How then were they children of Abraham, and not children of Abraham? [Jesus] shows that in the case of these men that they were both: they were children of Abraham, because of their birth; and they were not children of Abraham, because of the evil of diabolic deceit. So give ear then to our God and Lord: they were of Him, and they were not of Him. How were they of God? Because He had created the man from whom they were born. How were they of God? Because He is the Author of nature, He is the Creator of body and soul. How then are they not of God? Because by their own will they have become evil. They are not His, because, imitating the devil, they have become the children of the devil.
– The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, II:145f
