Didymus the Blind
4th century · AD 398 · Eastern & Byzantine · 321 passages
Background on Didymus the Blind
In his own words on Hebrews
- Hebrews 1:6
If all creation worships Christ—for by the name "angels" he denotes the higher rational beings, just as also in the passage "to what angel has he ever said, 'Sit at my right hand'?" he himself is also above them—and the word of the Scriptures forbid us to worship creation in as much as it says, "Beware lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and worship them." Just as one is kept from worshiping the fixtures of the heavens, so also one is kept from worshiping other created beings, even if one happens upon a certain individual surpassing others. One must maintain firmly that Christ was the Creator, not a creation, even if for our sake he united himself to created flesh endowed with a reasonable and intellectual soul, and thus is worshiped as God by all creation.
FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.6
- Hebrews 1:13
If all created nature worships Christ, for through the friendly speech of the angels He gives signs to nature, so it is said, "For which of the angels has He said anytime; sit at my right hand (Heb. 1:13); and He is over them- and the word of the Scripture forbade the worshipping of the created things, "And do not, when you look up to the sky and see the sun and the moon and the stars, even any ornament of the sky, be led astray and worship them and serve them.(Deut. 4:19)" But they should stop worshiping these things, because they are created things, which is certainly disrespectful. And just as it has been said before, and positively assert that Christ is not created but is the Creator, and even so He is being worshipped as God above all the creation. To all time, and season to all the matters above Heaven.
Quoted verbatim from public-domain English translations of the fathers — Aquinas's Catena Aurea, the Ante-Nicene and Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers, and related editions. Each quotation links to its source.