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17 For we have both comprehended and proclaim the divinity of the Son from His great and lofty titles. Which ones? Those of God, Word, He who is in the beginning, He who is with the beginning, the Beginning: *In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God*; and, *With you is the dominion*; and, *He who calls it from the beginning of generations*. Since He is the only-begotten Son: *The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known*. Way, Truth, Life, Light: *I am the way, and the truth, and the life*; and, *I am the light of the world*. Wisdom, Power: *Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God*. Radiance, Impress, Image, Seal: *Who being the radiance of His glory and the impress of His substance*; and, *Image of his goodness*; and, *For on him God the Father has set his seal*. Lord, King, He who is, the Almighty: *The Lord rained fire from the Lord*; and, *A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom*; and, *He who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty*. These are clearly said of the Son, and all that have the same power as these, none of which is acquired, nor added later to the Son, or to the Spirit, just as not even to the Father Himself. For perfection is not from addition. For there was not when He was without the Word, nor was there when He was not Father, nor was there when He was not true, or unwise, or powerless, or lacking life, or splendor, or goodness.

18 But you, enumerate for me in contrast to these the sayings of ingratitude, *my God and your God*, *greater*, *created*, *made*, *sanctified*. And if you will, also *servant*, and *obedient*; *has given*, *learned*, *has been commanded*, *has been sent*, *not being able to do anything of himself*, or to *speak*, or *judge*, or *grant*, or *will*. And further, these: *ignorance*, *subjection*, *prayer*, *asking*, *progress*, *perfection*. Add, if you wish, whatever is humbler than these: *to sleep*, *to be hungry*, *to be weary*, *to weep*, *to be in agony*, *to withdraw*. And perhaps you would reproach also the *cross*, and the *death*. For the *resurrection* and the *ascension* I think you will pass over, since in these something is found that is also on our side. And you could prattle on with many more things in addition to these, if you wished to put together your god of the same name and spurious, but for us true and of equal honor with the Father. For it is not difficult to go through each of these in detail and explain it to you in the most pious sense, and to clear away the stumbling block in the Scriptures, if indeed you are really stumbling, and not willingly doing evil. But in one main point, attribute the higher things to the Godhead and to the nature that is superior to passions and body; but the humbler things to the composite being, and to Him who for your sake was emptied and became incarnate—and it is no worse to say, was made man—and then was also exalted, so that you, having put down the carnal and groveling nature of your doctrines, may learn to be loftier, and to ascend with the Godhead, and not to remain fixed on things seen, but to be lifted up with the things conceived by the mind, and may know what is the principle of nature, and what is the principle of the economy.

19 For this one who is now despised by you, there was a time when He was even above you; He who is now man was also uncompounded. What He was, He remained; what He was not, He took to Himself. In the beginning He was without cause; for what is the cause of God? But later He came to be for a cause (and that was that you, the insolent one, might be saved, you who for this reason despise the Godhead, because He condescended to your grossness) through the medium of a mind He conversed with flesh, and became man, the God below; since He was blended with God, and became one, the greater prevailing, that I might become God as much as He became man. He was born, but He had also been begotten; from a woman, but also a virgin. The one is human, the other divine. Without father here, but also without mother there. All this is of the Godhead. He was carried in the womb, but was recognized by a prophet who was himself still in the womb, and who leaped for the Word, for whom he came to be. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, but He unwraps the grave clothes by rising. He was laid in a manger, but was glorified by angels, and proclaimed by a star, and worshipped by Magi. How is it that you stumble at what is seen, not considering what is understood?

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17 Ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ ἐκ μεγάλων καὶ ὑψηλῶν τῶν φωνῶν τοῦ υἱοῦ τὴν θεότητα καὶ κατειλήφαμεν, καὶ κηρύσσομεν. τίνων τούτων; τῆς θεός, τῆς λόγος, ὁ ἐν ἀρχῇ, ὁ μετὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἡ ἀρχή· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος· καί, Μετά σου ἡ ἀρχή· καί, Ὁ καλῶν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ γενεῶν ἀρχήν. ἐπειδὴ υἱὸς μονογενής· Ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός, ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρός, ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο. ὁδός, ἀλήθεια, ζωή, φῶς· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδός, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια, καὶ ἡ ζωή· καί, Ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου. σοφία, δύναμις· Χριστὸς θεοῦ δύναμις, καὶ θεοῦ σοφία. ἀπαύγασμα, χαρακτήρ, εἰκών, σφραγίς· Ὃς ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακ τὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ· καί, Εἰκὼν τῆς ἀγαθότητος· καί, Τοῦτον γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ἐσφράγισεν ὁ θεός. κύριος, βασιλεύς, ὁ ὤν, ὁ παντοκράτωρ· Ἔβρεξε κύριος πῦρ παρὰ κυρίου· καί, Ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου· καί, Ὁ ὤν, καὶ ὁ ἦν, καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, καὶ ὁ παντοκράτωρ. σαφῶς περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ λεγόμενα, καὶ ὅσα τῆς αὐτῆς τούτοις ἐστὶ δυνάμεως, ὧν οὐδὲν ἐπίκτητον, οὐδὲ ὕστερον τῷ υἱῷ προσγενόμενον, ἢ τῷ πνεύματι, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ αὐτῷ τῷ πατρί. οὐ γὰρ ἐκ προσθήκης τὸ τέλειον. οὐ γὰρ ἦν ὅτε ἄλογος ἦν, οὐδὲ ἦν ὅτε οὐ πατήρ, οὐδὲ ἦν ὅτε οὐκ ἀληθής, ἢ ἄσοφος, ἢ ἀδύνατος, ἢ ζωῆς ἐνδεής, ἢ λαμπρότητος, ἢ ἀγαθότητος.

