For us one God and one Lord
Such, too, are the things that the divine words teach us to examine and to hold about the Lord and lords. In one place they say: “Give thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy is for ever; give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy is for ever” (Psalm 136:2–3); in another, that God is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15). The word knows of gods, some of whom are so called, while others actually are gods, whether they are so called or not. Paul teaches the same about lords too, both those who are and those who are not, when he says: “For although there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords” (1 Corinthians 8:5).
Then, since “the God of gods” calls “from the east” and “the west” (Psalm 50:1; Matthew 8:11) into His own portion, through Jesus, those whom He wills, and since the Christ of God, being Lord, shows that He surpasses all who hold lordship by the very fact that He has set foot within the borders of all and calls to Himself from every border, for this reason Paul, knowing these things, says after the words I have quoted: “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him” (1 Corinthians 8:6). And seeing a wonderful and mysterious teaching in the passage, he adds to these words: “But not all have this knowledge” (1 Corinthians 8:7).
When he says, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things” (1 Corinthians 8:6), he says “for us” of himself and of all who have ascended to the God over all, the God “of gods,” and to the Lord over all, the Lord “of lords.” And the one who has ascended to the God over all is he who worships Him without division, without separation, without partition, through the Son, God’s Word and Wisdom seen in Jesus, who alone brings to Him those who try in every way, by excellent words and deeds and thoughts, to bring themselves into kinship with God, the Maker of the universe.
Over against these truths, and others like them, I think that the ruler “of this age” (1 Corinthians 2:6), who disguises himself “as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), produced the saying: “And there follows him a host of gods and demons, marshalled in eleven companies” (Plato, Phaedrus 246e). In this passage he says of himself and of those who have practised philosophy: “We with Zeus, and others with other demons” (Plato, Phaedrus 250b).
Greek
Τοιαῦτα καὶ περὶ κυρίου καὶ κυρίων διδάσκουσιν ἡμᾶς ἐξετάζειν καὶ φρονεῖν οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι, ὅπου μὲν λέγοντες· „ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ θεῷ τῶν θεῶν, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ· ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ κυρίῳ τῶν κυρίων, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ,“ ὅπου δὲ ὅτι ἐστὶν ὁ θεὸς „βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων καὶ κύριος τῶν κυριευόντων.“ οἶδε δὲ ὁ λόγος θεοὺς τοὺς μέν τινας λεγομένους τοὺς δὲ καὶ ὄντας, εἴτε λεγομένους εἴτε μή· τὸ δ᾿ αὐτὸ διδάσκων καὶ περὶ κυρίων τῶν ὄντων καὶ μὴ λέγει ὁ Παῦλος· „καὶ γὰρ εἴπερ εἰσὶ λεγόμενοι θεοὶ εἴτ᾿ ἐν οὐρανῷ εἴτ᾿ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὥσπερ εἰσὶ θεοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ κύριοι πολλοί.“ εἶτ᾿ ἐπεὶ „ὁ τῶν. θεῶν θεὸς“ καλεῖ „ἀπ᾿ ἀνατολῶν“ καὶ „δυσμῶν“ ἐπὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μερίδα διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ οὓς βούλεται, κύριος δὲ ὢν ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ δείκνυσιν δι᾿ ὧν ἐπέβη τοῖς πάντων ὁρίοις καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀπὸ πάντων ὁρίων καλεῖ ὅτι ἐστὶ πάντων τῶν κυριευόντων διαφέρων· διὰ τοῦτο ταῦτ᾿ ἐπιστάμενος ὁ Παῦλός φησι μεθ᾿ ἃ παρεθέμην· „ἀλλ᾿ ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, δι᾿ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἡμεῖς δι᾿ αὐτοῦ.“ θεωρῶν τε θαυμάσιόν τινα καὶ μυστηριώδη λόγον κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἐπιφέρει αὐτοῖς· „ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ ἐν πᾶσιν ἡ γνῶσις.“ ἐπὰν δὲ λέγῃ· „ἀλλ᾿ ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, δι᾿ οὗ τὰ πάντα,“ τὸ „ἡμῖν“ λέγει ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀναβεβηκότων πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν „τῶν θεῶν“ καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι κύριον „τῶν κυρίων.“ ἀναβέβηκε δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν ὁ ἀσχίστως καὶ ἀδιαιρέτως καὶ ἀμερίστως αὐτὸν σέβων διὰ τοῦ μόνου προσάγοντος ἐκείνῳ υἱοῦ, τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου καὶ σοφίας ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ θεωρουμένου, τοὺς παντὶ τρόπῳ πειρωμένους ἑαυτοὺς οἰκειῶσαι δι᾿ ἐξαιρέτων λόγων καὶ πράξεων καὶ διανοημάτων [καὶ νοημάτων] τῷ τοῦ παντὸς δημιουργῷ θεῷ. παρὰ ταῦτα δ᾿ οἶμαι καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια τὸν μετασχηματιζόμενον „εἰς ἄγγελον φωτὸς“ ἄρχοντα „τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου“ πεποιηκέναι τὸ „τῷ δὲ ἕπεται στρατιὰ θεῶν τε καὶ δαιμόνων, κατὰ ἕνδεκα μοίρας τεταγμένη.“ ἐν οἷς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων λέγει τό· „μετὰ μὲν Διὸς ἡμεῖς, ἄλλοι δὲ μετὰ ἄλλων δαιμόνων.“