For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally;

“They moreover affirm that the Saviour is shown to be derived from all the Aeons, and to be in Himself everything by the following passage: "Every male that openeth the womb." For He, being everything, opened the womb of the enthymesis of the suffering Aeon, when it had been expelled from the Pleroma. This they also style the second Ogdoad, of which we shall speak presently. And they state that it was clearly on this account that Paul said, "And He Himself is all things;" and again, "All things are to Him, and of Him are all things;" and further, "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead;" and yet again, "All things are gathered together by God in Christ." Thus do they interpret these and any like passages to be found in Scripture.”

“For when you do not deny that the Creator's Son and Spirit and Substance is also His Christ, you must needs allow that those who have not acknowledged the Father have failed likewise to acknowledge the Son through the identity of their natural substance; for if in Its fulness It has baffled man's understanding, much more has a portion of It, especially when partaking of the fulness Now, when these things are carefully considered, it becomes evident how the Jews both rejected Christ and slew Him; not because they regarded Him as a strange Christ, but because they did not acknowledge Him, although their own.”

“There is also unquestionably a certain other (head of the hydra, namely, the heresy) of the Peratae, whose blasphemy against Christ has for many years escaped notice. And the present is a fitting opportunity for bringing to light the secret mysteries of such (heretics). These allege that the world is one, triply divided. And of the triple division with them, one portion is a certain single originating principle, just as it were a huge fountain, which can be divided mentally into infinite segments. Now the first segment, and that which, according to them, is (a segment) in preference (to others), is a triad, and it is called a Perfect Good, (and) a Paternal Magnitude. And the second portion of the triad of these is, as it were, a certain infinite crowd of potentialities that are generated from themselves, (while) the third is formal. And the first, which is good, is unbegotten, and the second is a self-producing good, and the third is created; and hence it is that they expressly declare that there are three Gods, three Logoi, three Minds, three Men. For to each portion of the world, after the division has been made, they assign both Gods, and Logoi, and Minds, and Men, and the rest; but that from unorigination and the first segment of the world, when afterwards the world had attained unto its completion, there came down from above, for causes that we shall afterwards declare, in the time of Herod a certain man called Christ, with a threefold nature, and a threefold body, and a threefold power, (and) having in himself all (species of) concretions and potentialities (derivable) from the three divisions of the world; and that this, says (the Peratic), is what is spoken: "It pleased him that in him should dwell all fulness bodily," and in Him the entire Divinity resides of the triad as thus divided. For, he says, that from the two superjacent worlds-namely, from that (portion of the triad) which is unbegotten, and from that which is self-producing-there have been conveyed down into this world in which we are, seeds of all sorts of potentialities. What, however, the mode of the descent is, we shall afterwards declare.”

“Of old time He was wont to come to the Saints individually, and to hallow those who rightly received Him; but neither, when they were begotten was it said that He had become man, nor, when they suffered, was it said that He Himself suffered. But when He came among us from Mary once at the end of the ages for the abolition of sin (for so it was pleasing to the Father, to send His own Son `made of a woman, made under the Law'), then it is said, that He took flesh and became man, and in that flesh He suffered for us (as Peter says, `Christ therefore having suffered for us in the flesh'), that it might be shewn, and that all might believe, that whereas He was ever God, and hallowed those to whom He came, and ordered all things according to the Father's will, afterwards for our sakes He became man, and `bodily,' as the Apostle says, the Godhead dwelt in the flesh; as much as to say, `Being God, He had His own body, and using this as an instrument, He became man for our sakes.' And on account of this, the properties of the flesh are said to be His, since He was in it, such as to hunger, to thirst, to suffer, to weary, and the like, of which the flesh is capable; while on the other hand the works proper to the Word Himself, such as to raise the dead, to restore sight to the blind, and to cure the woman with an issue of blood, He did through His own body. And the Word bore the infirmities of the flesh, as His own, for His was the flesh; and the flesh ministered to the works of the Godhead, because the Godhead was in it, for the body was God's.”

