than straightforward, because the exact force of “just as” would be less than transparent (a point to which I shall return), but in any case the Son would be diminished: he would no longer be said to be on a par with God. The life the Son would enjoy, under such a reading of the passage, would not be the life of independence and self-existence, but derived life received at a concrete moment. In reality, the wording of our passage makes its interpretation very difficult: “For as the Father has life