5
of another, and all the things of my soul and of my body are mine and are not of another, but neither are the things of my soul of my body, nor are the things of my body of my soul, but the cutting and flux are of the body and not of the soul, while reasoning and being pious are of the soul and not of the body, and both these and those are mine, since I reason with the soul, but am cut in the body, so also God the Word suffers in the flesh and works miracles in His divinity, and neither does the divinity suffer nor does the nature of the flesh work miracles, even if through the human operation the divine operation was shown. 26 It is impossible, then, to speak or think about God, except what He Himself has revealed to us through the holy scriptures, and impossible to say to God: "Why have you done so?" —"for all that the Lord willed, He has done"—, and one must not say with human reasonings: How is this possible? "But let God be true, and every man a liar." Since tell me: From where do we know that God made all things? How did the Father beget the Son? Or how is the Holy Spirit not begotten, but proceeds? Or how "the Word became flesh?" That the Son is begotten, and the Spirit proceeds, we have received from the holy scripture, and that "the Word became flesh"; but how, no one knows except the Father who begot and the begotten Son the Word who became flesh and the Holy Spirit who proceeds. 27 What is the strange mystery hidden from the ages, which the wise did not know, nor the rulers of this age, if not the word of the cross, the foolishness of the preaching, that God became man and was crucified? For Abraham was a friend of God and died, Moses was a lawgiver and died, Isaiah was a prophet and was sawn in two, Jeremiah was sanctified from his mother's womb and was thrown into a pit of mire and died, and John was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb and was beheaded, and none of these things was considered foolishness, except the word of the cross, that God became man and the Lord of glory was crucified. This is unbelievable and foolish and impossible among men, that God was seen and was spat upon. These things are the power of God to the faithful, that all things that He wills, He is able to do. This is the strange and ineffable mystery. For if they had known that the son of the virgin is God and the Lord of glory, they would not have crucified him. Thus also the invisible is seen and the impassible suffers and remains no less impassible. For He suffers by nature of the flesh and remains impassible in His divinity; for the divine is impassible, even when it is united hypostatically to the suffering body. It is necessary, therefore, to keep the scripture in harmony, both that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," and that He is the son of David and the Lord of David and the son of Abraham, and that He took on flesh and took hold of the seed of Abraham and was before Abraham "and he is a man, and who will know him?" and He is a man coming after John and was before John, and that the bread of life coming down from heaven is his flesh, and that "no one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven," and the second Adam is the Lord from heaven, and that the son of man, the nature that heard, "You are earth and to earth you shall return," sits upon a throne and is worshipped by all creation and the Trinity has not received an addition, and cursed is everyone who trusts in man. 28 How can these things be in harmony, unless the Son and Word of God and God by nature became son of the virgin, a man, two natures, one hypostasis, the same one pre-eternal and before Abraham and John and Lord of David, invisible, impassible, intangible as God, the same one recently become man and as man the same one visible, tangible, passible, spat upon, with his divine nature being subject to none of these things.
5
ἄλλου, καὶ ὅλα τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τὰ τοῦ σώματός μου ἐμά ἐστι καὶ οὔκ εἰσιν ἄλλου, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς μου τοῦ σώματός μού εἰσιν οὐδὲ τὰ τοῦ σώματός μού εἰσι τῆς ψυχῆς μου, ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν τομὴ καὶ ῥεῦσις τοῦ σώματος καὶ οὐ τῆς ψυχῆς, τὸ δὲ λογίζεσθαι καὶ εὐσεβεῖν τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ οὐχὶ τοῦ σώματος, καὶ ταῦτα δὲ κἀκεῖνα ἐμά, ἐπειδὴ ἐγὼ τῇ μὲν ψυχῇ λογίζομαι, τῷ δὲ σώματι τέμνομαι, οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεὸς λόγος πάσχει σαρκὶ καὶ θαυματουργεῖ θεότητι, καὶ οὔτε θεότης πάσχει οὔτε ἡ φύσις τῆς σαρκὸς θαυματουργεῖ, εἰ καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἐνεργείας ἡ θεία ἐδείκνυτο ἐνέργεια. 26 Ἀδύνατον οὖν εἰπεῖν ἢ ἐννοῆσαι περὶ θεοῦ, εἰ μὴ ὅπερ αὐτὸς διὰ τῶν ἁγίων γραφῶν ἡμῖν ἐφανέρωσε, καὶ ἀδύνατον εἰπεῖν τῷ θεῷ· « Τί ἐποίησας οὕτως;» -» πάντα γάρ, ὅσα ἠθέλησεν ὁ κύριος, ἐποίησε» -, καὶ οὐ χρὴ λογισμοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις λέγειν· Πῶς ἐνδέχεται τοῦτο; « Γινέσθω δὲ ὁ θεὸς ἀληθής, πᾶς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης.» Ἐπεὶ εἰπέ μοι· Πόθεν οἴδαμεν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἐποίησε τὰ πάντα; Πῶς ὁ πατὴρ ἐγέννησε τὸν υἱόν; Ἢ πῶς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον οὐ γεννᾶται, ἀλλ' ἐκπορεύεται; Ἢ πῶς « ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο;» Ὅτι μὲν ὁ υἱὸς γεννᾶται, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ἐκπορεύεται, ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας γραφῆς παρελάβομεν, καὶ ὅτι « ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο» · πῶς δέ, οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ ὁ γεννήσας πατὴρ καὶ ὁ γεννηθεὶς υἱὸς λόγος ὁ γενόμενος σὰρξ καὶ τὸ ἐκπορευόμενον ἅγιον πνεῦμα. 27 Τί τὸ ξένον μυστήριον τὸ ἀποκεκρυμμένον ἀπὸ τῶν γενεῶν, ὅπερ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν οἱ σοφοὶ οὐδὲ οἱ ἄρχοντες τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, εἰ μὴ ὁ λόγος ὁ τοῦ σταυροῦ, ἡ μωρία τοῦ κηρύγματος, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἄνθρωπος γέγονε καὶ ἐσταυρώθη; Καὶ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ φίλος θεοῦ καὶ ἀπέθανε, Μωσῆς νομοθέτης καὶ ἀπέθανεν, Ἡσαΐας προφήτης καὶ ἐπρίσθη, Ἱερεμίας ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς ἡγιάσθη καὶ εἰς βορβόρου λάκκον ἐβλήθη καὶ ἀπέθανε, καὶ Ἰωάννης ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς ἐπλήσθη πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀπετμήθη, καὶ οὐδὲν τούτων μωρία ἐλογίσθη, εἰ μὴ ὁ λόγος ὁ τοῦ σταυροῦ, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἄνθρωπος γέγονε καὶ ὁ κύριος τῆς δόξης ἐσταυρώθη. Τοῦτο παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἄπιστον καὶ μωρὸν καὶ ἀδύνατον, ὅτι θεὸς ὡράθη καὶ ἐνεπτύσθη. Ταῦτα τοῖς πιστοῖς δύναμις θεοῦ, ὅτι πάντα, ὅσα θέλει, δύναται. Τοῦτο τὸ ξένον καὶ ἀπόρρητον μυστήριον. Εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, ὅτι θεὸς καὶ κύριος τῆς δόξης ἐστὶν ὁ τῆς παρθένου υἱός, οὐκ ἂν αὐτὸν ἐσταύρωσαν. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἀόρατος ὁρᾶται καὶ πάσχει ὁ ἀπαθὴς καὶ μένει οὐδὲν ἧττον ἀπαθής. Πάσχει γὰρ σαρκὸς φύσει καὶ μένει ἀπαθὴς τῇ θεότητι· ἀπαθὲς γὰρ τὸ θεῖον, κἂν ἥνωται καθ' ὑπόστασιν τῷ πάσχοντι σώματι. Χρὴ τοίνυν φυλάξαι τὴν γραφὴν σύμφωνον, καὶ ὅτι « ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν» , καὶ ὅτι υἱὸς ∆αυὶδ καὶ κύριος ∆αυὶδ καὶ υἱὸς Ἀβραάμ, καὶ ὅτι προσελάβετο σάρκα καὶ σπέρματος Ἀβραὰμ ἐπελάβετο καὶ πρὸ Ἀβραὰμ ἦν « καὶ ἄνθρωπός ἐστι, καὶ τίς γνώσεται αὐτόν;» καὶ ἀνήρ ἐστιν ὀπίσω Ἰωάννου ἐρχόμενος καὶ πρὸ Ἰωάννου ἦν, καὶ ὅτι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβαίνων ἡ σὰρξ αὐτοῦ ἐστι, καὶ ὅτι « οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβὰς» καὶ ὁ δεύτερος Ἀδὰμ κύριος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἡ φύσις ἡ ἀκούσασα· « Γῆ εἶ καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ» , κάθηται ἐπὶ θρόνου καὶ λατρεύεται ὑπὸ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως καὶ προσθήκην ἡ τριὰς οὐκ ἐδέξατο, καὶ ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς, ὃς πέποιθεν ἐπ' ἄνθρωπον. 28 Πῶς ταῦτα δύναται συμφωνεῖν, εἰ μὴ ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς καὶ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεὸς κατὰ φύσιν γέγονεν υἱὸς τῆς παρθένου, ἄνθρωπος, δύο φύσεις, μία ὑπόστασις, ὁ αὐτὸς προαιώνιος καὶ πρὸ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰωάννου καὶ κύριος ∆αυίδ, ἀόρατος, ἀπαθής, ἀψηλάφητος ὡς θεός, ὁ αὐτὸς πρόσφατος γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος καὶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὁρατὸς ὁ αὐτός, ψηλαφητός, παθητός, ἐμπτυόμενος, τῆς θείας αὐτοῦ φύσεως οὐδενὶ τούτων ὑποπιπτούσης.