Hippolytus of Rome, The Discourse on the Holy Theophany

The Discourse on the Holy Theophany.

1. Good, yea, very good, are all the works of our God and Saviour—all of them that eye seeth and mind perceiveth, all that reason interprets and hand

2. Nor is this the only thing that proves the dignity of the water. But there is also that which is more honourable than all—the fact that Christ, the

3. But we, who know the economy, adore His mercy, because He hath come to save and not to judge the world. Wherefore John, the forerunner of the Lord

4. As John says these things to the multitude, and as the people watch in eager expectation of seeing some strange spectacle with their bodily eyes, a

5. And what saith the Lord to him? “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” “Suffer it to be so now,” John tho

6. Do you see, beloved, how many and how great blessings we would have lost, if the Lord had yielded to the exhortation of John, and declined baptism?

7. The beloved generates love, and the light immaterial the light inaccessible. “This is my beloved Son,” He who, being manifested on earth and yet un

8. But give me now your best attention, I pray you, for I wish to go back to the fountain of life, and to view the fountain that gushes with healing.

9. This is the Spirit that at the beginning “moved upon the face of the waters ” by whom the world moves by whom creation consists, and all things ha

10. Come then, be begotten again, O man, into the adoption of God. And how? says one. If thou practisest adultery no more, and committest not murder,

7. The beloved generates love, and the light immaterial the light inaccessible.34 φῶς ἄϋλον γεννᾷ φῶς ἀπρόσιτον. The Son is called “Light of Light” in the Discourse against Noetus, ch. x. [See p. 227 supra.] In φῶς ἀπρόσιτον the reference is to 1 Tim. vi. 16. “This is my beloved Son,” He who, being manifested on earth and yet unseparated from the Father’s bosom, was manifested, and yet did not appear.35 ἐπεφάνη οὐκ ἐφάνη. See Dorner’s Doctrine of the Person of Christ, div. i. vol. ii. p. 97 (Clark). For the appearing is a different thing, since in appearance the baptizer here is superior to the baptized. For this reason did the Father send down the Holy Spirit from heaven upon Him who was baptized. For as in the ark of Noah the love of God toward man is signified by the dove, so also now the Spirit, descending in the form of a dove, bearing as it were the fruit of the olive, rested on Him to whom the witness was borne. For what reason? That the faithfulness of the Father’s voice might be made known, and that the prophetic utterance of a long time past might be ratified. And what utterance is this? “The voice of the Lord (is) on the waters, the God of glory thundered; the Lord (is) upon many waters.”36 Ps. xxix. 3. And what voice? “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This is He who is named the son of Joseph, and (who is) according to the divine essence my Only-begotten. “This is my beloved Son”—He who is hungry, and yet maintains myriads; who is weary, and yet gives rest to the weary; who has not where to lay His head,37 Luke ix. 5. [Compare the Paradoxes, attributed to Bacon, in his Works, vol. xiv. p. 143; also the Appendix, pp. 139–142.] and yet bears up all things in His hand; who suffers, and yet heals sufferings; who is smitten,38 ῥαπιζόμενος, referring to the slap in the process of manumitting slaves. and yet confers liberty on the world;39 Heb. i. 3. who is pierced in the side,40 Matt. xxvi. 67. [From which proceeds His Church.] and yet repairs the side of Adam.41 That is, the sin introduced by Eve, who was formed by God out of Adam’s side. (Fabricius.)

[7] ἀγαπητὸς ἀγάπην γεννᾷ καὶ φῶς ἄϋλον „φῶς ἀπρόσιτον„. ”οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς”, ὁ κάτω ἐπιφανεὶς καὶ τῶν πατρῴων κόλπων μὴ χωρισθείς. ἐπεφάνη, οὐκ ἐφάνη. ἄλλο γὰρ τὸ φανῆναι, ἐπειδὴ πρὸς τὸ φαινόμενον ὁ βαπτίζων τοῦ βαπτιζομένου προέχει. τούτου ἕνεκεν ὁ πατὴρ οὐρανόθεν τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἐπὶ τὸν βαπτιζόμενον κατέπεμπεν. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ τοῦ Νῶε διὰ περιστερᾶς μηνύεται „ἡ φιλανθρωπία τοῦ θεοῦ„, οὕτω καὶ νῦν τὸ ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς κατελθὸν πνεῦμα ὡς καρπὸν ἐλαίας βαστάσαν ἐπὶ τὸν μαρτυρούμενον κατέστη. διὰ τί; ἵνα καὶ τῆς πατρῴας φωνῆς τὸ βέβαιον γνωρισθῇ καὶ ἡ προφητικὴ πρόρρησις ἐκ πολλῶν τῶν χρόνων πιστωθῇ. ποία ταύτη; ”φωνὴ κυρίου ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων, ὁ θεὸς τῆς δόξης ἐβρόντησεν, κύριος ἐπὶ ὑδάτων πολλῶν”. ποία φωνή; „οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν ᾧ ηὐδόκησα„. οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ὀνομαζόμενος υἱός, καὶ ἐμὸς μονογενὴς κατὰ τὴν θεϊκὴν οὐσίαν. ”οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός”, ὁ πεινῶν καὶ τρέφων μυριάδας, καὶ κοπιῶν καὶ ἀναπαύων τοὺς κοπιῶντας, ὁ μὴ ἔχων ποῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν κλῖναι καὶ πάντα ἐν τῇ χειρὶ βαστάζων, ὁ πάσχων καὶ τὰ πάθη ἰώμενος, ὁ ῥαπιζόμενος καὶ ἐλευθερίαν τῷ κόσμῳ δωρούμενος, ὁ τὴν πλευρὰν νυττόμενος καὶ τὴν πλευρὰν τοῦ Ἀδὰμ διορθούμενος.