Book IV

GOD IS THE SAME ONE WHO ROLLS UP THE HEAVENS LIKE A SCROLL AND RENEWS THE EARTH: He created time for humans so that as they mature, they may achieve immortality. Through His kindness, He grants eternal things, "that in the ages to come He may show the exceeding riches of His grace." He was announced by the law and the prophets, and Christ acknowledged Him as His Father. He is the Creator and God over all, as Isaiah says, "I am witness, says the God, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know, believe, and understand that I am He. There was no God before me, and there will be none after me. I am God, and besides me, there is no Savior. I have proclaimed, and I have saved." And again: "I am the first God, and I am above things to come." He expresses these truths not ambiguously, arrogantly, or boastfully, but because it is impossible to know God without God revealing Himself. Through His Word, He teaches people to know Him. Therefore, to those who are unaware of these truths and think they have found another Father, it is right to say, "You do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God."

OUR LORD AND MASTER: in His response to the Sadducees, who claim there is no resurrection and therefore dishonor God and diminish the law, indicated a resurrection and revealed God by saying to them, "You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." Regarding the resurrection of the dead, He says, "Have you not read what God spoke, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?" He added, "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to Him." Through these arguments, He clearly showed that He who spoke to Moses from the bush, declaring Himself as the God of the fathers, is indeed the God of the living.

For who is the God of the living except He who is God, with no one above Him? This is the same God whom Daniel the prophet proclaimed when King Cyrus of Persia asked him, "Why don't you worship Bel?" Daniel answered, "Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, who established heaven and earth and has dominion over all flesh." He also said, "I will adore the Lord my God, because He is the living God." Hence, the One whom the prophets adored as the living God is indeed the God of the living; and His Word is the One who spoke to Moses, silenced the Sadducees, and gave the gift of resurrection, thus revealing both the resurrection and the true nature of God to those who are blind.

If He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, and yet was called the God of the fathers who were asleep, they indubitably live to God and have not ceased to exist, as they are children of the resurrection. Our Lord Himself is the resurrection, as He declares, "I am the resurrection and the life." The fathers are His children, for the prophet says, "Instead of your fathers, your children have been made to you." Therefore, Christ Himself, along with the Father, is the God of the living, who spoke to Moses and was revealed to the fathers.

AND TEACHING THIS VERY THING: He said to the Jews: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” What is meant? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” First, he believed that He was the maker of heaven and earth, the only God; and second, that He would make his descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. This is what Paul means when he says, “as lights in the world.” Righteously, therefore, having left his earthly family, he followed the Word of God, walking as a pilgrim with the Word, so that he might later have his home with the Word.

RIGHTEOUSLY: the apostles, being descendants of Abraham, left the ship and their father to follow the Word. Similarly, we righteously, having the same faith as Abraham and carrying the cross as Isaac carried the wood, follow Him. Through Abraham, humanity had previously learned and become accustomed to following the Word of God. For Abraham, in accordance with his faith, followed the command of the Word of God and willingly offered his only-begotten and beloved son as a sacrifice to God. This was so that God might also be pleased to offer His own beloved and only-begotten Son as a sacrifice for the redemption of all his descendants.

SINCE: therefore, Abraham was a prophet and foresaw in the Spirit the day of the Lord’s coming and the dispensation of His suffering, through whom both he and all who, following the example of his faith, trust in God, should be saved, he rejoiced greatly. The Lord, therefore, was not unknown to Abraham, whose day he desired to see; nor was the Lord's Father, for Abraham had learned from the Word of the Lord and believed Him. This is why it was counted to him by the Lord as righteousness. For faith towards God justifies a man; that is why Abraham said, “I will stretch forth my hand to the most high God, who made the heaven and the earth.” However, those holding perverse opinions try to overthrow all these truths because of one passage, which they certainly do not understand correctly.