“Since then it was impossible that our life, which had been estranged from God, should of itself return to the high and heavenly place, for this cause, as saith the Apostle, He Who knew no sin is made sin for us, and frees us from the curse by taking on Him our curse as His own, and having taken up, and, in the language of the Apostle, "slain" in Himself "the enmity" which by means of sin had come between us and God,—(in fact sin was "the enmity")—and having become what we were, He through Himself again united humanity to God. For having by purity brought into closest relationship with the Father of our nature that new man which is created after God, in Whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, He drew with Him into the same grace all the nature that partakes of His body and is akin to Him. And these glad tidings He proclaims through the woman, not to those disciples only, but also to all who up to the present day become disciples of the Word,—the tidings, namely, that man is no longer outlawed, nor cast out of the kingdom of God, but is once more a son, once more in the station assigned to him by his God, inasmuch as along with the first-fruits of humanity the lump also is hallowed.”

“Oneness in Godhead the Law hath proved, which speaks of one God, as also the Apostle, by saying of Christ; "In Whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." For if, as the Apostle saith, all the fulness of the Godhead, bodily, is in Christ, then must the Father and the Son be confessed to be of one Godhead; or if it is desired to sunder the Godhead of the Son from the Godhead of the Father, whilst the Son possesses all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, what is supposed to be further reserved, seeing that nothing remains over and above the fulness of perfection? Therefore the Godhead is one.”

“Observe how in his accusing of the one he thrusts through the other, by first giving the solution, and then the objection. For such a solution is not suspected, and the hearer accepts it the rather, that the speaker is not making it his aim. For in that case indeed he would make a point of not coming off worsted, but in this, not so. "For in Him dwelleth," that is, for God dwelleth in Him. But that thou mayest not think Him enclosed, as in a body, he saith, "All the fullness of the Godhead bodily: and ye are made full in Him." Others say that he intends the Church filled by His Godhead, as he elsewhere saith, "of Him that filleth all in all" (Eph. i. 23), and that the term "bodily" is here, as the body in the head. How is it then that he did not add, "which is the Church"? Some again say it is with reference to The Father, that he says that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him, but wrongly. First, because "to dwell," cannot strictly be said of God: next, because the "fullness" is not that which receives, for "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof" (Ps. xxiv. 1); and again the Apostle, "until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." (Rom. xi. 25.) By "fullness" is meant "the whole." Then the word "bodily," what did it intend? "As in a head." But why does he say the same thing over again? "And ye are made full in Him." What then does it mean? That ye have nothing less than He. As it dwelt in Him, so also in you. For Paul is ever straining to bring us near to Christ; as when he says, "Hath raised us up with Him, and made us to sit with Him" (Eph. ii. 6): and, "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him" (2 Tim. ii. 12): and, "How shall He not also with Him freely give us all things" (Rom. viii. 32): and calling us "fellow-heirs." Then as for His dignity. And He "is the head of all principality and power." (Eph. iii. 6.) He that is above all, The Cause, is He not Consubstantial? Then he has added the benefit in a marvelous way; and far more marvelous than in the Epistle to the Romans. For there indeed he saith, "circumcision of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter" (Rom. ii. 29), but here, in Christ.”

“Speaking of him as our Head, the apostle says: "For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead corporally." He does not say "corporally" because God is corporeal, but he either uses the word in a derived sense as if he dwells in a temple made by hands, not corporally but symbolically, that is, under prefiguring signs … or else the word corporally is certainly used because God dwells, as in his temple, in the body of Christ which he took from the Virgin.”

“Embracing then, dearly beloved, the sole pledge of the Christian hope, let us not be torn from our faithful bonding to the body of Christ, in whom, as the apostle says, "dwells the fullness of divinity in bodily manner, and you have been filled out in him." Since the substance of God is incorporeal, how does it dwell in bodily manner in Christ unless the flesh of our race has been made the flesh of the divinity? We filled out in that God in whom we have been crucified, in whom we have been buried, in whom we have been even raised up.”

“For God made his dwellings among men partly in the prophets, but has now made them wholly and uninterruptedly and universally in the Lord Christ, who according to the flesh was descended from Shem, in the same way as it is written concerning the Lord Christ according to the flesh: In whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. By these visions therefore Noah was privileged to predict what was fulfilled in the dispensation of the Lord Christ.”

