must discern whether it is speaking of the preincarnate or incarnate Word. Athanasius uses this argument prolifically in his Discourse Against the Arians, and the Cappadocians and Augustine followed suit.30 Additionally, in this reading strategy, Proverbs 8 proved important, both because of its use by the anti-Nicenes and because it provided these theologians with a passage that spoke of both Christ’s humanity and divinity. This is perhaps one of the most fundamental hermeneutical moves that the