Against Heresies: Book IV
Chapter 6: Interpretation of Christ's Words, "No one knows the Father except the Son," etc.; how these words are misconstrued by heretics. Evidence that the Father has always been known through the revelation of the Son and the Son's revelation
The Lord revealed Himself to His disciples as the Word, who provides knowledge of the Father, and reproved the Jews who believed they knew God, but rejected His Word, through whom God is revealed. He declared, "No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." Matthew wrote this, and Luke and Mark recorded it similarly; however, John does not mention this passage. Yet, those who think they are wiser than the apostles write the verse as: "No one knew the Father, except the Son; nor the Son, except the Father, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." They interpret this to mean that the true God was unknown before our Lord's coming, and they claim that the God announced by the prophets is not the Father of Christ.
But if Christ only started to exist when He came into the world as a man, and if the Father only remembered during the time of Tiberius Caesar to care for humanity, and if His Word wasn't always alongside His creations, then there was no need to declare another God. Instead, the reasons for such great carelessness and neglect on His part should be examined. It is appropriate that no such question should arise and gain strength, for it would change God and destroy our faith in the Creator who supports us through His creation. As we direct our faith towards the Son, we should also have a firm and unshakeable love for the Father. In his book against Marcion, Justin rightly says: "I would not have believed the Lord Himself if He had announced anyone other than the one who is our creator, maker, and provider. But because the only-begotten Son came to us from the one God who made this world, formed us, and oversees all things, bringing together His own work in Himself, my faith in Him is steadfast, and my love for the Father is immovable, with God granting both to us."
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.
The true Father is the Creator of heaven and earth, as His words reveal, and not the false father invented by Marcion, Valentinus, Basilides, Carpocrates, Simon, or the rest of the so-called "Gnostics." None of these was the Son of God; but Christ Jesus our Lord was, and their teachings oppose Him as they boldly speak of an unknown God. They should consider this against themselves: How is He unknown if they know Him? For whatever is known even by a few is not unknown. The Lord did not say that the Father and the Son could not be known at all, because if that were true, His coming would have been pointless. Why did He come here? Was it to tell us, "Don't bother seeking after God; for He is unknown, and you shall not find Him," as the disciples of Valentinus falsely claim Christ said to their Æons? This is indeed futile. The Lord taught us that no one can know God unless taught by God, meaning God cannot be known without God; but it is the clear will of the Father that God should be known. For those to whom the Son has revealed Him shall know Him.
The Father revealed the Son so that through Him, He could be shown to everyone and welcome the righteous who believe in Him into immortality and eternal happiness (believing in Him means doing His will). However, He will justly exclude those who do not believe, choosing darkness and avoiding His light. Thus, the Father has revealed Himself to everyone by making His Word visible to all; and in turn, the Word has made the Father and the Son known to everyone, as He has become visible to all. Therefore, the righteous judgment of God will come upon all who, like others, have seen but have not, like others, believed.
Through creation itself, the Word reveals God the Creator. Through the world, He declares the Lord, the Maker of the world. Through the formation of humanity, He shows the Artificer who formed people; and by the Son, the Father who begat the Son is revealed. These things address all people similarly, but not everyone believes them in the same way. Through the law and the prophets, the Word preached both Himself and the Father to all; and everyone heard Him in the same way, but not everyone believed the same. Through the Word Himself, made visible and tangible, the Father was shown, although not everyone equally believed in Him; yet all saw the Father in the Son: for the Father is the invisible aspect of the Son, and the Son is the visible of the Father. For this reason, all spoke with Christ when He was present on earth and called Him God. Even the demons exclaimed upon seeing the Son, “We know who You are, the Holy One of God.” And the devil, observing and tempting Him, said, “If You are the Son of God.” Thus, they all saw and spoke of the Son and the Father, but not all believed in them.
It was fitting for the truth to receive testimony from everyone and serve as a means of judgment: salvation for those who believe and condemnation for those who do not. This ensures that everyone is fairly judged and that faith in the Father and Son is recognized by all as the sole path to salvation. This faith should receive testimony from all, including both those who embrace it as friends and those who oppose it as enemies. For true evidence cannot be denied, even when it compels adversaries to provide compelling testimonies; they are convinced by their own reflection on the matter, testifying and affirming it, although later they may turn against it and wish to undermine their own testimony.
The one who was recognized was the same who stated, "No one knows the Father," indicating that all things were made subject to Him. He received testimony from all: the Father, the Spirit, angels, creation, men, fallen spirits, demons, the enemy, and finally, from death itself, confirming that He was truly man and truly God. The Son manages everything on behalf of the Father, working from the beginning to the end, and no one can know God without Him. The Son embodies the knowledge of the Father, and this knowledge is found in the Father and has been revealed through the Son. This is why the Lord said, "No one knows the Son, but the Father; nor the Father, except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." The phrase "shall reveal" was not limited to the future, as if the Word began to show the Father only when born of Mary, but it applies universally throughout all time. The Son, present with His creation from the start, reveals the Father to all, according to His will, at the time He chooses, as the Father wishes. Therefore, in all things and through all things, there is one God, the Father, one Word, one Son, one Spirit, and one salvation to all who believe in Him.