CONTRA FATUM

"We affirm that the Saviour, especially when we think of him as divine Logos, Wisdom, Righteousness, and Truth, is Lord of all that has been subjected to him, in so far as he is these things, but not that he is also lord of the God and Father who is mightier than he. And since the Logos is not master of those who are unwilling, and as there are still some bad beings, not only men but also angels and all daemons, we maintain that he is not yet made master of these, since they do not yield to him of their own free will." (Con. Cel. VIII,15)

"[...]if by wisdom one understands Christ, since Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, we say not only that a man wise in this sense can come to the Father, but also that the man adorned with the spiritual gift called 'the word of wisdom', which is conferred by the Spirit, is far superior to people who are not so adorned." (Con. Cel. VII,23)

"The essence of Christianity is, therefore, nothing else than Christ Himself. The founder of the religion is Himself, its sum and substance. He is not merely the historical founder of a religion; His person cannot be separated from the doctrine which he proclaims, but has an eternal, ever-present significance for the human race. As he is the Mediator and Propitiator, the sacred point of unity between God and the sinful world, so He is also continually the Redeemer of the human race. All regenerating, all purifying, all sanctifying influences by which man is freed from his state of bondage to sin, and made to partake of the mystery of the incarnation and atonement, proceed from the person of Christ, through the Spirit going out from Him into His Church." (Martensen, Dogmatics §15)