John of Damascus, Disputation Between Christian and Saracen

I commit fornication, what do you call this, the will of God or permission and forbearance and long-suffering? 4 The Saracen, having understood and been amazed, said: Truly, it is so. The Christian: Understand this also, that although God was able to strike, he refrained for the present, that is, he was long-suffering toward the sin. But whenever he wishes, if I do not repent, he repays me, just as he also did to the Jews. For after a few years he raised up against them Titus and Vespasian and the Greeks and cast down their arrogance. 5 If you are asked by a Saracen who says: What do you say Christ is? say to him: The Word of God, thinking that you sin in nothing in this, since he is also called Word in the scripture, and wisdom and arm and power of God and many other such things; for he has many names. And you, in turn, ask him saying: What is Christ called in your scripture? And perhaps he will wish to ask you something else, wanting to evade you; do not answer him until he answers your question. By all necessity he will answer you, saying: In my scripture Christ is called Spirit and Word of God. And then you say to him in turn: Are the Spirit of God and the Word in your scripture called uncreated or created? And if he says that they are uncreated, say to him: Behold, you agree with me; for indeed that which is not created by anyone, but creates, is God. But if he should dare to say at all that they are created, say to him: And who created the Spirit and the Word of God? And if out of perplexity he says that God created them, say to him: A little while ago you were saying that they are uncreated, and now you say that God created them. Behold, if I were to say such a thing to you, you would say to me that: You have destroyed your testimony, and henceforth I do not believe you, whatever you might say. Nevertheless, then, I also ask you this: Before God created the Spirit and the Word, did he not have a spirit nor a word? And he will flee from you, having nothing to answer you—for such men are heretics according to the Saracens and very abominable and rejected—and, if you wish to expose him to the other Saracens, he will fear you greatly. 6 And if the Saracen asks you, saying: Are the sayings of God created or uncreated? For they put this forward to us as a most clever question, wishing to prove that the Word of God is created, which is not the case. For if you say: They are created, he says to you that, behold, you are saying the Word of God is created. But if you say: Uncreated, he says that, behold, all the sayings of God, being uncreated, are yet not gods. Behold, you have confessed that Christ, being the Word of God, is not God. Therefore answer him neither created nor uncreated, but answer him thus: I confess only one hypostatic Word of God to be uncreated, just as you also confessed, but my entire scripture I do not call sayings, but utterances of God. And if the Saracen says: And how does David say: "The sayings of the Lord are pure sayings," and not: The utterances of the Lord are pure utterances? say to him that the prophet spoke figuratively and not literally. And if he says to you: What is figurative speech and literal speech? say to him: Literal speech is a certain proof of a matter, but figurative speech is an uncertain proof. And if the Saracen says to you: Is it possible for a prophet to speak an uncertain proof? say to him: It is the custom for the prophets to personify inanimate things, and they give them eyes and mouths, as in "the sea saw and fled." Behold, the sea also does not have eyes; for it is not animate. And again the same prophet speaks to it as if it were animate: "What is it to you, O sea, that you fled?" and so forth. "And my sword shall devour flesh," says the scripture; for to devour is said of a mouth that chews and swallows, but the sword cuts, but does not swallow. Thus also the utterances he spoke of figuratively as sayings, which literally

