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all things were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities; all things were created through him and for him; and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together, and he is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent.” For behold, behold very clearly he says that the image of the invisible God, the “firstborn of all creation,” both visible and invisible, the one through whom all things are and in whom all things are, was given as head of the church, and that he is also the firstborn from the dead, “who endured the cross, despising its shame.” For we do not say that a mere man, honored by a connection to him—I know not how—, as you say, was given for us, but it is he himself, the crucified Lord of glory. “For if they had known,” it says, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” 37 How then did the same one both suffer and not suffer? For if as God he did not suffer at all, but is said to have suffered, how could he be God? Therefore the one who suffered would be understood to be only the one from the seed of David. And yet how is saying these things not of a feeble mind? For the Father did not give for us a common man honored by a relative connection and adoption; for he writes thus: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should have eternal life.” Since, therefore, he willed to suffer for the salvation of the world, and this was impossible without flesh because he is by nature impassible as God, he took on flesh capable of suffering and, being God, became also man, so that he might be able to suffer. So both were present in him: in the flesh, to suffer; in the divinity, not to suffer; for the same one was at the same time both God and man. Therefore, every conception of examples is weak for a clear depiction of the mystery, nevertheless for a faint imagining we say this: Just as iron, or some other such material, having come into contact with the onsets of fire, receives it and travails with the flame, if it should happen to be struck by one who hits it, the material receives the damage, but the nature of the fire is in no way harmed by the one striking it, so also you will understand that the Son is said to have suffered in the flesh, but not to have suffered in his divinity. 38 Since we find the prophetic, evangelical, and apostolic sayings about 38 Christ speaking in one place as about a man, in another as about God, and in another as about God and man at the same time, in what way shall we say that these do not contradict one another, unless we say that the one who is by nature Son of God and God, has by nature become man and is, after the incarnation, the same one, both God and man at the same time? For thus, “though he was crucified through weakness of the flesh,” according to the apostle, “yet he lives by the power of God” and he has been raised by the Father and raised himself and has been taken up and ascends of his own power and is seated “at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and dominion and every name that is named.” 39 If the flesh, ineffably united to the Word, did not immediately become his own, how could it be understood to be life-giving? “For I am,” he says, “the living bread that came down from heaven and gives life to the world. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” If these things were not said by him who had come down, we would have said that they were spoken by an adopted man. But since he says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven,” how could his flesh belong to another besides himself? And if it is also written: “Truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not

