Letter 130

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Theon
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore shows that the Arian argument from John 14:28 ("the Father is greater than I") defeats itself.

On the Arians and Eunomians.

The heretics are snared by the very arguments they construct. The things by which they hope to win are the things by which they are decisively beaten.

Consider their use of "the Father is greater than I" [John 14:28]. If the Son is a creature — as they claim — then their argument collapses under its own weight. "Greater" is a comparative term. It implies a comparison between comparable things; it does not describe the infinite, incomparable superiority of the Creator over what he has made. What comparison, then, can any creature have with its Creator? Let their wise men answer that.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.