The plural 'Let us make man' silences Jewish objections

The wild beasts are a demonstration of faith. Have you trusted in the Lord? Upon asp and basilisk you will tread, and you will trample lion and dragon (Psalm 90:13 (LXX; Hebrew 91:13)). And you have through faith the authority to tread upon snakes and scorpions (Luke 10:19). Or do you not see that when Paul was gathering sticks, the viper fastened on him and caused him no harm, because the holy man was found to be full of faith (Acts 28:3-5)? But if you are faithless, fear not so much the wild beast as your own faithlessness, through which you have made yourself easy prey to every corruption.

But indeed I sense that I have long been called upon to speak about the creation of man, and I almost seem to hear my hearers crying out in their hearts, 'We are being taught what sort of nature our own things have, but we are ignorant of ourselves.' So I must speak, having pushed aside the hesitation that holds us. For truly it seems to be the most difficult thing of all to know oneself. Not only does the eye, which sees things outside, not use its seeing upon itself, but also our very mind, which sharply discerns another's sin, is slow to recognize its own defects. For this reason even now my discourse, having swiftly gone through things outside us, is sluggish and full of hesitation when it comes to examining our own affairs. And yet it is no more possible to know God from heaven and earth than from our own constitution, at least for the one who examines himself intelligently. As the prophet says, 'Your knowledge became wonderful from me' (Psalm 138:6 (LXX; Hebrew 139:6))—that is, by learning to know myself, I was taught the surpassing greatness of the wisdom in you.

And God said, 'Let us make man' (Genesis 1:26). Where now is the Jew who, in the passages before, when the light of theology was shining through as if through certain windows, and a second Person was being indicated mystically but not yet clearly revealed, fought against the truth, saying that God was conversing with himself? For he himself said, he says, and he himself made. 'Let there be light,' and there was light (Genesis 1:3). Even then, of course, the absurdity in what they said was obvious. For what blacksmith, or carpenter, or leatherworker, sitting alone with the tools of his trade and with no one working with him, says to himself, 'Let us make the knife,' or 'Let us fit together the plow,' or 'Let us finish the sandal'? Does he not rather carry out the work before him in silence? For it is truly terrible nonsense to say that someone sits as ruler and overseer of himself, giving orders to himself in a lordly and urgent manner. But still, those who did not hesitate to slander the Lord himself—what would they not say, having tongues trained for falsehood? The present word, however, completely stops their mouth. 'And God said, Let us make man.' Tell me, is the Person solitary even now? For it is not written, 'Let man be made,' but 'Let us make man.' As long as the one being taught had not yet appeared, the proclamation of theology was hidden in depth. But when the creation of man is now expected, the faith is laid bare, and the doctrine of the truth is shown more clearly. 'Let us make man.' Do you hear, O fighter against Christ, that he is conversing with the partner of his creation, through whom he also made the ages, who upholds all things by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:2-3)? But he does not quietly accept the word of piety. Just as the most man-hating of wild beasts, when they are shut up in cages, roar around the bars, showing the bitter and savage character of their nature but unable to fulfill their rage, so also the race hostile to the truth, the Jews, being hard pressed, say, 'There are many persons to whom the word of God was addressed.'