u/iam1me2026

I’m in the process of reading through Athanasius’ Four Discourses Against the Arians. In the first Discourse (chapter 11, section 44) he provides a quote (paraphrase?) of Peter which reads:

“Since, being God, He became man, and signs and wonders proved Him to beholders to be God, therefore it was not possible that He should be holden of death.”

I don’t see any footnotes on this quote within the book (Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Volume 4: Athanasius, Select Works and Letters) pertaining to this quote. And I didn’t see anything via a quick Google search. So now here am I.

Does anyone have any insight as to the source of this quote? Is it from a Psuedopigrapha? Or is it in fact merely a paraphrase and interpretation? Thanks!

Edit: Sorry, the title should say “Peter” not “Paul”

An idea that took hold in the early church and which was important for the development of the orthodox conception of God as a Trinity is the idea that “God” = the unbegotten substance, the source of all. You can find this is Tertullian, for instance, and it serves to distinguish between “God” (the what) and the “Father” (The who) such that multiple persons can ultimately be said to be the same “God” despite being distinct persons.

Whilst there are a number of issues with this (like that “Father” is simply another name/title for “God” proper in scripture), my purpose is not to debate but to inquire: how do you derive such an understanding / definition for “God” from scripture?

As for my own view, “God” in scripture is simply a title of YHWH that reflects his role in the various Covenant relationships and has absolutely nothing to do with (Neo)Platonic Metaphysics. This is why others - like Moses - can be made “God” (Exodus 7:1); because they are serving as His intermediaries and representatives.