“Above he warned that they should not fall away from the faith through any deceit of speech; here he sets down the reason for the warning, which is taken from the goods that were in them, which they ought not to lose, but rather to progress in. And first he recalls the goods they had; second he shows how they may progress in them, at the place "as therefore." Concerning the first he does two things: for first he shows how their goods are known to him; second, what goods are in them, at the place "rejoicing." He says therefore "for even if," etc.; as if to say: although I have not preached to you, nor do I see your deeds with my eyes, yet I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing in affection over your goods. 1 Cor. 5:3: "absent indeed in body, but present in spirit." Prov. 10:1: "a wise son makes glad his father," etc. And this because it was revealed to him through the Holy Spirit, and therefore he says "but in spirit I am with you." 4 Kings 5:26: "was not my heart present, when the man returned from the chariot to meet you," etc. "Rejoicing," I say, "I am," because I am seeing the order, that is, your ordered conduct. 1 Cor. 14:40: "let all things be done honestly and according to order among you." Judg. 5:20: "the stars remaining in their order and their course," etc. And "the firmness," etc. 2 Tim. 2:19: "the firm foundation of God stands," etc. And this "in Christ." Eph. 3:17: "that Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts," etc. For the Church is a spiritual building. Eph. 2:21: "in whom every building, being constructed, grows into a holy temple in the Lord." Now the goodness of this consists in a due foundation, which is faith, and in a due superstructure. And therefore he set down these two. Then when he says "as therefore," etc., he warns them to keep these things. And first, to progress; second, to persist; third, to give thanks. He says therefore: "as you received Christ our Lord," without perverting it, "walk in him." Rom. 12:9: "cleaving to what is good." The Church is sometimes compared to a spiritual building. 1 Cor. 3:17: "the temple of God is holy, which you are." Sometimes to a tree, because it bears fruit. And the same is the comparison of the foundation to the house, and of the root to the tree, because the firmness of each—root and foundation—is Christ. Isa. 11:10: "there shall be the root of Jesse, which stands as a sign of the peoples." 1 Cor. 3:11: "no one can lay another foundation besides that which has been laid, which is Christ Jesus." Therefore he says "rooted," namely as good branches, "and built up in him," and "confirmed," namely as good stones, that is, if you persist in his faith. 1 Pet., last chapter: "your adversary," etc., and afterward: "resist him, strong in faith," etc. And this "as you have learned," namely in the true faith. Gal. 1:9: "if anyone preaches to you a gospel besides that which you have received, let him be anathema," etc. "Abounding in him in thanksgiving," that is, giving thanks abundantly. 1 Thess., last chapter: "in all things give thanks." 2 Macc. 1:11: "having been delivered from great dangers by God, we give magnificent thanks to him," etc. Then when he says "see," he warns lest they be deceived through vain wisdom. And first he sets down the warning; second, the reason, at the place "in him." Concerning the first, first he teaches to avoid what can deceive; second he shows why it deceives, at the place "according to the tradition." But that someone be deceived through secular wisdom happens in two ways, namely sometimes through the real principles of philosophy, sometimes through sophistic reasonings. And he teaches to beware of both. Hence he says "lest anyone," etc., that is, through philosophical teachings. Isa. 47:10: "your wisdom and this knowledge have deceived you." For many, on account of philosophy, are deceived, straying from the faith. Jer. 10:14: "every man has become foolish by his own knowledge." As to the second he says "and vain deceit," which is founded only upon the apparent entanglement of words. Eph. 5:6: "let no one seduce you with vain words." But how does one seduce? He who seduces must have something apparent, and something not existing. Therefore he first sets down the principle of appearance; second, the lack of existence. The principle of appearance is twofold, that is, the authority of the philosophers—and as to this he says "according to the tradition of men," that is, according to what some have handed down by their own reasoning. Ps. 93:11: "the Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vain." The other is the invention of reason, namely when someone wishes to measure the things that belong to faith according to the principles of things and not according to divine wisdom. For by this many are deceived. And therefore he says "according to the elements of the world," etc. Wis. 13:1: "nor by attending to the works did they know who the craftsman was," etc. For the higher a cause is, the more elevated an effect it has. Hence whoever wishes to consider higher effects according to lower causes is deceived; as if someone should consider the motion of water according to the power of water, he cannot know the cause of the ebbing of the sea, but he can, if he considers it according to the power of the moon. Hence much more is he deceived who considers the proper effects of God according to the elements of the world. And this is the cause of the appearance. But are the traditions of men and their reasonings always to be rejected? I answer: no, but only when physical reasoning proceeds according to them, and not according to Christ. Below, in the same [chapter]: "not holding the head, from which the whole body, supplied and joined together through ligaments and joints, grows with the increase of God." Or it can be explained "according to the elements of the world," namely by measuring the truth of faith according to the truth of creatures. Or he says this on account of idolaters who worship idols, calling the sky Jove. Or according to the Jews, so that the sense is "through philosophy," that is, through the reasoning of those wishing to draw people to legal observances, "according to the elements of the world," that is, according to bodily observances. Gal. 4:3: "we were serving under the elements of the world." But the first exposition is better. Then when he says "because in him," etc., he sets down the reason for the foregoing, saying: whatever is not according to Christ is to be rejected. But is Christ so great that for his sake all things ought to be rejected? And he answers that indeed so; which he shows in three ways: first by comparison to the divinity; second by comparison to the faithful, at the place "and you are"; third by comparison to the Angels, at the place "who is the head." He says therefore: what is against him is to be rejected for this reason, that he himself is God. Hence one must stand by him more than by all, because "in him dwells," etc. For God is in all things, but in some by participation in the likeness of his goodness, as in a stone and other such things. And such things are not God, but have in themselves something of God; not his substance, but a likeness of his goodness. And therefore the fullness of divinity does not dwell in them, because it is not there according to substance. Likewise he is in holy minds through operation, which through love and knowledge attain to God. And therefore God is in them according to grace, but not bodily, but according to the effect of grace; nor is it the fullness, but according to certain limited effects. But in Christ he is bodily, which is explained in three ways. For "body" is divided against "shadow." Below, in the same [chapter]: "which are a shadow of things to come," etc. And thus it happens that God dwells in two ways, either according to shadow, or bodily, that is, really. In the first way he dwelt in the old law, but in Christ he dwelt bodily, that is, really and according to truth. It is explained in a second way, because the other saints are indwelt only according to the soul, not according to the body. Rom. 7:18: "I know that good does not dwell in me," that is, in my flesh; but in Christ divinity dwells bodily: because the indwelling of God, by which he indwells the saints, is through operation, that is, through love and knowledge, which is the work of the rational mind alone; but in Christ he dwells through the assumption of man into the unity of person. Hence whatever pertains to man is wholly indwelt by God: and therefore flesh and mind are indwelt, because both are united to the Word. John 1:14: "and the Word was made flesh." But there is a third way of the sense. For God is in things in three ways: one is common, through power, presence, and essence; another is through grace in the saints; the third mode is singular, in Christ, through union. Now a body has three dimensions. And the fullness of divinity, in these modes, superabounds in Christ; therefore it is said to be in him bodily. And the first mode indeed is as it were length, because it extends itself to all things; likewise breadth is through charity; likewise as to depth, it is incomprehensible. But from this Nestorius errs, saying that the union was made only through indwelling, saying that the Word dwelt in the flesh. But against this is what the Apostle says, Phil. 2:7: "he emptied himself," etc. But to dwell in man is not to empty oneself, but to become man; and he adds: "made in the likeness of men," and therefore Christ is called habitable, not as though he who dwells and he who is indwelt were different, but he himself is both man and God, in whom the fullness of divinity dwells. Then when he says "and you are in him," etc., he shows the same thing by comparison to others. As if to say: you have received all things. John 1:16: "of his fullness," etc. Now it should be known that the Platonists say that divine gifts come to men through the mediation of separate substances. And this is true also according to Dionysius, but this is something special, because it comes immediately from him who fills the Angels. John 1:18: "the only-begotten Son of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared," etc. Heb. 2:3: "when it had received a beginning to be declared through the Lord, from those who heard it," etc. And therefore he says "who is the head of all principality and power," insofar as he is their king and lord, not through conformity of nature, for in that way he is the head of men. And he touches upon these orders, which seem to have a certain preeminence.”

