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naturally inherent in a hypostasis, being contemplated without change in others, confuses all with each other; and the principle of how each one is, it makes completely indiscernible.

THAT ONE WILL CANNOT BE SAID OF CHRIST; WHETHER NATURAL, OR

DELIBERATIVE... Therefore, if their argument has proven weak in these matters; neither will it, when transferred to our Lord and God, and Savior of all, Christ, and constructing one will said of him in any way, ever be strong. For if they were to say this will of Christ is natural, they will be shown to be sick with the Manichaean fantasy from the start, as they advocate for one nature of Christ that does not exist, nor ever will, a nature indicated by a corresponding will; and at the same time they will be caught emulating the madness of Arius and the consubstantiation of Apollinaris; as having alienated Christ in substance from God the Father and from his immaculate Mother. For the natural will characterizes a nature; and no argument will contradict this. But if it characterizes a nature, it is clear that those who say this proclaim Christ to be a nature. But if 15Α_036 Christ is a nature, he is truly neither God by nature, nor indeed man by nature; if indeed the Father is not truly Christ by nature, or the mother is not truly Christ by nature. But if Christ is God by nature, insofar as he is Christ by nature, the one who says this is a polytheist; advocating for another nature of the Father as God, who is not Christ by nature; and advocating for another nature of Christ as God, who is Christ by nature; and the end for them of such monstrous doctrine will be condemnation to polytheism.

But if it is a deliberative will, which they call gnomic, it will certainly either be according to nature, having the mode of the use of things to be done in Christ's case concurring in all respects with the principle of nature; and Christ will thus be shown to be not impassible, but, according to them, continent of the passions; and good by progress, whatever he is by nature. For such is the choice according to nature concerning things to be done for the one who chooses, making the better preferable to the worse; 0029 or contrary to nature, and it will show that the mode of the use of things in his case has become destructive of the principle of nature; for such is the choice contrary to nature, concerning things to be done for the one who chooses, making the worse preferable to the better. For when the judgment of the one choosing things to be done in his case according to deliberation is either correct or has failed, of which choice is, as it were, the vote, either the principle according to nature subsists for him through its right use, or the mode contrary to nature comes into being alongside it through its misuse; the one becoming the messenger of the choice according to nature; the other, of the choice contrary to nature.

And if Christ's choice were according to nature, not only will we accuse them again on the same grounds, for boldly devising another nature of Christ intermediate between divinity and creation; but we shall also 15Α_038 laugh at them for talking nonsense, making Christ, as a mere man according to Nestorius, receptive by nature of opposites according to choice. But if contrary to nature, I am silent, passing over the blasphemous idea, lest I unwittingly defile my tongue with the refutations against them. For by asserting a deliberative will in Christ, they have certainly shown a hypostasis of Christ capable of being moved according to nature and contrary to nature. For such, as I said before, is choice; but if it is characteristic of the hypostasis of Christ, they have separated him, according to this will, from both the Father and the Spirit as having a different will and a different mind. For that which is contemplated as proper to the Son according to hypostasis, is entirely unshared by the Father and the Spirit according to hypostasis. Therefore, as many of the holy Fathers(5) as made mention of choice in the humanity of Christ, [meant] the appetitive power of the nature essentially; which is to say, the natural will, or

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ὑπόστασιν ἐμπεφυκός, ἄλλοις ἀπαραλλάκτως ἐνθεωρούμενον, πάντας ἀλλήλοις συγχεῖ· καί τόν ἑκάστου τοῦ, πῶς εἶναι λόγον, ποιεῖ πάντελῶς ἀδιάγνωστον.

ΟΤΙΠΕΡ ΕΝ ΘΕΛΗΜΑ ΟΥ ∆ΥΝΑΤΟΝ ΕΠΙ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ ΛΕΓΕΣΘΑΙ· ΕΙΤΕ ΦΥΣΙΚΟΝ, ΕΙΤΕ

ΠΡΟΑΙΡΕΤΙΚΟΝ... Οὐκοῦν, εἴπερ ἐν τούτοις αὐτῶν ὁ λόγος ἠσθένησεν· οὐδέ ἐπί τόν Κύριον

ἡμῶν καί Θεόν, καί Σωτῆρα τῶν ὅλων Χριστόν μεταβαίνων, καί ἕν ὁπωσοῦν λεγόμενον ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῦ θέλημα κατασκευάζων εὐσθενήσοι ποτ᾿ ἄν. Εἰ μέν γάρ φυσικόν εἴποιεν τοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦτο τό θέλημα, τήν Μανιχαϊκήν αὐτόθεν νοσήσαντες δειχθήσονται φαντασίαν, ὡς τήν οὐκ οὖσαν, οὔτε γενησομένην μίαν Χριστοῦ φύσιν, καταλλήλῳ θελήματι δηλουμένην πρεσβεύοντες· τήν τε μανίαν Ἀρείου κατά ταυτόν, καί τήν Ἀπολιναρίου ζηλώσαντες φωραθήσονται συνουσίωσιν· ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός, καί τῆς ἀχράντου Μητρός, τόν Χριστόν κατά τήν οὐσίαν ἀλλοτριώσαντες. Τό γάρ φυσικόν θέλημα, φύσιν χαρακτηρίζει· καί οὐδείς ἀντερεῖ λόγος. Εἰ δέ φύσιν χαρακτηρίζει, δῆλον ὡς φύσιν, οἱ τοῦτο λέγοντες, τόν Χριστόν καταγγέλλουσι. Εἰ δέ 15Α_036 φύσις ὁ Χριστός, οὔτε Θεός φύσει, οὔτε μήν ἄνθρωπος φύσει ἐστίν ἀληθῶς· εἴπερ μή φύσει Χριστός ἀληθῶς ὁ Πατήρ, ἤ φύσει Χριστός ἀληθῶς ἡ μήτηρ. Εἰ δέ φύσει Θεός ὁ Χριστός, καθό φύσει Χριστός, πολύθεος ὁ τοῦτο λέγων· ἄλλην Πατρός ὡς Θεοῦ φύσιν, οὐκ ὄντος φύσει Χριστοῦ· καί ἄλλην Χριστοῦ φύσιν, ὡς Θεοῦ πρεσβεύων, ὄντος φύσει Χριστοῦ· καί πέρας αὐτοῖς τῆς τοιαύτης τερατολογίας, ἡ πρός πολυθεΐαν ἔσται κατάκρισις.

