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but was he from a Virgin, according to the Scriptures? But the Word is <not edible>, but gathering both into one, and as it were mixing with one another the properties of the natures, he is seen by us through countless words. For to Nicodemus, who did not understand the mystery, but cried out in ignorance, "How can these things be?" "If I have told you earthly things," he says, "and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of <man>." And again to the Jews, who suffered from the same ignorance as he, and chose, I know not how, to mock him since he said his own body was life-giving and from heaven, "Does this scandalize you?" he says. "What if then you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?" Shall we not say that Emmanuel was born of a woman? {B} How could we not? {A} Where, then, was he before? Or how has he ascended to where he says he himself was, even though the body united to him was born through the holy Virgin? And would we not confess that the flesh from the earth is inactive with regard to being able to give life, insofar as its own nature is concerned? {B} True. {A} How then, tell me, is the flesh life-giving? Or how could that which is from the earth also be conceived of as from heaven? {B} By union, I think, with the living and heavenly Logos. {A} Be assured that you have understood things that are exceedingly correct and in agreement with the sacred words. For he would not otherwise be Creator in a divine manner, even when he is not conceived of without flesh. And I will again make the divine Paul a supporter of my argument, who wrote thus: giving thanks to God the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, who has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether Thrones or Dominions or Rulers 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 709 body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent, for in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by making peace through the blood of his cross, whether things on earth or things in heaven. Behold, again he says openly that through him and for him all things were created, and indeed that he is before all things, and that all things hold together in him, and he says he is the firstborn from the dead, having made peace through his blood for things in heaven and things on earth. Who then is the firstborn from the dead, if not Jesus Christ, that is, the Logos in flesh and with flesh? For the Logos, being God, could surely not die, nor could he be conceived of as the Creator of all things being a man like us, unless he both created as God, and unless he is not conceived of without flesh after the union, and is firstborn from the dead inasmuch as he has appeared as a man, not having cast off being God because of the incarnation. Do you think any of these things ought to be criticized? {B} Not in the least. {A} And you would see elsewhere the Spirit-bearers proceeding through the same arguments. For John says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made." And Paul in turn: "One God the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things." But if there were something in between after the Logos was united to flesh, dividing him into a otherness, I mean into a duality of sons, according to your opinion, how could all things have been created through Jesus Christ? But indeed