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This is to be understood, not of the doctrine, or Gospel of Christ, as being a perfect revelation of the will of God; but of Christ, and particularly of his human nature, as consisting of a true body and a reasonable soul, in which the Godhead dwells in a most eminent manner: God indeed is everywhere by his powerful presence, was in the tabernacle and temple in a very singular manner, and dwells in the saints in a way of special grace; but resides in the human nature of Christ, in the highest and most exalted manner; that is to deity what the human body is to an human soul, it is the house in which it dwells: so Philo the Jew (t) calls the "Logos" the house of God, who is the soul of the universe; and elsewhere says (u), that God himself has filled the divine Logos wholly with incorporeal powers. The Godhead dwells in Christ as in a tabernacle, in allusion to the tabernacle of Moses, which looked mean without side, but glorious within; where God granted his presence, and accepted the sacrifices of his people; the human nature of Christ is the true antitypical tabernacle, which God pitched, and not man; and sometimes is called a temple, in allusion to Solomon's; and which is filled with the train of the divine perfections, signified by fulness here: for not the fulness of grace, or a communicative fulness, is here meant; nor the relative fulness, the church; but the fulness of the divine nature, of all the perfections of deity, such as eternity, immensity, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, immutability, necessary and self existence, and every other; for if anyone perfection was wanting, the fulness, much less all the fulness of the Godhead, would not be in him. The act of inhabitation denotes the union of the two natures in Christ, and expresses the distinction of them; and is to be understood of the Godhead, as subsisting in the person of the Son of God, and not as subsisting in the person of the Father, or of the Spirit; and shows the permanency of this union, it is a perpetual abiding one; and this fulness is not dependent on the Father's pleasure; it is not said of this as of another fulness, Col 1:19; that it pleased the Father that it should dwell in him: the manner in which it dwells, is "bodily"; not by power, as in the universe; nor by grace, as in the saints; nor by any glorious emanations of it, as in heaven; nor by gifts, as in the prophets and eminent men of God; nor by signs symbols, and shadows, as in the tabernacle and temple; but essentially and personally, or by personal union of the divine nature, as subsisting in the Son of God to an human body, chosen and prepared for that purpose, together with a reasonable human soul; which is the great mystery of godliness, the glory of the Christian religion, and what qualified Christ for, and recommends him to us as a Saviour; and is a reason why, as these words are, that the Gospel should be abode by, continued in, and that with thankfulness: nor should any regard be had to vain and deceitful philosophy, to the traditions of men, or rudiments of the world: Christ only is to be looked to, attended, and followed, who has all fulness in him, (t) De migr. Abraham, p. 389. (u) De Sommiis, p. 574.”

