Novatian, On the Trinity 13
John describes the birth of Christ: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). He is also called the Word of God, just as the psalmist says, "My heart overflows with a good word," and the king's word is so named because he declares, "I speak my works to the king" (Psalm 45:1). Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made (John 1:3). As the Apostle says, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or powers, whether visible or invisible, all things hold together through Him (Colossians 1:16). This is the Word who came to His own, yet His own did not receive Him; the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him (John 1:10–11). He was in the beginning with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). Who then doubts? When the Gospel says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us," it means that Christ, whose birth this is, is man because He became flesh, and is unmistakably God because He is the Word of God. The Gospel especially joins both substances in the one birth of Christ. He comes forth like a bridegroom from his chamber and rejoices like a giant to run his course (Psalm 19:5); His going out is from the highest heaven and His return to the highest heaven. No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man who is in heaven—saying, "Father, glorify Me with the glory I had with You before the world existed" (John 17:5). The Word descended from heaven like a bridegroom to the flesh so that the Son of Man might ascend, through the assumption of flesh, to the place from which the Word of God had descended. By this mutual union the flesh bears the Word of God and the Son of God takes on the weakness of flesh; ascending with the flesh, His bride, to where He had descended without flesh, He receives again the glory He possessed before the world’s foundation, and God is most clearly proved. Moreover, the world itself, created after Him, is found to have been made through Him, confirming the divinity, glory, and authority of the One through whom the world was made. If Christ discerns the secrets of the heart, which belongs to God alone; if He forgives sins, which belongs to God alone; if He comes from heaven, which no mere man can do; if He says, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30), which no mere man can say; if the Apostle Thomas, instructed by all proofs of Christ’s divinity, answers, "My Lord and my God"; if the Apostle Paul writes that Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever, came from the patriarchs according to the flesh (Romans 9:5); if Paul declares he was made an apostle not by men nor through a man, but through Jesus Christ; and if he insists he received the Gospel not from men nor through a man, but through Jesus Christ—then Christ is God. Therefore, in this matter one of two things must hold. Since it is manifest that all things were made through Christ, either He is before all things because all things were made through Him, and so He is rightly God; or, because He is a man, He is after all things, and so nothing was made through Him. But we cannot say nothing was made through Him, for Scripture attests that all things were made through Him. Therefore He is not after all things—that is, He is not merely a man, who comes after all things—but He is also God, because God is before all things. He is before all things because all things were made through Him; if He were only a man, nothing would have been made through Him. What answer can they give? That nothing was made through Him, so that He is only a man? How then can all things be made through Him? Therefore He is not only a man, but also God, since all things are made through Him. We must rightly understand that Christ is not only a man, who comes after all things, but also God, because all things were made through Him. How can you say He is only a man when you also see Him in the flesh, unless it is because, when both natures are observed, both should be believed?
Latin
Ac sic et Ioannes natiuitatem Christi describens, uerbum, inquit, caro factum est, et habitauit in nobis, et uidimus claritatem eius, claritatem tamquam unigeniti a patre, plenum gratia et ueritate. nam et uocatur nomen eius uerbum det: eructauit, inquit, cor meum uerbum bonum; ro quod uerbum regis nomine consequenter appellat inferendo, dico ego opera mea regi. per ipsum enim omnia facta sunt opera, ef sine ipso factum est nihil. siue enim, inquit apostolus, throni, siue dominationes, siue uirtutes, siue potestates, uisibilia et inuisibilia, omnia per ipsum constant. uerbum autem hoc illud est, quod zz sua uenit, et sui eum non receperunt. mundus enim per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognouit. uerbum autem hoc erat in principio apud deum, et deus erat uerbum. quis igitur dubitet, cum in extrema parte dicitur, verbum caro Factum est, et habitauit in nobis, Christum, cuius est natiuitas, et quia caro factus est, esse hominem, et quia uerbum dei, deum incunctanter edicere esse; praesertim cum animaduertat scripturam euangelicam utramque istam substantiam in unam natiuitatis Christi foederasse concordiam? Hic est enim qui sicut sponsus egreditur de thalamo suo, exsultauit ut gigas ad currendum uam; a summo caelo egressio eius et usque ad summum regressio eius. quoniam usque ad summum, nec quisquam in caelum ascendit, nisi qui de caelo descendit, filius hominis, qui est in caelis, repetens hoc ipsum dicit: pater, clarifica me eo honore quo fui apud te antequam mundus esset. ac si de caelo descendit uerbum hoc tamquam sponsus ad carnem, ut per carnis assumptionem filius hominis illuc posset ascendere, unde dei filius uerbum descenderat, merito, dum per conexionem mutuam et caro uerbum dei gerit et filius dei fragilitatem carnis assumit, cum sponsa carne conscendens illuc, unde sine carne descenderat, recipit iam claritatem illam, quam dum ante mundi institutionem habuisse ostenditur, deus manifestissime comprobatur. et nihilominus, dum mundus ipse post illum institutus refertur, per ipsum creatus esse reperitur; quo ipso diuinitatis in ipso, per quem factus est mundus, et claritas et auctoritas comprobetur. + Quod si, cum nullius sit nisi dei cordis nosse secreta, Christus secreta conspicit cordis: quod si, cum nullius sit nisi dei peccata dimittere, idem Christus peccata dimittit: quod si, cum nullius sit hominis de caelo uenire, de caelo ueniendo descendit: quod si, cum nullius hominis haec uox esse possit, ego e pater unum sumus, hanc uocem de conscientia diuinitatis Christus solus edicit: quod si postremo omnibus diuinitatis Christi probationibus et rebus instructus apostolus Thomas, respondens Christo dominus meus et deus meus dicit: quod si et apostolus Paulus, quorum, inquit, patres et ex quibus Christus secundum carnem, qui est super omnia deus benedictus in saecula, in suis litteris scribit: quod si idem se apostolum non ab hominibus, aut per hominem, sed per Iesum Christum constitutum esse depromit: quod si idem euangelium non se ab hominibus didicisse aut per hominem, sed per Iesum Christum accepisse contendit: merito deus est Christus. Itaque hoc in loco ex duobus alterum constare debebit. cum enim manifestum sit omnia esse facta per Christum, aut ante omnia est, quoniam omnia per ipsum, et merito et deus est: aut quia homo est, post omnia est, et merito per ipsum nihil factum est. sed nihil per ipsum factum esse non possumus dicere, cum animaduertamus omnia per ipsum facta esse scriptum. non ergo post omnia est, id est non homo tantum est, qui post omnia est, sed et deus, quoniam deus ante omnia est. ante omnia est enim, quia per ipsum omnia; ne si homo tantum, nihil per ipsum; aut si omnia per ipsum, non homo tantum: quoniam si homo tantum, non omnia per ipsum, immo nihil per ipsum. quid ergo respondent? nihil per ipsum, ut homo sit tantum? quomodo ergo omnia per ipsum? ergo non homo tantummodo est, sed et deus, siquidem omnia sunt per ipsum. ut merito intellegere debeamus nec hominem esse Christum tantummodo, qui est post omnia, sed et deum, cum per ipsum facta sint omnia.......... quomodo enim aut ‘hominem tantummodo dicas...... cum illum etiam in carne conspicias; nisi quoniam si utrumque animaduertitur, utrumque merito credatur?