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ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι· τὰ πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται· καὶ αὐτός ἐστι πρὸ πάντων, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα συνέστηκε, καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀπαρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων.» Ἰδοὺ γάρ, ἰδοὺ καὶ μάλα σαφῶς τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἀοράτου θεοῦ, τὸν «πρωτότοκον πάσης κτίσεως», ὁρατῆς τε καὶ ἀοράτου, τὸν δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα, κεφαλὴν δεδόσθαι τῆς ἐκκλησίας φησίν, εἶναι δὲ καὶ ἐκ νεκρῶν πρωτότοκον, «ὃς ὑπέμεινεν σταυρὸν αἰσχύνης καταφρονήσας.» Οὐ γὰρ ἄνθρωπον ἁπλῶς συναφείᾳ τῇ πρὸς αὐτόν- οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως-, ὡς ὑμεῖς λέγετε, τετιμημένον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν δίδοσθαι φαμέν, ἀλλ' ἔστιν αὐτὸς ὁ τῆς δόξης κύριος ὁ ἐσταυρωμένος. «Εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν», φησίν, «οὐκ ἂν τὸν κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν.» 37 Πῶς οὖν ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ πέπονθε καὶ οὐ πέπονθεν; Εἰ γὰρ ὅλως οὐ πέπονθε ὡς θεός, πεπονθέναι δὲ λέγεται, πῶς ἂν εἴη θεός; Οὐκοῦν ὁ παθὼν νοοῖτο μόνος ὁ ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυίδ. Καίτοι πῶς οὐκ ἀδρανοῦς διανοίας ταῦτα φάναι; Οὐ γὰρ κοινὸν ἄνθρωπον δέδωκεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὁ πατὴρ σχετικῇ συναφείᾳ καὶ υἱοθεσίᾳ τετιμημένον· γράφει γὰρ ὧδε· «Οὕτως ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον». Ἐπειδὴ οὖν ἤθελε διὰ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου σωτηρίαν παθεῖν, ἀδύνατον δὲ τοῦτο δίχα σαρκὸς διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν φύσει ἀπαθῆ ὡς θεόν, τὴν τοῦ παθεῖν δεκτικὴν προσελάβετο σάρκα καὶ θεὸς ὢν γέγονε καὶ ἄνθρωπος, ἵνα δύναιτο παθεῖν. Ὥστε ἄμφω αὐτῷ προσῆν· σαρκὶ μὲν τὸ παθεῖν, θεότητι δὲ τὸ μὴ παθεῖν· ἦν γὰρ ἐν ταυτῷ θεός τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ἄνθρωπος ὁ αὐτός. Ἀσθενὴς μὲν οὖν πᾶσα παραδειγμάτων ἐπίνοια πρός γε τρανὴν τοῦ μυστηρίου ἐξεικόνισιν, ὅμως γέ τοι πρὸς ἰσχνὴν φαντασίαν τόδε φαμέν· Ὥσπερ σίδηρος ἤγουν ἑτέρα τις ὕλη τοιαύτη ταῖς τοῦ πυρὸς ὁμιλήσασα προσβολαῖς εἰσδέχεται μὲν αὐτὸ καὶ κατωδίνει τὴν φλόγα, εἰ δὲ πλήττοιτο τυχὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ παίοντος, δέχεται μὲν ἡ ὕλη τὸ βλάβος, ἀδικεῖται δὲ ὅλως πρὸς τοῦ παίοντος οὐδὲν ἡ τοῦ πυρὸς φύσις, οὕτω νοήσεις καὶ ἐν τῷ σαρκὶ λέγεσθαι παθεῖν, θεότητι δὲ μὴ παθεῖν τὸν υἱόν. 38 Ἐπειδὴ τάς τε προφητικὰς καὶ εὐαγγελικὰς καὶ ἀποστολικὰς περὶ 38 Χριστοῦ φωνὰς πῇ μὲν ὡς περὶ ἀνθρώπου, πῇ δὲ ὡς περὶ θεοῦ, πῇ δὲ ὡς περὶ θεοῦ ἅμα καὶ ἀνθρώπου διαλεγομένας εὑρίσκομεν, τίνα τρόπον μὴ ἐναντιολογεῖσθαι ταύτας πρὸς ἀλλήλας φήσομεν, εἰ μή που τὸν φύσει υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεὸν εἴποιμεν, φύσει γεγενῆσθαι ἄνθρωπον εἶναί τε μετὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν, τὸν αὐτὸν θεόν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ἄνθρωπον; Οὕτω γάρ, «εἰ καὶ ἐσταυρώθη ἐξ ἀσθενείας σαρκὸς» κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολον, «ἀλλὰ ζῇ ἐκ δυνάμεως θεοῦ» καὶ ἐγήγερται παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐξανέστησε καὶ ἀνείληπται καὶ αὐτεξουσίως ἄνεισι καὶ κεκάθικεν «ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ὑπεράνω πάσης ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐξουσίας καὶ κυριότητος καὶ παντὸς ὀνόματος ὀνομαζομένου». 39 Εἰ οὐκ ἀμέσως ἰδία τοῦ λόγου γέγονε ἡ ἀπορρήτως αὐτῷ ἑνωθεῖσα σάρξ, πῶς ἂν νοοῖτο ζωοποιός; «Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι», φησίν, «ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν, ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβὰς καὶ ζωὴν διδοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ. Ἐάν τις φάγῃ ἐκ τοῦ ἄρτου τούτου, ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα· καὶ ὁ ἄρτος δέ, ὃν ἐγὼ δώσω, ἡ σάρξ μού ἐστιν ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου ζωῆς.» Εἰ μὲν μὴ παρὰ τοῦ κατεληλυθότος αὐτοῦ ταῦτα ἐλέγετο, εἴπομεν ἂν ὡς ἐξ ἀνθρώπου υἱοθετηθέντος λέγεσθαι. Ἐπειδὴ δέ φησιν, «Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν, ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς», πῶς ἡ σὰρξ αὐτοῦ ἑτέρου ἂν εἴη παρ' αὐτόν; Εἰ δὲ καὶ γέγραπται· «Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ φάγητε τὴν σάρκα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ πίητε αὐτοῦ τὸ αἷμα, οὐκ