“For in him dwelleth all the fullness - This is opposed to the vain or empty doctrine of the Gentile and Jewish philosophers: there is a fullness in Christ suited to the empty, destitute state of the human soul, but in the philosophy of the Jews and Gentiles nothing like this was found; nor indeed in the more refined and correct philosophy of the present day. No substitute has ever been found for the grace of the Lord Jesus, and those who have sought for one have disquieted themselves in vain. By the Godhead or Deity, Θεοτης, we are to understand the state or being of the Divine nature; and by the fullness of that Deity, the infinite attributes essential to such a nature. Bodily - Συματικως signifies truly, really; in opposition to typically, figuratively. There was a symbol of the Divine presence in the Hebrew tabernacle, and in the Jewish temple; but in the body of Christ the Deity, with all its plenitude of attributes, dwelt really and substantially: for so the word σωματικως means; and so it was understood by the ancient Greek fathers, as is fully shown by Suicer, in his Thesaurus, under the word. "The fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ 'bodily,' as opposed to the Jewish tabernacle, or temple; truly and really, in opposition to types and figures; not only effectively, as God dwells in good men, but substantially or personally, by the strictest union, as the soul dwells in the body; so that God and man are one Christ." See Parkhurst.”

“For in him (in Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead (of the divinity) corporally. [3] That is, in the person of Christ, the Son of God, really and substantially united to our human nature. Not inhabiting, as in a temple as the Nestorian heretics pretended, nor as by his grace in men’s souls, but so as to be personally or hypostatically united to the soul and body of Christ. (Witham)”

“For--"Because." Their "philosophy" (Col 2:8) is not "after Christ," as all true philosophy is, everything which comes not from, and tends not to, Him, being a delusion; "For in Him (alone) dwelleth" as in a temple, &c. the fulness-- (Col 1:19; Joh 14:10). of the Godhead--The Greek (theotes) means the ESSENCE and NATURE of the Godhead, not merely the divine perfections and attributes of Divinity (Greek, "theiotes"). He, as man, was not merely God-like, but in the fullest sense, God. bodily--not merely as before His incarnation, but now "bodily in Him" as the incarnate word (Joh 1:14, Joh 1:18). Believers, by union with Him, partake of His fulness of the divine nature (Joh 1:16; Pe2 1:4; see on Eph 3:19).”