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God, but having assumed the human, would reasonably be understood also to have been born of the seed of David, and to have a most recent birth in humanity. And what was assumed is not foreign to him, but truly his own. Therefore it is reckoned as one with him, just as, indeed, one might observe the composition of a human being. For he is woven from things dissimilar in nature, I mean, of course, soul and body, but the combination of both is understood as one human being. As sometimes the whole living being is named from the flesh alone, and when the soul is named, the combination of both is understood, so therefore in the same way, you will also accept it in the case of Christ himself. For there is one Son and one Lord Jesus Christ, both before the flesh and when he appeared as a man, and we will not deny the Master who bought us, even if he is signified to us through human things and from the measures of his emptying. {B} I do not follow well, but I would like to learn clearly. {A} Our Lord Jesus Christ, speaking to the Jews, said: If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you, this Abraham did not do. And Paul also writes about him: Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and was heard for his godly fear, though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. Shall we then 697 reckon Christ as this very thing, a mere man and in no way exalted above us? {B} May it not be. {A} But shall we allow that the wisdom and power of God has come to such a point of weakness as to fear death, and to beg to be saved by the Father, and shall we cast Emmanuel out from being life by nature? Or, by referring what is lowly in his words to his humanity and to the measure of our nature, shall we do something commendable, and from the things by which he is God shall we behold his super-cosmic glory, understanding him to be the same, both man and God, that is, God become man? {B} Tell me how. {A} Let then the most esteemed Paul come into our midst, crying out and saying these things: We speak wisdom among the perfect, but not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which none of the rulers of this age has known. For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. And moreover to these things: Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. And yet, to be and to be named Lord of glory, how is this not exceedingly sublime and beyond everything created and brought into being? And I pass over human things—for they are indeed very small—but I will say that even if one should name angels, and enumerate Principalities and Thrones and Dominions, and indeed even if one should mention the highest Seraphim, one would confess that they fall short of such a sublime glory, if one has a mind that is not corrupted. For I say that this honor is exclusive, and ought to be ascribed only to the all-sovereign nature of all things. How then could the crucified one become the Lord of glory? But the brightness of the Father and the express image of his substance, who upholds all things by the word of his power, is said to have become better than the angels, having, as I suppose, perhaps taken on the lesser, when he appeared as a man. For it is written that: But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor.