Εἰ δέ προαιρετικόν, ὅπερ καλοῦσι γνωμικόν, ἤ κατά φύσιν ἔσται πάντως, τόν τρόπον τῆς τῶν ἐπί Χριστῷ πρακτῶν χρήσεως ἔχον διά πάντων συνεύοντα τῷ λόγῳ τῆς φύσεως· καί οὐκ ἀπαθής, ἀλλ᾿ ἐγκρατής οὕτω γε παθῶν κατ᾿ αὕτούς ὁ Χριστός ὑπάρχων δειχθήσεται· καί κατά προκοπήν ἀγαθός, ὅ τί ποτε τήν φύσιν ἐστί. Τοιοῦτον γάρ ἡ κατά φύσιν προαίρεσις τῶν ἐπί τῷ αἱρουμένῳ πρακτῶν, τό κρεῖττον ποιουμένη πρό τοῦ χείρονος αἱρετόν· 0029 ἤ παρά φύσιν, καί τόν τρόπον τῆς τῶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ χρήσεως δείξει φθαρτικόν τοῦ λόγου γεγενημένον τῆς φύσεως· τοιοῦτον γάρ ἡ παρά φύσιν προαίρεσις, τῶν ἐπί τῷ αἱρουμένῳ πρακτῶν, τό χεῖρον ποιουμένη πρό τοῦ κρείττονος προαιρετόν. Κατορθωθείσης γάρ ἤ παρασφαλείσης τῆς τοῦ αἱρουμένου τῶν ἐπ' αὐτῷ πρακτῶν κατά τήν βούλευσιν κρίσεως, ἧς οἱονεί ψῆφος ἐστιν ἡ προαίρεσις, ἤ ὁ κατά φύσιν αὐτῷ διά τῆς εὐχρηστίας ὑφίσταται λόγος, ἤ ὁ παρά φύσιν διά τῆς ἀχρηστίας παρυφίσταται τρόπος· ὁ μέν, τῆς κατά φύσιν· ὁ δέ, τῆς παρά φύσιν προαιρέσεως γινόμενος ἄγγελος.

Καί εἰ μέν κατά φύσιν ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ προαίρεσις ᾖ, οὐ μόνον ἐπί τοῖς αὐτοῖς πάλιν αὐτούς αἰτιασόμεθα, φύσιν ἄλλην Χριστοῦ θεότητος μέσην καί κτίσεως τολμηρῶς σχεδιάζοντας· ἀλλά καί 15Α_038 ληροῦντας γελάσομεν, φύσει τῶν ἀντικειμένων κατά προαίρεσιν ὡς ψιλόν ἄνθρωπον κατά Νεστόριον τόν Χριστόν δεκτικόν ποιουμένους. Εἰ δέ παρά φύσιν, σιωπῶ παρατρέχων τό βλάσφημον, μήπως λαθών τοῖς κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐλέγχοις τήν γλῶτταν χρανθήσομαι. Προαιρετικόν γάρ ἐπί Χριστοῦ θέλημα φάσκοντες, ὑπόστασιν Χριστοῦ πάντως ὑπέδειξαν κατά φύσιν κινεῖσθαι καί παρά φύσιν δυναμένην. Τοιοῦτον γάρ, ὡς ἔφθην εἰπών, ἡ προαίρεσις· εἰ δέ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ χαρακτηριστικόν ἐστιν ὑποστάσεως, ἀφώρισαν αὐτόν, κατά δή τοῦτο τό θέλημα, τοῦ τε Πατρός καί τοῦ Πνεύματος ἑτερόβουλόν τε καί ἑτερόγνωμον. Τό γάρ τῷ Υἱῷ, καθ᾿ ὑπόστασιν ἰδικῶς ἐνθεωρούμενον, Πατρί καί Πνεύματι καθ᾿ ὑπόστασιν παντελῶς ἀκοινώνητον. Ὅσοι τοίνυν τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων(5) ἐπί τῆς κατά Χριστόν ἀνθρωπότητος προαιρέσεως ἐπεμνήσθησαν, τήν ὀρεκτικήν τῆς φύσεως δύναμιν οὐσιωδῶς· ταυτόν δέ φάναι, τήν φυσικήν θέλησιν, ἤ