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that He is powerful, that He is immutable and unchangeable and always the same, able to be turned neither toward the worse nor toward the better; for the one is not His nature, and the other He does not have; for what is 3.13 higher than the Most High? What is better than the Good? so that He who is contemplated in all the perfection of the good possesses unchangeableness against every kind of change, not showing such a quality in Himself at certain times, but always being the same, both before the economy according to man and in it and after this, with His immutable and unchangeable nature in no way being altered toward the unseemly in His activities on our behalf 3.14. For what is by nature incorruptible and unchangeable is always such, not being changed along with the lowly nature when He comes to be in it according to the economy, according to the example of the sun, which, casting its ray into the gloom, did not dim the light of the ray, but transformed the darkness into light through the ray; so also the true light, shining in our darkness, was not itself overshadowed by the darkness 3.15, but through itself illuminated the gloom. Since, therefore, the human was in darkness, as it is written that 'They did not know, nor did they understand; they walk about in darkness,' He who shone upon our darkened nature, leading the ray of the Godhead through our whole composite being, I mean through soul and body, made the whole of what is human His own by His own light, by the mingling with Himself making that also what He Himself is; and as the Godhead was not corrupted by being in the corruptible body, so neither was it altered into change by healing the changeable part of our soul; for indeed in the medical art as well, he who treats bodies, when he touches the afflicted part, does not himself become affected, but heals the diseased part 3.16; but let no one on this account, by improperly understanding the Gospel passage, suppose that our nature in Christ was gradually transformed toward the more divine by some kind of progress and sequence; for 'to advance in stature and wisdom and grace' is recorded by Scripture as proof that the Lord had truly come to be in our dough, so that there might be no place for the teaching of those who, instead of the true theophany, dogmatize that some appearance had occurred, fashioned in bodily form 3.17. For this reason, Scripture shamelessly records about Him also all that is proper to our nature: eating, drinking, sleep, weariness, nourishment, the progress of bodily stature, growth, all things by which our nature is characterized, except for the impulse toward sin; for sin is a failure of nature, not a property, just as disease and disability are not innate to us from the beginning, but happen contrary to nature; so also the activity according to vice is understood as a kind of disability of the good innate in us, not apprehended in its own subsistence, 3.18 but contemplated in the absence of the good. He, therefore, who transformed our nature to the divine power, preserved it in Himself unharmed and un-diseased, not admitting the disability which comes from sin to the will; 'For He committed no sin,' it says, 'neither was deceit found in His mouth.' 3.19 And this we contemplate in Him not after some interval of time, but immediately the man in Mary, in whom wisdom built her own house, while by His own nature was of the passible dough, yet at the same time by the coming of the Holy Spirit and the overshadowing of the power of the Most High, that which overshadowed was by its own nature, immediately became that; 'For without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.' 3.20 Since, therefore, the power of the Godhead is something infinite and immeasurable, while the human is small and of no account, as soon as the Spirit came upon the Virgin and the power of the Most High overshadowed her, the tabernacle being formed from such an origin drew to itself none of human corruption; but what was in that constitution, although it was man, was nevertheless also Spirit and grace and power, with the property of our nature shining forth in the transcendence of the divine power 3.21. And since the two limits of the human

