Origin of the quote "If he'd had anything more precious, he'd have given it"

Question

I'm looking for a quote by a Holy Father (can't remember if it was a recent one or not) from the Orthodox tradition. I seem to remember his discussing the nature of the atonement and the fact that God could have 'snapped His fingers' and forgiven everyone but instead he chose to reveal Himself by sending His most precious Son to undergo humiliation for us in a revelation of the love of the Holy Trinity.

Then he mentions that this happened because the Son is the most valuable thing which the Father possesses and that, if He had anything more dear to Him, He would have given that instead. I believe I came across this while reading Orthodox Dogmatic Theology but I can't find the quote. Help, please?

Answer 1

The quote is from the Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian. It is found in a note to the section entitled "The Economy of Our Salvation" in Chapter 6 of Orthodox Dogmatic Theology. The quote in full reads:

God the Lord surrendered His own Son to death on the Cross for the fervent love of creation. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to death for our sake (cf. John 3: 16). This was not, however, because He could not have redeemed us in another way, but so that His surpassing love, manifested hereby, might be a teacher unto us. And by the death of His only begotten Son He made us near to Himself. Yea, if He had had anything more precious, He would have given it to us, so that by it our race might be His own

Pomazansky, Fr. Michael. Orthodox Dogmatic Theology (Kindle Locations 6187-6191). St. Herman Press. Kindle Edition.