For Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-c.
215 CE), for instance, the Logos is truly the divine Son and is unique—in fact is
the divine “monad” (Stromateis V.ii.14.21; V.xiv.136.1-4; VII.ii.5.5.)—but
the Father alone is God in the absolutely proper and transcendent sense,
incomprehensible, a unity beyond the mere singularity of any monad, ineffable
and inaccessible and yet embracing the whole of reality. (Stromateis
II.ii.6.1; V.i.1.3; V.x.65.2; V.xii.78.3; V.xii.81.3; Paidagogos
I.viii.71.1.) Thus the Father is known to creation only through his Logos, who
is his inseparable image, his mind or reason, his power and counsel and
activity, at once containing the divine ideas or thoughts in himself and
animating creation with them; the Logos is the teacher of wisdom to creatures
and the high priest of creation; he is the governor and origin of all subordinate
realities. (Protreptikos X.xcviii.3; XII.c.xx.1-5; Stromateis
V.i.8.18; V.ix.56.3; VII.i.2.2; VII.ii.5.5.) Origen (c. 184-c. 253 CE), too, accorded
to Father alone a fully transcendent divine unity, and the status of being “God
himself” (αυτοθεος),
and that of being alone “ingenerate” (αγεννητος). (De principiis I.i.6; Contra
Celsum VII.xxxviii; In Iohannem II.ii.16; II.x.75) Between the
transcendent oneness of the Father and the diversity of created things, the
Logos stands as a mediator, the Father’s express image, and indeed a δευτερος
θεος.
(Contra Celsum II.lxiv; V.xxxix; In Iohannem I.xx.119;
VI.xxxix.202.) The Son and the Spirit (the latter being the greatest of those
being that have their existence through the Son) (In Johannem II.x.75.)
transcend all inferior realities; but the Father in turn transcends them to at
least as great a degree. (In Iohannem XIII.xxv.151.) Hence, while the
Son may be called θεος,
he is not properly called ο θεος, and is necessarily accorded lesser honor
than is the father. (In Isaiam II.ii.13ff.; Contra Celsum VII.lvii.) (David Bentley Hart, Tradition and
Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief [Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Baker Academic, 2022], 115-16)
