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The living and existing God the Word, co-eternal with God the Father, having taken the form of a servant, is just as perfect in divinity, so also perfect in humanity, not composed of divinity and flesh alone into one Christ and Lord and Son, but from two perfect natures, I mean humanity and divinity, paradoxically bound together into one and the same. {B} Whom then did the holy Virgin bear? The man or the Word from God? {A} And yet this is the error, and the sinning against what is fitting and true. For do not divide for me, nor separate into a man specifically and into God the Word, representing Emmanuel to us as two-personed. Would not someone then rightly blame us 695 for choosing to think nothing correct, but rather those things which were also condemned through holy Scripture? For one of Christ's disciples said thus: But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they told you that in the last time there would be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts. These are they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. {B} Must one therefore make no distinction in any way? {A} Certainly not. Especially not to the point of saying there are two after the union and conceiving of each one separately. One must know, then, that the mind does contemplate a certain difference of natures—for divinity and humanity are surely not the same—but along with the thoughts concerning these things, it will also admit the concurrence of both into a unity. Therefore, he was begotten of God the Father as God, and from a Virgin as man. For the Word, who shone forth ineffably and beyond understanding <ἐκ> God the Father, is said to have been born also through a woman, having descended into humanity and having brought himself down to what he was not, not so that he might remain emptied, but so that he might be believed to be God, even having appeared on earth in the form which is ours, not as one dwelling in a man, but as having himself become man by nature, while preserving his own glory. And so the divine Paul, bringing together economically into one, divinity and humanity, which are far removed from being consubstantial with each other and are divided by an immeasurable difference, and from both designating the one Christ and Son and God, says: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness. Behold, he says clearly that he was set apart for the Gospel of God, and yet he writes openly: For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord. And again: For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. But having named him Son of God, he says he was born of the seed of David, and he maintains that he was declared to be Son of God. How then, tell me, is he who sprang from the seed of David God 696? And he who is Son both before the ages and eternally, inasmuch as he appeared from God, in what way was he declared to be Son of God, as though brought into the beginnings of existence? For he himself said concerning himself: The Lord said to me: You are my Son, today I have begotten you, and yet "today" always somehow signifies for us not the past, but rather the present time. {B} I am at no small loss, and I would say that for many others it is utterly difficult to be able to understand this. {A} For those who posit him in parts and make distinctions, it is truly difficult and impassable, but for those who bind Emmanuel tightly into a unity, the unadulterated knowledge of the sacred doctrines is both near at hand and exceedingly ready. For the Son who is co-eternal with the one who begot him and before every age, since he has descended into the nature of man, not having slipped from being

