A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

196 A Source Book for Ancient Church History[176]is not generated, but begotten when He is born of a virgin; thatHe is not subject to suffering and is immortal when He does notsuffer and die, but when His passion came upon Him Noetusadmits that the Father suffers and dies. The Noetians think thatthe Father is called the Son according to events at different times.Callistus supported the heresy of these Noetians, but we havecarefully described his life [see above, § 19, c]. And Callistushimself likewise produced a heresy, taking his starting-pointfrom these Noetians. And he acknowledges that there is oneFather and God, and that He is the Creator of the universe,and that He is called and regarded as Son by name, yet that insubstance He is one. 60 For the Spirit as Deity is not, he says,any being different from the Logos, or the Logos from Deity;therefore, this one person is divided by name, but not accordingto substance. He supposes this one Logos to be God and he saysthat He became flesh. He is disposed to maintain that He whowas seen in the flesh and crucified is Son, but it is the Father whodwells in Him.(b) Hippolytus, Refut., IX, 7, 11 f. (MSG, 16:3369.)Ch. 7. There has appeared a certain one, Noetus by name, bybirth a Smyrnæan. This person introduced from the tenets ofHeraclitus a heresy. Now a certain Epigonus became his ministerand pupil, and this person during his sojourn in Rome spread hisgodless opinion.… But Zephyrinus himself was in course of timeenticed away and hurried headlong into the same opinion; and hehad Callistus as his adviser and fellow-champion of these wickedtenets.… The school of these heretics continued in a successionof teachers to acquire strength and to grow because Zephyrinusand Callistus helped them to prevail.60 The word substance as used here in connection with the nature of the Trinityhas not taken its later meaning and use.