This means that we interact with God who is everywhere present, and with His attributes, and so walk in the Lord. The apostle James distinguishes the faith of the godly person from the faith of the devil when he says, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:19–20). So also the apostle Paul speaks of “faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6).
St. Ignatius of Antioch says, “there is one God, the Almighty, who has manifested Himself by Jesus Christ His Son, who is His Word (Logos), not spoken, but essential. For He is not the voice of an articulate utterance, but a substance begotten by divine power.”293
St. Jacob of Sarug speaks of the One God, not distant from us in heaven, as some think, but working in His beloved creation, saying, “God dwells by His power within His creation and He animates it to exist independently. He dwells above the heights, beneath the depths, within the world and outside it, on every side. Like the soul that dwells within all the members, in the head and in the feet, and in all the senses, while remaining what it is … there is no place in the body where the soul is not. Through the soul, the eye can see, the hands touch, the mouth speaks, the nose smells, and the ear hears. Without the soul there are no senses, and no member can move without it. In the same way, all creation exists from God, is revealed through Him, and completely rests in Him. Through Him the heights tremble and the depths are bound, as are the regions, the territories, and their inhabitants. Through Him, the ruling lights shine; the sun rises, the moon changes, and the Pleiades and the planets travel in their courses.”
St. Cyril the Great says, “unto the lovers of spiritual gifts with rich and readiest hand He distributes blessings.”294
292 St. Cyril of Alexandria, Letter 55:11 (FOTC 77:19).
293 St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Magnesians 8 (ANF 1:62).
294
St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of St. John , Volume 2 9.1 on John 14:15 (LFHCC 48:298; cf. PG 73:278).
The Second Article: “God the Father, the Pantocrator (Almighty), Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things seen and unseen.”
First: God the Father
The Fathers cited
- St. Ignatius of Antioch
- St. Jacob of Sarug
- St. Cyril the Great