Texts in Conversation
The Christian theologian Athanasius echoes Baruch’s language that no one can be compared to God, using it as an authoritative source in a theological argument against those who diminish divine uniqueness.
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Baruch 3:35
Deuterocanon
33 the one who sends forth the light, and it goes; he called it, and it obeyed him, trembling; 34 the stars shone in their watches, and were glad; he called them, and they said, "Here we are!" They shone with gladness for him who made them. 35 This is our God; no other can be compared to him. 36 He found the whole way to knowledge, and gave her to his servant Jacob and to Israel, whom he loved. 37 Afterward she appeared on earth and lived with humankind.
Date: 150-100 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Athanasius Discourse Against the Arians 19
Early Christian
Therefore if the Word be creature He would not be first or beginning of the rest; yet if He be before all, as indeed He is, and is Himself alone First and Son, it does not follow that He is beginning of all things as to His Essence , for what is the beginning of all is in the number of all. And if He is not such a beginning, then neither is He a creature, but it is very plain that He differs in essence and nature from the creatures, and is other than they, and is Likeness and Image of the sole and true God, being Himself sole also. Hence He is not classed with creatures in Scripture, but David rebukes those who dare even to think of Him as such, saying, 'Who among the gods is like the Lord?' and 'Who is like the Lord among the sons of God.' and Baruch, 'This is our God, and another shall not be reckoned with Him.' For the One creates, and the rest are created; and the One is the own Word and Wisdom of the Father's Essence, and through this Word things which came to be, which before existed not, were made.
Date: 355-360 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The figure of Baruch is associated with the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (2 Baruch), the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch), and the Paraleipomena Jeremiou (4 Baruch). Baruch is not mentioned in the New Testament or Apostolic Fathers, even with regard to the incarnate wisdom motif in 3.38 (compare John 1:14; Romans 8:3; Hebrews 2:14), although Baruch does appear in canon lists from the fourth century (Athanasius, Ep. Fest. 39; Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. 4.35; Epiphanius, Pan. 8.6.1-4). Early Jewish and Christian writings assign Baruch uncertain prophetic status. The Masoretes saw Baruch as Jeremiah’s scribe (e.g., Jeremiah 36:27, 32) and the Byzantine Vitae Prophetarum excludes Baruch. Yet the earliest quotation from Baruch (Athenagorus, Leg. 9) names Baruch as a prophet, and some authority is suggested where Optatus of Milevis appeals to Baruch in a church controversy (Against the Donatists 7.1). With regard to biblical theology, Baruch has received some attention as to the ethical system offered by its exegesis of sin, exile, and repentance (Harrington, Invitation, p. 93; see also Harlow, Greek, p. 168; Wright, Baruch, pp. 113–21) ..."
Ryan, Daniel
"Baruch" in Aitken, J. K. (ed.) T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint
(pp. 487-499) T&T Clark International, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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