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ὁ ζῶν καὶ ὑπάρχων καὶ συναΐδιος τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ Θεὸς Λόγος, μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, καί ἐστιν ὥσπερ ἐν θεότητι τέλειος, οὕτω καὶ ἐν ἀνθρωπότητι τέλειος, οὐκ ἐκ μόνης θεότητος καὶ σαρκὸς εἰς ἕνα Χριστὸν καὶ Κύριον καὶ υἱὸν συγκείμενος, ἀλλ' ἐκ δυοῖν τελείοιν, ἀνθρωπότητος δὴ λέγω καὶ θεότητος, εἰς ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν παραδόξως συνδούμενος. {Β} Τίνα δὴ οὖν τέτοκεν ἡ ἁγία Παρθένος; Τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἢ τὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ Λόγον; {Α} Καὶ μὴν τοῦτό γέ ἐστιν ἡ πλάνησις, καὶ τὸ ἁμαρτεῖν τοῦ πρέποντός τε καὶ ἀληθοῦς. Μὴ γάρ μοι διέλῃς, μηδὲ διϊστὰς εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἰδικῶς καὶ εἰς Θεὸν Λόγον, διπρόσωπον ἡμῖν ἀνατύπου τὸν Ἐμμανουήλ. Μὴ ἄρα τις ἡμῖν εἰκότως 695 διαμωμήσαιτο φρονεῖν ἑλομένοις ὀρθὸν μὲν οὐδέν, ἐκεῖνα δὲ μᾶλλον ἃ καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁγίας κατεδικάσθη Γραφῆς; Ὧδε γάρ τις ἔφη τῶν Χριστοῦ μαθητῶν· Ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀγαπητοί, μνήσθητε τῶν ῥημάτων τῶν προειρημένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι ἔλεγον ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐπ' ἐσχάτου τῶν χρόνων ἐλεύσονται ἐν ἐμπαιγμονῇ ἐμπαῖκται κατὰ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἐπιθυμίας πορευόμενοι τῶν ἀσεβειῶν. Οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἀποδιορίζοντες ψυχικοί, Πνεῦμα μὴ ἔχοντες. {Β} Οὐ διοριστέον οὖν ἄρα κατ' οὐδένα τρόπον; {Α} Οὐμενοῦν. Εἴς γε δὴ μάλιστα τὸ δύο φάναι μετὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν καὶ ἀναμέρος ἑκάτερον ἐννοεῖν. Ἰστέον δ' οὖν ὅτι θεωρεῖ μέν τινα φύσεων διαφορὰν ὁ νοῦςταὐτὸν γὰρ οὔ τί που θεότης τε καὶ ἀνθρωπότηςεἰσδέξεται δὲ ὁμοῦ ταῖς περὶ τούτων ἐννοίαις καὶ τὴν ἀμφοῖν εἰς ἑνότητα συνδρομήν. Οὐκοῦν Θεοῦ μὲν ἐξέφυ τοῦ Πατρὸς ὡς Θεός, ἐκ Παρθένου δὲ ὡς ἄνθρωπος. Ὁ γὰρ <ἐκ> Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἀπορρήτως τε καὶ ὑπὲρ νοῦν ἀναλάμψας Λόγος γεγεννῆσθαι λέγεται καὶ διὰ γυναικός, καταφοιτήσας εἰς ἀνθρωπότητα καὶ καθεὶς ἑαυτὸν εἰς ὅπερ οὐκ ἦν, οὐχ ἵνα μείνῃ κεκενωμένος, ἀλλ' ἵνα Θεὸς εἶναι πιστεύηται καὶ ἐν εἴδει τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς πεφηνὼς ἐπὶ γῆς, οὐχ ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ κατοικήσας, ἀλλ' ὡς αὐτὸς κατὰ φύσιν ἄνθρωπος γεγονώς, μετὰ τοῦ τὴν ἰδίαν ἀνασώσασθαι δόξαν. Καὶ γοῦν ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος, τὰ πολὺ τῆς ἀλλήλων ὁμοουσιότητος διεστηκότα τε καὶ ἀμετρήτῳ διαφορᾷ διεσχοινισμένα, θεότητά τε καὶ ἀνθρωπότητα, συλλέγων εἰς ἓν οἰκονομικῶς, καὶ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν τὸν ἕνα κατασημαίνων Χριστὸν καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ Θεόν, Παῦλος δοῦλος, φησίν, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, κλητὸς ἀπόστολος, ἀφωρισμένος εἰς Εὐαγγέλιον Θεοῦ, ὃ προεπηγγείλατο διὰ τῶν προφητῶν αὐτοῦ ἐν Γραφαῖς ἁγίαις, περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ γενομένου ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυεὶδ κατὰ σάρκα, τοῦ ὁρισθέντος Υἱοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν δυνάμει κατὰ Πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης. Ἰδοὺ δὴ σαφῶς ἀφωρίσθαι φησὶν ἑαυτὸν εἰς Εὐαγγέλιον Θεοῦ, καίτοι γράφων ἀναφανδόν· Οὐ γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς κηρύσσομεν, ἀλλὰ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν Κύριον. Καὶ πάλιν· Οὐ γὰρ ἔκρινά τι εἰδέναι ἐν ὑμῖν, εἰ μὴ Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καὶ τοῦτον ἐσταυρωμένον. Υἱὸν δὲ αὐτὸν ὀνομάσας Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐκ σπέρματος τοῦ ∆αυεὶδ γεγεννῆσθαί φησιν, ὡρίσθαι τε διϊσχυρίζεται καὶ εἰς Υἱὸν Θεοῦ. Πῶς οὖν, εἰπέ μοι, Θεὸς 696 ὁ ἐκ σπέρματος ἀναφὺς τοῦ ∆αυείδ; Ὁ δὲ δὴ καὶ πρὸ αἰώνων καὶ ἀϊδίως Υἱός, καθὸ πέφηνεν ἐκ Θεοῦ, τίνα δὴ τρόπον εἰς Υἱὸν ὡρίσθη Θεοῦ, καθάπερ εἰς ἀρχὰς τοῦ ὑφεστάναι παρενεχθείς; Ἔφη γὰρ αὐτὸς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ· Κύριος εἶπε πρός με· Υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε, καίτοι τοῦ σήμερον ἀεί πως ἡμῖν οὐχὶ τὸν παρῳχηκότα, τὸν ἐνεστῶτα δὲ μᾶλλον καταδηλοῦντος καιρόν. {Β} ∆ιηπόρηκα μὲν οὐ μετρίως ἐγώ, φαίην δ' ἂν ὅτι δυσέφικτον κομιδῇ καὶ πολλοῖς ἑτέροις τὸ συνιέναι δύνασθαι τουτί. {Α} Τοῖς ἀναμέρος τιθεῖσι καὶ διορίζουσι δυσέφικτόν τε καὶ ἄπορον ἀληθῶς, τοῖς γε μὴν εἰς ἑνότητα κατασφίγγουσι τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ ἐγγύς τε ἑλεῖν καὶ ἑτοιμοτάτη λίαν ἡ τῶν ἱερῶν δογμάτων ἀκιβδήλευτος γνῶσις. Ὁ γὰρ τῷ φύσαντι συναΐδιος καὶ πρὸ παντὸς αἰῶνος Υἱός, ἐπειδὴ καταβέβηκεν εἰς τὴν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν, οὐκ ἀπολισθήσας τοῦ εἶναι