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ὅτι δυνατός, ὅτι ἄτρεπτός τε καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος καὶ ἀεὶ ὁ αὐτός, οὔτε πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον οὔτε πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον τραπῆναι δυνάμενος· τὸ μὲν γὰρ οὐ πέφυκεν, τὸ δὲ οὐκ ἔχει· τί γὰρ <τοῦ> ὑψίστου 3.13 ὑψηλότερον; τί τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἀγαθώτερον; ὥστε ὁ ἐν πάσῃ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τελειότητι θεωρούμενος κατὰ πᾶν εἶδος τροπῆς τὸ ἀναλλοίωτον ἔχει, οὐ κατὰ καιρούς τινας τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐν ἑαυτῷ δεικνύς, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχων καὶ πρὸ τῆς κατὰ ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομίας καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῳ καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο, οὐδὲν τῆς ἀτρέπτου καὶ ἀναλλοιώτου φύσεως ἐν ταῖς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν 3.14 ἐνεργείαις πρὸς τὸ ἀπεμφαῖνον μεθαρμοζομένης. τὸ γὰρ φύσει ἄφθαρτον καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον ἀεὶ τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, οὐ συναλλοιού μενον τῇ ταπεινῇ φύσει ὅταν ἐν ἐκείνῃ κατ' οἰκονομίαν γένηται, κατὰ τὸ τοῦ ἡλίου ὑπόδειγμα, ὃς ὑποβαλὼν τὴν ἀκτῖνα τῷ ζόφῳ οὐ τὸ φῶς τῆς ἀκτῖνος ἠμαύρωσεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ σκότος διὰ τῆς ἀκτῖνος εἰς φῶς μετεποίησεν· οὕτως καὶ τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ ἡμῶν λάμψαν οὐκ αὐτὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ σκότους 3.15 κατεσκιάσθη, ἀλλὰ δι' ἑαυτοῦ τὸν ζόφον ἐφώτισεν. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἐν σκότῳ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον ἦν, καθὼς γέγραπται ὅτι Οὐκ ἔγνωσαν οὐδὲ συνῆκαν, ἐν σκότει διαπορεύονται, ὁ ἐλ λάμψας τῇ ἐσκοτισμένῃ φύσει, διὰ παντὸς τοῦ συγκρίματος ἡμῶν τῆς θεότητος τὴν ἀκτῖνα διαγαγών, διὰ ψυχῆς λέγω καὶ σώματος, ὅλον τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τῷ ἰδίῳ φωτὶ προσῳ κείωσε, τῇ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀνακράσει ὅπερ ἐστὶν αὐτός, κἀκεῖνο ἀπεργασάμενος· καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἐφθάρη ἡ θεότης ἐν τῷ φθαρτῷ σώματι γενομένη, οὕτως οὐδὲ εἰς τροπὴν ἠλλοιώθη τὸ τρε πτὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν ἰασαμένη· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἰατρι κῆς τέχνης ὁ θεραπεύων τὰ σώματα, ἐπειδὰν ἅψηται τοῦ πεπονθότος, οὐκ αὐτὸς ἐμπαθὴς γίνεται ἀλλὰ τὸ νοσοῦν 3.16 ἐξιάσατο· μηδεὶς δὲ διὰ τοῦτο τὸ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου μὴ δεόν τως ἐκλαμβάνων ἡγείσθω κατὰ προκοπήν τινα καὶ ἀκο λουθίαν κατ' ὀλίγον πρὸς τὸ θειότερον μεταποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἡμετέραν φύσιν ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ· τὸ γὰρ Προκόπτειν ἡλικίᾳ καὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ χάριτι εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τοῦ ἀληθῶς ἐν τῷ ἡμε τέρῳ φυράματι γεγενῆσθαι τὸν κύριον παρὰ τῆς γραφῆς ἱστόρηται, ὡς ἂν μή τινα χώραν ἔχοι <τὸ> τῶν ἀντὶ τῆς ἀλη θοῦς θεοφανείας δόκησίν τινα γεγενῆσθαι δογματιζόντων ἐν 3.17 σωματικῇ μορφῇ κατεσχηματισμένην. διὰ τοῦτο ὅσα τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ἴδια, ἀνεπαισχύντως καὶ περὶ αὐτὸν ἱστορεῖ ἡ γραφή, τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν πόσιν τὸν ὕπνον τὸν κόπον τὴν τροφὴν τὴν προκοπὴν τῆς σωματικῆς ἡλικίας τὴν αὔξησιν, πάντα δι' ὧν ἡ ἡμετέρα χαρακτηρίζεται φύσις, πλὴν τῆς κατὰ ἁμαρτίαν ὁρμῆς· ἡ γὰρ ἁμαρτία ἀπότευγμα φύσεώς ἐστιν, οὐκ ἰδίωμα, ὡς καὶ ἡ νόσος καὶ ἡ πήρωσις οὐκ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡμῖν συμπέφυκεν, ἀλλὰ παρὰ φύσιν συμβαίνει· οὕτως καὶ ἡ κατὰ κακίαν ἐνέργεια καθάπερ τις πήρωσις τοῦ ἐμπεφυκότος ἡμῖν ἀγαθοῦ νοεῖται, οὐκ ἐν τῷ αὐτὴν ὑφεστάναι καταλαμβα 3.18 νομένη, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἀπουσίᾳ θεωρουμένη. ὁ οὖν τὴν φύσιν ἡμῶν πρὸς τὴν θείαν δύναμιν μεταστοιχειώσας ἄπηρον αὐτὴν καὶ ἄνοσον ἐν ἑαυτῷ διεσώσατο, τὴν ἐξ ἁμαρτίας γινομένην τῇ προαιρέσει πήρωσιν οὐ προσδεξά μενος· Ἁμαρτίαν γάρ, φησίν, οὐκ ἐποίησεν οὐδὲ εὑρέθη 3.19 δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ. τοῦτο δὲ οὐ μετά τι χρονικὸν διάστημα περὶ αὐτὸν θεωροῦμεν, ἀλλ' εὐθὺς ὁ ἐν Μαρίᾳ ἄνθρωπος, ἐν ᾧ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἡ σοφία τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον, τῇ μὲν ἑαυτοῦ φύσει ἐκ τοῦ ἐμπαθοῦς φυράματος ἦν, ὁμοῦ δὲ τῇ ἐπελεύσει τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος καὶ τῇ ἐπισκηνώσει τῆς τοῦ ὑψίστου δυνάμεως, ὅπερ τὸ ἐπισκηνῶσαν ἦν φύσει τῇ ἰδίᾳ, εὐθὺς ἐκεῖνο ἐγένετο· Χωρὶς γὰρ πάσης ἀντιλογίας τὸ 3.20 ἔλαττον ὑπὸ τοῦ κρείττονος εὐλογεῖται. ἐπεὶ οὖν ἄπειρόν τί ἐστι καὶ ἀμέτρητον ἡ τῆς θεότητος δύναμις, βραχὺ δὲ καὶ οὐτιδανὸν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, ἅμα τε ἐπῆλθε τὸ πνεῦμα τῇ παρθένῳ καὶ ἡ τοῦ ὑψίστου ἐπεσκίασε δύναμις, τὸ διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀφορμῆς πηγνύμενον σκήνωμα οὐδὲν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης σαπρίας συνεπεσπάσατο· ἀλλ' ὅπερ ἦν ἐν τῷ συστήματι, εἰ καὶ ἄνθρωπος, ἦν, πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ πνεῦμα καὶ χάρις καὶ δύναμις ἦν, ἐν τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῆς θείας δυνάμεως τῆς κατὰ τὴν 3.21 φύσιν ἡμῶν ἰδιότητος ἐκλαμπούσης. καὶ ἐπειδὴ δύο πέρατα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης