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proclaimed by the prophets, and that His Son has already made His advent according to man, and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and the rest of the things which the prophets say concerning Him. 21 Paul, after the Lord had spoken to him from heaven, and had shown him that in persecuting His disciples he was persecuting his own Master, and Ananias was sent to him, and he recovered his sight, and was baptized, "in the synagogues," he says, "in Damascus he preached with all boldness Jesus, that this is the Son of God, the Christ." This is the mystery which he says was made known to him by revelation, that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate, this one is Lord of all and King and God and Judge. 22 Signifying by these words that he would not have gone to them, if he had not been commanded. For perhaps he would not even have given them baptism so readily, if he had not heard them prophesying when the Holy Spirit rested upon them. And for this reason he said: "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" persuading at the same time those who were present and signifying that, if the Holy Spirit had not rested upon them, there would have been one to forbid them from baptism. 23 Wherefore again in the Epistle he says: "Everyone who believes that Jesus Christ is born of God," knowing one and the same Jesus Christ, to whom the gates of heaven were opened because of His ascension in the flesh; who also in the same flesh in which He also suffered shall come, revealing the glory of the Father. 24 The Spirit therefore having descended for the sake of the fore-ordained dispensation, and the Son of God the Only-begotten, who is also the Word of the Father, having come in the fullness of time, having been made flesh in man and having fulfilled the whole dispensation according to man, Jesus Christ our Lord, being one and the same, as the Lord Himself bears witness, and the apostles confess, and the prophets proclaim, all the teachings of those who have devised ogdoads and tetrads and illusions were proven false. 25 It is therefore manifest that Paul knew no other Christ, but Him who both suffered, and was buried, and rose again, and was born, whom he also calls man. For having said: "But if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead," he adds, giving the reason for His incarnation: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." And everywhere, concerning the passion of our Lord and His humanity and His death, he uses the name of Christ, as in: "Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died," and again: "But now in Christ you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ," and again: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." 26 He united, therefore, as we have said before, man to God. For if man had not conquered the adversary of man, the enemy would not have been justly conquered. And again, if God had not bestowed salvation, we would not have possessed it securely. And if man had not been united to God, he could not have partaken of incorruptibility. For it was necessary that the Mediator of God and men should, through His own relationship to both, bring both to friendship and concord, and present man to God, and make God known to men. 27 "For as by the disobedience of the one man" who was first formed from the unworked earth "the many were made sinners" and lost life, "so also" it was necessary "by the obedience of one man" who was first born of a virgin for many to be justified and to receive salvation. 28 "I said: You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High; but you die like men." He says these things to those who did not receive the gift of adoption, but who dishonor the incarnation of the pure generation of the Word of God and deprive man of the ascent to God and are ungrateful to the one who for their sakes was made flesh

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προφητῶν κεκηρυγμένον, τούτου δὲ τὸν Υἱὸν τὴν κατὰ ἄνθρωπον ἤδη πεποιῆσθαι παρουσίαν, καὶ ὡς πρόβατον εἰς σφαγὴν ἦχθαι, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ὅσα οἱ προφῆται λέγουσι περὶ αὐτοῦ. 21 Παῦλος μετὰ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ λαλῆσαι αὐτῷ τὸν Κύριον καὶ ἐπιδεῖξαι ὅτι τὸν ἴδιον ∆εσπότην ἐδίωκε διώκων τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ καὶ πέμψαι Ἀνανίαν πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ ἀναβλέψαι καὶ βαπτισθῆναι, «ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς», φησίν, «ἐν ∆αμασκῷ ἐκήρυσσε μετὰ πάσης παρρησίας τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ Χριστός». Τοῦτ' ἔστι τὸ μυστήριον ὃ λέγει κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ἐγνωρίσθαι αὐτῷ, ὅτι ὁ παθὼν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, οὗτος Κύριος τῶν πάντων καὶ Βασιλεὺς καὶ Θεὸς καὶ Κριτής ἐστιν. 22 ∆ιὰ τῶν λόγων τούτων σημαίνων ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἐπεπόρευτο πρὸς αὐτούς, εἰ μὴ κεκέλευστο. Ἴσως γὰρ οὐδὲ τὸ βάπτισμα οὕτως εὐχερῶς ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς, εἰ μὴ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου ἐπαναπαέντος αὐτοῖς προφητεύοντας αὐτοὺς ἀκηκόει. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἔλεγε· «Μή τις τὸ ὕδωρ κωλῦσαι δύναται τοῦ μὴ βαπτισθῆναι τούτους, οἵτινες τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἔλαβον ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς;» πείθων ἅμα τοὺς συμπαρόντας καὶ σημαίνων ὅτι, εἰ μὴ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἀναπέπαυτο, ἦν ὁ κωλύσων αὐτοὺς τοῦ βαπτίσματος. 23 ∆ιὸ πάλιν ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ φησίν· «Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγέννηται», ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν εἰδὼς Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, ᾧ ἠνοίχθησαν αἱ πύλαι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ διὰ τὴν ἔνσαρκον ἀνάληψιν αὐτοῦ· ὃς καὶ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ σαρκὶ ἐν ᾗ καὶ ἔπαθεν ἐλεύσεται τὴν δόξαν ἀποκαλύπτων τοῦ Πατρός. 24 Τοῦ Πνεύματος οὖν κατελθόντος διὰ τὴν προωρισμένην οἰκονομίαν, καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς, ὃς καὶ Λόγος ἐστὶ τοῦ Πατρός, ἐλθόντος τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ χρόνου, σαρκωθέντος ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν κατὰ ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομίαν ἐκπληρώσαντος, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν, ἑνὸς καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὄντος, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος μαρτυρεῖ καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι ὁμολογοῦσι καὶ οἱ προφῆται κηρύττουσι, ψευδεῖς ἀπεδείχθησαν πᾶσαι αἱ διδασκαλίαι τῶν τὰς ὀγδοάδας καὶ τετράδας καὶ δοκήσεις παρεξευρηκότων. 25 Φανερὸν οὖν ὅτι Παῦλος ἄλλον Χριστὸν οὐκ οἶδεν, ἀλλ' ἢ τοῦτον τὸν καὶ παθόντα καὶ ταφέντα καὶ ἀναστάντα καὶ γεννηθέντα, ὃν καὶ ἄνθρωπον λέγει. Εἰπὼν γάρ· «Εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς κηρύσσεται ὅτι ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγήγερται», ἐπιφέρει, τὴν αἰτίαν ἀποδιδοὺς τῆς σαρκώσεως αὐτοῦ· «Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δι' ἀνθρώπου θάνατος, καὶ δι' ἀνθρώπου ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν.» Καὶ πανταχοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ πάθους τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς νεκρώσεως τῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ κέχρηται ὀνόματι, ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ· «Μὴ τῷ βρώματί σου ἐκεῖνον ἀπόλλυε, ὑπὲρ οὗ Χριστὸς ἀπέθανε», καὶ πάλιν· «Νυνὶ δὲ ἐν Χριστῷ ὑμεῖς οἵ ποτε ὄντες μακρὰν ἐγενήθητε ἐγγὺς τῷ αἵματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ», καὶ πάλιν· «Χριστὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξηγόρασεν ἐκ τῆς κατάρας τοῦ νόμου γενόμενος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα· γέγραπται γὰρ· Ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου.» 26 Ἥνωσεν οὖν, καθὼς προέφαμεν, τὸν ἄνθρωπον τῷ Θεῷ. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἄνθρωπος ἐνίκησεν τὸν ἀντίπαλον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, οὐκ ἂν δικαίως ἐνικήθη ὁ ἐχθρός. Πάλιν τε εἰ μὴ ὁ Θεὸς ἐδωρήσατο τὴν σωτηρίαν, οὐκ ἂν βεβαίως ἔσχομεν αὐτήν. Καὶ εἰ μὴ συνηνώθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῷ Θεῷ, οὐκ ἂν ἠδυνήθη μετασχεῖν τῆς ἀφθαρσίας. Ἔδει γὰρ τὸν μεσίτην Θεοῦ τε καὶ ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῆς ἰδίας πρὸς ἑκατέρους οἰκειότητος εἰς φιλίαν καὶ ὁμόνοιαν τοὺς ἀμφοτέρους συναγαγεῖν, καὶ Θεῶ μὲν παραστῆσαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀνθρώποις δὲ γνωρίσαι τὸν Θεόν. 27 «Ὥσπερ γὰρ διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου» τοῦ πρώτως ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀνεργάστου πεπλασμένου «ἁμαρτωλοὶ κατεστάθησαν οἱ πολλοὶ» καὶ ἀπέβαλον τὴν ζωήν, «οὕτως» ἔδει «καὶ δι' ὑπακοῆς ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου» τοῦ πρώτως ἐκ παρθένου γεγεννημένου δικαιωθῆναι πολλοὺς καὶ ἀπολαβεῖν τὴν σωτηρίαν. 28 «Ἐγὼ εἶπα· Θεοί ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ Ὑψίστου πάντες· ὑμεῖς δὲ ὡς ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνῄσκετε.» Ταῦτα λέγει πρὸς τοὺς μὴ δεξαμένους τὴν δωρεὰν τῆς υἱοθεσίας, ἀλλ' ἀτιμάζοντας τὴν σάρκωσιν τῆς καθαρᾶς γεννήσεως τοῦ Λόγου τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἀποστεροῦντας τὸν ἄνθρωπον τῆς εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἀνόδου καὶ ἀχαριστοῦντας τῷ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν σαρκωθέντι