of God. But the Gospel tells us that He made this assertion who is the Truth, ¹ the very Word of God Himself. He has therefore in this way again claimed Deity for Himself.

(10) This He did again by claiming to possess universal authority in heaven and on earth. For, when commanding His disciples to go forth and spread the Gospel throughout the whole world,² He said: 'All ³ authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth'. And in the great prayer the night before His crucifixion we are told, 'These ⁴ things spake Jesus; and, lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee: even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that, whatsoever thou hast given him, to them he should give eternal life.' This is in accordance with what He had previously said to His disciples: 'All ⁵ things have been delivered unto me of my Father,' and again: 'The ⁶ Father loveth the Son, and hath given all ⁷ things into his hand.' Of course, it is evident from these and many other passages that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the Son of the Father as He calls Himself, is not the fountain ⁸ of Deity (πηγη θεοτητος) (ينبوع اْلألوهيّة); but that is clear too

from such titles as 'Word' and 'Son.' Yet He claims absolute authority over all creation, even over prophets, apostles, angels and archangels. Such authority can belong to none but God, and can be fittingly associated with none but the divine nature.

(11) Hence it is that we find Him accepting as His due the titles of 'Lord' and 'God'. For in the Gospel it is written that, when, after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples, He said to Thomas: 'Reach ¹ hither thy finger and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless but believing', then 'Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.' There can be no question that what Thomas said was either perfectly true, or was blasphemous. If it had been blasphemy, surely the Lord Jesus Christ would have sharply reproved him for uttering such words. But this He did not do. On the contrary, Christ accepted his confession as perfectly correct, and thereby showed that these titles were due to Himself. How this can be so nothing but the doctrine ² of the most holy Trinity in the divine unity can explain.