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ἀλλ' ἦν ἐκ Παρθένου, κατὰ τὰς Γραφάς; Ἔστι δὲ <οὐκ ἐδεστὸς> ὁ Λόγος ἀλλ' εἰς ἓν ἄμφω συλλέγων, καὶ ὥσπερ ἀλλήλοις ἀνακιρνὰς τὰ τῶν φύσεων ἰδιώματα, διὰ μυρίων ὅσων ἡμῖν ὁρᾶται λόγων. Νικοδήμῳ μὲν γὰρ οὐ συνιέντι τὸ μυστήριον, ἀνακεκραγότι δὲ ἀμαθῶς· Πῶς δύναται ταῦτα γενέσθαι; Εἰ τὰ ἐπίγεια, φησίν, εἶπον ὑμῖν καὶ οὐ πιστεύετε, πῶς ἐὰν εἴπω ὑμῖν τὰ ἐπουράνια πιστεύσετε; Καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ <ἀνθρώπου>. Ἰουδαίοις δὲ πάλιν τὴν ἴσην ἐκείνῳ νοσοῦσιν ἀπαιδευσίαν, καὶ διαγελᾶν, οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως, ἑλομένοις αὐτὸν ἐπείπερ ἔφη ζωοποιὸν καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα, Τοῦτο ὑμᾶς σκανδαλίζει; φησίν. Ἐὰν οὖν θεωρῆτε τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀναβαίνοντα ὅπου ἦν τὸ πρότερον; Ἦ οὐχὶ τετέχθαι φήσομεν ἐκ γυναικὸς τὸν Ἐμμανουήλ; {Β} Πῶς γὰρ οὔ; {Α} Ποῦ τοιγαροῦν τὸ πρότερον ἦν; Ἢ πῶς ἀναβέβηκεν ἔνθαπερ εἶναί φησιν αὐτός, καίτοι τεχθέντος διὰ τῆς ἁγίας Παρθένου τοῦ ἑνωθέντος αὐτῷ σώματος; Οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ ἀπρακτεῖν ὁμολογήσαιμεν ἂν τὴν ἀπὸ γῆς σάρκα πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι ζωοποιεῖν, ὅσον ἧκεν εἰς ἰδίαν φύσιν; {Β} Ἀληθές. {Α} Πῶς οὖν, εἰπέ μοι, ζωοποιὸς ἡ σάρξ; Ἢ πῶς ἂν νοοῖτο καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς; {Β} Καθ' ἕνωσιν, οἶμαι, τὴν πρὸς τὸν ζῶντά τε καὶ οὐρανόθεν Λόγον. {Α} Πεφρονηκὼς ἴσθι τὰ λίαν ὀρθὰ καὶ τοῖς ἱεροῖς συμβαίνοντα λόγοις. Εἴη γὰρ ἂν οὐχ ἑτέρως καὶ ∆ημιουργὸς θεϊκῶς, καὶ ὅτε μὴ δίχα νοοῖτο σαρκός. Συλλήπτορα δὲ τοῦ λόγου ποιήσομαι πάλιν ὡδὶ γεγραφότα τὸν θεσπέσιον Παῦλον· Εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρί, τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί, ὃς ἐρρύσατο ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους, καὶ μετέστησεν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ, ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν, τὴν ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα, τά τε ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε Θρόνοι, εἴτε Κυριότητες, εἴτε Ἀρχαί, εἴτε Ἐξουσίαι, τὰ πάντα δι' αὐτοῦκαὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται, καὶ αὐτός ἐστι πρὸ πάντων, καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκε, καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ 709 σώματος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ηὐδόκησε πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ ἀποκαταλλάξαι τὰ πάντα εἰς αὐτόν, εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ, εἴτε τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, εἴτε τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Ἰδοὺ δὴ πάλιν ἀναφανδὸν δι' αὐτοῦ φησι καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἐκτίσθαι τὰ πάντα, καὶ μὴν ὅτι πρὸ πάντων ἐστί, καὶ ὅτι τὰ πάντα συνέστηκεν ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ αὐτὸν εἶναί φησι πρωτότοκον ἐκ νεκρῶν, εἰρηνοποιήσαντα διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ τά τε ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Εἶτα τίς ὁ ἐκ νεκρῶν πρωτότοκος, εἰ μὴ Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς, τουτέστιν ἐν σαρκὶ καὶ μετὰ σαρκὸς ὁ Λόγος; Τεθναίη γὰρ ἂν οὔτι που Θεὸς ὢν ὁ Λόγος, οὐδ' ἂν νοοῖτο τῶν ὅλων ∆ημιουργὸς καθ' ἡμᾶς ὢν ἄνθρωπος, εἰ μὴ δεδημιούργηκε μὲν ὡς Θεός, καὶ εἰ μὴ δίχα σαρκὸς νοοῖτο μετὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν, πρωτότοκος δὲ καὶ ἐκ νεκρῶν, καθὸ πέφηνεν ἄνθρωπος, οὐκ ἀποβαλὼν τὸ εἶναι Θεὸς διὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν. Οἴει τι χρῆναι τούτοις ἐπιτιμᾶν; {Β} Οὐδ' ὁπωστιοῦν. {Α} Ἴδοις δ' ἂν καὶ ἑτέρωθι διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ἰόντας λόγων τοὺς πνευματοφόρους. Ἰωάννης μὲν γάρ· Ἐν ἀρχῇ, φησίν, ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. Παῦλος δὲ αὖ· Εἷς Θεὸς ὁ Πατὴρ ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα. Ἀλλ' εἴπερ ἦν τὸ μεσολαβοῦν μετὰ τὸ ἡνῶσθαι σαρκὶ τὸν Λόγον, καὶ εἰς ἑτερότητα καταδιαιροῦν, τὴν ὡς ἐν υἱῶν δυάδι φημί, κατὰ τὸ σοὶ δοκοῦν, πῶς ἂν ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ; Ἀλλὰ μὴν