18 Σὺ δέ μοι καταρίθμει πρὸς ταῦτα τὰ τῆς ἀγνωμοσύνης ῥήματα, τὸ θεός μου καὶ θεὸς ὑμῶν, τὸ μείζων, τὸ ἔκτισε, τὸ ἐποίησε, τὸ ἡγίασεν. εἰ βούλει δέ, καὶ τὸ δοῦλον, καὶ τὸ ὑπήκοον· τὸ δέδωκε, τὸ ἔμαθε, τὸ ἐντέταλται, τὸ ἀπέσταλται, τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ τι ποιεῖν, ἢ λέγειν, ἢ κρίνειν, ἢ δωρεῖσθαι, ἢ βού λεσθαι. ἔτι δὲ καὶ ταῦτα, τὴν ἄγνοιαν, τὴν ὑποταγήν, τὴν εὐχήν, τὴν ἐρώτησιν, τὴν προκοπήν, τὴν τελείωσιν. πρόσθες, εἰ βούλει, καὶ ὅσα τούτων ταπεινότερα, τὸ ὑπνοῦν, τὸ πεινῆν, τὸ κοπιᾶν, τὸ δακρύειν, τὸ ἀγωνιᾶν, τὸ ὑποδύεσθαι. τάχα δ' ἂν ὀνειδίσαις καὶ τὸν σταυρόν, καὶ τὸν θάνατον. τὴν γὰρ ἔγερσιν καὶ τὴν ἀνάληψιν παρήσειν μοι δοκεῖς, ἐπειδή τι καὶ πρὸς ἡμῶν ἐν τούτοις εὑρίσκεται. πολλὰ δ' ἂν ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις σπερμολογήσαις, εἰ βούλοιο συντιθέναι τὸν ὁμώνυμόν σου θεὸν καὶ παρέγγραπτον, ἡμῖν δὲ ἀληθινὸν καὶ ὁμότιμον τῷ πατρί. τούτων γὰρ ἕκαστον οὐ χαλεπὸν μὲν καὶ κατὰ μέρος ἐπεξιόντα ἐξηγεῖσθαί σοι πρὸς τὸ εὐσεβέστατον, καὶ ἀνακαθαίρειν τὸ ἐν τοῖς γράμμασι πρόσκομμα, εἴ γε προσπταίεις ὄντως, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἑκὼν κακουργεῖς. ἑνὶ δὲ κεφα λαίῳ, τὰ μὲν ὑψηλότερα πρόσαγε τῇ θεότητι καὶ τῇ κρείττονι φύσει παθῶν καὶ σώματος· τὰ δὲ ταπεινότερα τῷ συνθέτῳ, καὶ τῷ διὰ σὲ κενωθέντι καὶ σαρκωθέντι, οὐδὲν δὲ χεῖρον εἰπεῖν, καὶ ἀνθρωπισθέντι, εἶτα καὶ ὑψωθέντι, ἵνα σὺ τὸ τῶν δογμάτων σου σαρκικὸν καὶ χαμαιπετὲς καταλύσας μάθῃς ὑψηλότερος εἶναι, καὶ συνανιέναι θεότητι, καὶ μὴ τοῖς ὁρωμένοις ἐναπομένοις, ἀλλὰ συν επαίρῃ τοῖς νοουμένοις, καὶ γινώσκῃς, τίς μὲν φύσεως λόγος, τίς δὲ λόγος οἰκονομίας.

19 Οὗτος γὰρ ὁ νῦν σοι καταφρονούμενος, ἦν ὅτε καὶ ὑπὲρ σὲ ἦν· ὁ νῦν ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἀσύνθετος ἦν. ὃ μὲν ἦν, διέμεινεν· ὃ δὲ οὐκ ἦν, προσέλαβεν. ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ἀναιτίως· τίς γὰρ αἰτία θεοῦ; ἀλλὰ καὶ ὕστερον γέγονε δι' αἰτίαν (ἡ δὲ ἦν τὸ σὲ σωθῆναι τὸν ὑβριστήν, ὃς διὰ τοῦτο περιφρονεῖς θεότητα, ὅτι τὴν σὴν παχύτητα κατεδέξατο) διὰ μέσου νοὸς ὁμιλήσας σαρκί, καὶ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ὁ κάτω θεός· ἐπειδὴ συνανεκράθη θεῷ, καὶ γέγονεν εἷς, τοῦ κρείττονος ἐκνικήσαντος, ἵνα γένωμαι τοσοῦτον θεός, ὅσον ἐκεῖνος ἄνθρωπος. ἐγεννήθη μέν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐγεγέννητο· ἐκ γυναικὸς μέν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρθένου. τοῦτο ἀνθρώπινον, ἐκεῖνο θεῖον. ἀπάτωρ ἐντεῦθεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀμήτωρ ἐκεῖθεν. ὅλον τοῦτο θεότητος. ἐκυοφορήθη μέν, ἀλλ' ἐγνώσθη προφήτῃ καὶ αὐτῷ κυοφορουμένῳ, καὶ προσκιρτῶντι τοῦ λόγου, δι' ὃν ἐγένετο. ἐσπαργανώθη μέν, ἀλλ' ἀποσπαργα νοῦται τὰ τῆς ταφῆς ἀνιστάμενος. ἐν φάτνῃ μὲν ἀνελκίθη, ἀλλ' ὑπ' ἀγγέλων ἐδοξάσθη, καὶ ὑπ' ἀστέρος ἐμηνύθη, καὶ ὑπὸ μάγων προσεκυνήθη. πῶς σὺ προσπταίεις τῷ βλεπομένῳ, μὴ σκοπῶν τὸ νοούμενον;