πορνεύσω, τί αὐτὸ λέγεις θέλημα θεοῦ ἢ συγχώρησιν καὶ ἀνοχὴν καὶ μακροθυμίαν; 4 Ὁ Σαρακηνὸς νοήσας καὶ θαυμάσας ἔφη· Ἀληθῶς, οὕτως ἔχει. Ὁ Χριστιανός· Νόησον καὶ τοῦτο, ὅτι δυναμένου τοῦ θεοῦ πατάξαι ἀνεχώρησεν πρὸς τὸ παρόν, τουτέστιν ἐμακροθύμησεν ἐπὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. Ἀλλ' ὅταν θέλῃ, ἂν οὐ μετανοήσω, ἀποδίδωσί μοι, καθάπερ καὶ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἐποίησεν. Μετὰ γὰρ ἔτη ὀλίγα ἀνέστησεν κατ' αὐτῶν τὸν Τίτον καὶ Οὐεσπασιανὸν καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας καὶ καθεῖλεν τὰ φρυάγματα αὐτῶν. 5 Ἐὰν ἐρωτηθῇς ὑπὸ Σαρακηνοῦ λέγοντος· Τί λέγεις εἶναι τὸν Χριστόν; εἰπὲ αὐτῷ· Λόγον θεοῦ, μηδὲν ἐν τούτῳ νομίζων ἁμαρτάνειν, ἐπεὶ καὶ λόγος λέγεται παρὰ τῇ γραφῇ καὶ σοφία καὶ βραχίων καὶ δύναμις θεοῦ καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ τοιαῦτα· πολυώνυμος γάρ ἐστιν. Καὶ ἀντερώτησον αὐτὸν καὶ σὺ λέγων· Τί λέγεται παρὰ τῇ γραφῇ σου ὁ Χριστός; Καὶ ἴσως θελήσει ἐρωτῆσαί σε ἐκεῖνος ἄλλο τι θέλων ἐκφυγεῖν σε· μὴ ἀποκριθῇς αὐτῷ, ἕως ἂν λύσῃ τὸ ἐρώτημά σου. Ἀνάγκῃ πάσᾳ ἀποκριθήσεταί σοι λέγων· Παρὰ τῇ γραφῇ μου πνεῦμα καὶ λόγος θεοῦ λέγεται ὁ Χριστός. Καὶ τότε εἰπὲ αὐτῷ σὺ πάλιν· Τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὁ λόγος παρὰ τῇ γραφῇ σου ἄκτιστα λέγονται ἢ κτιστά; Καὶ ἐὰν εἴπῃ, ὅτι ἄκτιστα, εἰπὲ αὐτῷ· Ἰδοὺ ὁμοφωνεῖς μοι· καὶ γὰρ τὸ μὴ κτισθὲν ὑπό τινος, ἀλλὰ κτίζον θεός ἐστιν. Εἰ δὲ ὅλως τολμήσει εἰπεῖν, ὅτι κτιστά εἰσιν, εἰπὲ αὐτῷ· Καὶ τίς ἔκτισε τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ; Καὶ ἐὰν ἐξ ἀπορίας εἴπῃ, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς αὐτὰ ἔκτισεν, εἰπὲ αὐτῷ· Πρὸ μικροῦ ἔλεγες, ἄκτιστα εἶναι, καὶ ἀρτίως λέγεις, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς αὐτὰ ἔκτισε. Ἰδού, εἰ ἔλεγον ἐγὼ πρός σε τοιοῦτον, ἔλεγες ἂν πρός με, ὅτι· Ἠφάνισας τὴν μαρτυρίαν σου, καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ οὐ πιστεύω σοι, ὅσα ἂν εἴπῃς. Ὅμως οὖν καὶ τοῦτο ἐρωτῶ σε· Πρὸ τοῦ κτίσαι ὁ θεὸς τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὸν λόγον οὐκ εἶχεν πνεῦμα οὐδὲ λόγον; Καὶ φεύξεται ἀπὸ σοῦ μὴ ἔχων τι ἀποκριθῆναί σοι- αἱρετικοὶ γάρ εἰσιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι κατὰ Σαρακηνοὺς καὶ πάνυ βδελυκτοὶ καὶ ἀπόβλητοι-καί, ἐὰν αὐτὸν θελήσῃς δημοσιεῦσαι τοῖς λοιποῖς Σαρακηνοῖς, φοβηθήσεταί σε πολύ. 6 Καὶ ἐὰν ἐρωτήσῃ σε ὁ Σαρακηνὸς λέγων· Τὰ λόγια τοῦ θεοῦ κτιστά εἰσιν ἢ ἄκτιστα; Τοῦτο γὰρ προβάλλονται πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐρώτημα δεινότατον θέλοντες ἀποδεῖξαι κτιστὸν εἶναι τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅπερ οὐκ ἔστιν. Ἐὰν γὰρ εἴπῃς· Κτιστά εἰσιν, λέγει σοι, ὅτι ἰδοὺ λέγεις κτιστὸν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ. Εἰ δὲ εἴπῃς· Ἄκτιστον, λέγει, ὅτι ἰδοὺ πάντα τὰ λόγια τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπάρχοντα ἄκτιστα μέν εἰσι, θεοὶ δὲ οὔκ εἰσιν. Ἰδοὺ σὺ ὡμολόγησας, ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς λόγος ὢν τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστι θεός. ∆ιὸ μηδὲ κτιστὰ μηδὲ ἄκτιστα ἀποκριθῇς αὐτῷ, ἀλλ' οὕτως ἀποκρίθητι αὐτῷ· Ἐγὼ ἕνα μόνον λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐνυπόστατον ὁμολογῶ ἄκτιστον ὄντα, καθάπερ καὶ σὺ ὡμολόγησας, τὴν δὲ πᾶσαν γραφήν μου οὐ λέγω λόγια, ἀλλὰ ῥήματα θεοῦ. Καὶ ἐὰν εἴπῃ ὁ Σαρακηνός· Καὶ πῶς λέγει ὁ ∆αυίδ· «Τὰ λόγια κυρίου λόγια ἁγνά,» καὶ οὐχί· Τὰ ῥήματα κυρίου ῥήματα ἁγνά; εἰπὲ αὐτῷ, ὅτι ὁ προφήτης τροπολογικῶς ἐλάλησεν καὶ οὐ κυριολογικῶς. Καὶ ἐάν σοι εἴπῃ· Τί ἐστιν τροπολογία καὶ κυριολογία; εἰπὲ αὐτῷ· Κυριολογία μέν ἐστιν βεβαία ἀπόδειξις πράγματος, τροπολογία δέ ἐστιν ἀβέβαιος ἀπόδειξις. Καὶ ἐάν σοι εἴπῃ ὁ Σαρακηνός· Ἐνδέχεται προφήτην εἰπεῖν ἀβέβαιον ἀπόδειξιν; εἰπὲ αὐτῷ· Ἔθος ἐστὶ τοῖς προφήταις τὰ ἄψυχα προσωποποιεῖν, καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ στόματα τιθέασιν αὐτοῖς, ὡς τὸ «ἡ θάλασσα εἶδεν καὶ ἔφυγεν». Ἰδοὺ καὶ θάλασσα ὀφθαλμοὺς οὐκ ἔχει· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἔμψυχος. Καὶ πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς προφήτης ὡς ἔμψυχον αὐτὴν διαλέγεται· «Τί σοί ἐστι, θάλασσα, ὅτι ἔφυγες;» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. «Καὶ ἡ μάχαιρά μου φάγεται κρέα», λέγει ἡ γραφή· τὸ γὰρ φαγεῖν ἐπὶ στόμα τος λέγεται τρώγοντος καὶ καταπίνοντος, ἡ δὲ μάχαιρα τέμνει μέν, οὐ καταπίνει δέ. Οὕτως καὶ τὰ ῥήματα τροπολογήσας ἐλάλησε λόγια, ἅπερ κυρίως