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Θεός, προσλαβὼν δὲ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, νοοῖτ' ἂν εἰκότως καὶ ἐκ σπέρματος γεγεννῆσθαι ∆αυείδ, καὶ νεωτάτην ἔχειν τὴν ἐν ἀνθρωπότητι γέννησιν. Ἔστι δὲ οὐκ ἀλλότριον αὐτοῦ τὸ προσληφθέν, ἀλλ' ἴδιον ἀληθῶς. Λελόγισται τοιγαροῦν ὡς ἓν πρὸς αὐτόν, καθάπερ ἀμέλει καὶ τὴν ἀνθρώπου σύνθεσιν καταθρήσαι τις ἄν. Πέπλεκται μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἀνομοίων τὴν φύσιν, ψυχῆς δὴ λέγω καὶ σώματος, ἀλλ' οὖν εἷς νοεῖται τὸ συναμφότερον ἄνθρωπος. Ὡς ἀπὸ μόνης μὲν τῆς σαρκὸς ὅλον ἔσθ' ὅτε κατωνομάσθαι τὸ ζῶον, ψυχῆς δὲ ὠνομασμένης, νοεῖσθαι τὸ συναμφότερον, κατὰ τὸν ἶσον οὖν ἄρα τρόπον, καὶ ἐπ' αὐτοῦ παραδέξῃ Χριστοῦ. Εἷς γὰρ Υἱὸς καὶ εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς καὶ πρὸ σαρκὸς καὶ ὅτε πέφηνεν ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τὸν ἀγοράσαντα ἡμᾶς ∆εσπότην οὐκ ἀρνησόμεθα, κἂν εἰ διὰ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἡμῖν καὶ ἐκ τῶν τῆς κενώσεως μέτρων κατασημαίνοιτο. {Β} Οὐχ ἕπομαι λίαν, ἀναμαθεῖν δ' ἂν ἐθέλοιμι σαφῶς. {Α} Ἰουδαίοις ἔφη προσλαλῶν ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός· Εἰ τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἦτε, τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμἐποιεῖτε ἄν. Νῦν δὲ ζητεῖτέ με ἀποκτεῖναι, ἄνθρωπον ὃς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑμῖν λελάληκα, τοῦτο Ἀβραὰμ οὐκ ἐποίησε. Γράφει δὲ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος περὶ αὐτοῦ· Ὃς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ δεήσεις τε καὶ ἱκετηρίας πρὸς τὸν δυνάμενον σώζειν αὐτὸν ἐκ θανάτου μετὰ κραυγῆς ἰσχυρᾶς καὶ δακρύων προσενέγκας, καὶ εἰσακουσθεὶς ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας, καίπερ ὢν Υἱός, ἔμαθεν ἀφ' ὧν ἔπαθε τὴν ὑπακοήν. Ἆρ' οὖν 697 ἄνθρωπον αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο ψιλὸν καὶ κατ' οὐδένα τρόπον ἀνεστηκότα τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς λογιούμεθα τὸν Χριστόν; {Β} Μὴ γένοιτο. {Α} Τὴν δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίαν καὶ δύναμιν ἀσθενείας εἰς τοῦτο καθικέσθαι δώσομεν ὡς δεδιέναι μὲν θάνατον, ἐξαιτεῖν δὲ τὸ σώζεσθαι παρὰ τοῦ Πατρός, καὶ τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν εἶναι ζωὴν ἐκπέμψομεν τὸν Ἐμμανουήλ; Ἢ περιτρέποντες εἰς τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα, καὶ εἰς μέτρον φύσεως τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς τὸ ἐν λόγοις σμικροπρεπές, δράσομέν τι τῶν ἐπαινουμένων, καὶ ἐξ ὧν ἐστι Θεὸς τὴν ὑπερκόσμιον αὐτοῦ κατοψόμεθα δόξαν, τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι συνέντες ἄνθρωπόν τε καὶ Θεόν, ἤτοι Θεὸν ἐνηνθρωπηκότα; {Β} Φράσον ὅπως. {Α} Ἡκέτω δὴ οὖν εἰς μέσον ἡμῖν ὁ δοκιμώτατος Παῦλος ταυτὶ βοῶν τε καὶ λέγων· Σοφίαν λαλοῦμεν ἐν τοῖς τελείοις, σοφίαν δὲ οὐ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, οὐδὲ τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου τῶν καταργουμένων, ἀλλὰ λαλοῦμεν Θεοῦ σοφίαν ἐν μυστηρίῳ τὴν ἀποκεκρυμμένην, ἣν οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἔγνωκεν. Εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν. Καὶ μὴν ἐπὶ τούτοις· Ὃς ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ, φέρων τε τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ποιησάμενος, ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς, τοσούτῳ κρείττων γενόμενος τῶν ἀγγέλων ὅσῳ διαφορώτερον παρ' αὐτοὺς κεκληρονόμηκεν ὄνομα. Καίτοι τό γε εἶναί τε καὶ ὀνομάζεσθαι τῆς δόξης Κύριον, πῶς οὐχὶ λίαν ὑπερτενὲς καὶ παντὸς ἐπέκεινα γενητοῦ καὶ παρηγμένου πρὸς γένεσιν; Καὶ παρίημι μὲν τὰ ἀνθρώπινασμικρὰ γὰρ δὴ λίανἐρῶ δ' οὖν ὅτι κἂν ἀγγέλους ὀνομάσαι, καὶ Ἀρχὰς καὶ Θρόνους καὶ Κυριότητας ἀπαριθμήσαιτό τις, καὶ μὴν καὶ εἰ τῶν ἀνωτάτω διαμεμνήσεται Σεραφίμ, κατόπιν ἰόντα τῆς οὕτως ὑπερτενοῦς ὁμολογήσειεν ἂν εὐκλείας, εἴ γε νοῦν ἔχοι μὴ παρεφθαρμένον. Ἔκκριτον γὰρ εἶναι τὸ γέρας φημί, καὶ δεῖν ἀνακεῖσθαι μόνῃ τῇ τῶν ὅλων παμβασιλίδι φύσει. Πῶς οὖν ἂν γένοιτο τῆς δόξης Κύριος ὁ ἐσταυρωμένος; Τὸ δὲ ἀπαύγασμα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τῆς οὐσίας ὁ χαρακτήρ, ὁ φέρων τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, κρείττων ἀγγέλων γεγενῆσθαι λέγεται, τάχα που τὸ ἔλαττον, ὡς ἐγᾦμαι, λαβών, ὅτε πέφηνεν ἄνθρωπος. Γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι Τὸν δὲ βραχύ τι παρ' ἀγγέλους ἠλαττωμένον βλέπομεν Ἰησοῦν διὰ τὸ πάθημα τοῦ θανάτου δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφανωμένον.