Fathers

Hebrews 1

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God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels as the more excellent name he has inherited is better than theirs. For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?” When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.” Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.” But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does. You will roll them up like a mantle, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years won’t fail.” But which of the angels has he told at any time, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?” Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

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What the Fathers say

Hebrews 1:3

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"And upholding all things by the word of His power." Tell me, "God said" (it is written), "Let there be light" (Gen. i. 3): "the Father, saith one, commanded, and the Son obeyed"? But behold here He also [the Son] acts by word. For (saith he), "And upholding all things" - that is, governing; He holds together what would fall to pieces; For, to hold the world together, is no less than to make it, but even greater (if one must say a strange thing). …

Homily on Hebrews 2 ↗

Gregory of Nyssa

For as the body of the sun is expressly imaged by the whole disc that surrounds it, and he who looks on the sun argues, by means of what he sees, the existence of the whole solid substratum, so, he says, the majesty of the Father is expressly imaged in the greatness of the power of the Son, that the one may be believed to be as great as the other is known to be: and again, as the radiance of light sheds its brilliancy from the whole of the sun's disc (for in the disc one part is not radiant, and the rest dim), so all that glory which …

Against Eunomius 8.1 ↗

Athanasius of Alexandria

As the apostle, writing to the Hebrews, says, "who being the brightness of his glory and the stamp of his nature," and David too in the eighty-ninth Psalm, "And the brightness of the Lord be upon us," and "in your light shall we see light." Who has so little sense as to doubt the eternity of the Son? …

Discourses Against the Arians 1.4.12 ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

24. – Having shown Christ's greatness in regard to His unique origin, the majesty of His dominion and the power of His activity, the Apostle now shows His greatness in regard to the sublimity of His glory and dignity. This is divided into two parts: in the first he shows that Christ is worthy of His dignity; in the second he discloses this dignity (v. 2c). …

Commentary on Hebrews ↗

Bonaventure

By means of diffusion, as of brightness out of light, of heat out of fire, of a river out of its headspring, of rain out of a full or humid cloud. In the first diffusion, equality is lacking, for brightness is not the same as light. In the second, closeness is lacking, for heat is not close to fire, since it is the principle neither of its form nor of its origin, but is merely an accident. In the third, simultaneity is lacking, for a spring diffuses itself by flowing, and not all at once. …

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 11 ↗

Cassiodorus

The Spirit in the essence of divinity is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and is properly called one God. But according to the distinction of the persons, the Father's unique characteristic is that he is by nature without a beginning, and he begot the Son before the ages. It is the unique characteristic of the Son that he is, as an essential part of his nature, begotten by the Father. It is the unique characteristic of the Spirit that he proceeds from the Father and the Son. …

Exposition of the Psalms 50.14