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the consubstantiality is signified, and it reveals all the paternal power and wisdom to lie within him, as the creative Word, and his true Son.

CHAP. 8. This too has become a certain heretical malady, to say: If Scripture

has likened Christ to a vine, and men to branches, and the Father to the husbandman, and the vine is of the same nature as the branches, and not as the husbandman; it appears, he says, that the Son is of the same nature as us, not as God and the Father. But we, answering their argument, say that according to the divinity, he is the fruit of the husbandman’s substance; but according to the flesh, we happen to be his branches; paying not the least attention also to Paul who dogmatically asserts: "For we are the body of Christ, and members in part;" and again: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?" For indeed from this kind of apostolic phrasing are cast out both these heretics, and those who judge the flesh of the Lord to be from heaven, but not to be human.

39.852 CHAP. 9. And concerning other divine sayings they were carried against the truth,

and are still at variance; for instance, concerning that of the prophecy of Isaiah, where the Father said: "It is a great thing for you to be called my child;" and concerning that written by Paul: "who was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness." For these things too they attribute to his divinity, though they were said concerning the servile form from Mary, concerning which the angel said to her: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. Moreover, they are at variance also concerning, "The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory;" attributing the whole to his divinity. But here he says Father, of the one who is not seen; and God, of the one who is seen. Concerning whom the same angel a little before also appears at the proper time, and with the newly mentioned names having proclaimed the good news thus: "You will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High." Furthermore, they are at variance—for their thoughts and words are a disgrace—also concerning this dominical saying which says: "Go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" For here too he calls him Father, of himself by nature, but of us by grace; and God, of himself because of his recent form, but of us in truth; so that both the ancient and the recent may be signified. For the Master, condescending in all things to his servants, his own Father, but our God. He made him our Father also through goodness, we not being sons by nature, and he also called him his own God because of his incarnation, which he more clearly proclaimed beforehand, saying: "From my mother’s womb you are my God." For how could he be God of his only-begotten Son, the true and great God? Therefore, just as he is our God in truth, and not Father by nature; so he is truly Father of him alone according to substance, and not God according to the birth from above; and we, having become partakers of Christ, are deemed worthy to call upon the heavenly God: "Our Father 39.853 who art in heaven;" so also the beloved Son, having partaken, according to Paul writing to the Hebrews, similarly to the children of blood and flesh, calls the Father God. In addition to which, the fact that he did not say, mixing them, our Father and our God, but separately, "my Father and your Father, my God and your God," showed the aforementioned difference between himself and us. For he is not found to have spoken of himself and men in common: Our Father. But also in the Gospel according to John, concerning those who with boldness and freedom of speech confess him before men as God and the only-begotten Son of God, which is consubstantial, he promises: "And I," he says, "will confess him before the

20

ὁμοουσιότητος κατασημαίνεται, καὶ δηλοῖ πᾶσαν τὴν πατρικὴν δύναμίν τε καὶ σοφίαν ἐναποκεῖσθαι αὐτῷ, ὡς Λόγῳ δημιουργικῷ, καὶ Υἱῷ αὐτοῦ ἀληθινῷ.

ΚΕΦ. Ηʹ. Ἕν τι καὶ τοῦτο πάθημα αἱρετικὸν καθέστηκε, τὸ λέγειν· Εἰ ἀμπέλῳ

ἡ Γραφὴ παρείκασε τὸν Χριστὸν, κλήμασι δ' ἀνθρώπους, γεωργῷ δὲ τὸν Πατέρα, ἔστι δὲ ἡ ἄμπελος ὁμοφυὴς τοῖς κλήμασι, καὶ οὐ τῷ γεωργῷ· ἀναφαίνεται, φησὶν, ὁ Υἱὸς ὁμοφυὴς ἡμῖν, οὐ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρί. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀπαντῶντες τῷ λόγῳ αὐτῶν, φαμὲν, ὅτι κατὰ μὲν τὴν θεότητα, αὐτὸς τῆς γεωργοῦ ὑποστάσεως καρπὸς ὑπάρχει· κατὰ δὲ τὴν σάρκα, ἡμεῖς αὐτοῦ κλήματα τυγχάνομεν· προσέχοντες οὐχ ἥκιστα καὶ Παύλῳ δογματικῶς διατεινομένῳ· «Ἡμεῖς γάρ ἐσμεν σῶμα Χριστοῦ, καὶ μέλη ἐκ μέρους·» αὖθίς τε αὖ· «Οὐκ οἴδατε, ὅτι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν μέλη Χριστοῦ ἐστιν;» Ἐκ γὰρ δὴ τῆς τοιᾶσδε ἀποστολικῆς φράσεως ἐκβάλλονται καὶ οἵδε οἱ αἱρετικοὶ, καὶ οἱ κρίνοντες τὴν σάρκα τοῦ ∆εσπότου ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀνθρωπείαν τυγχάνειν.

39.852 ΚΕΦ. Θʹ. Καὶ εἰς ἕτερα δὲ θεῖα ῥητὰ διηνέχθησαν πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν,

καὶ ἔτι διαφέρονται· οἷον εἰς τὸ τῆς προφητείας Ἡσαΐου, ἔνθα ὁ Πατὴρ ἔφη· «Μέγα σοί ἐστι κληθῆναί σε παῖδά μου·» καὶ εἰς τὸ Παύλῳ γεγραμμένον· «Ὁ ὁρισθεὶς Υἱὸς Θεοῦ ἐν δυνάμει κατὰ Πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης.» Καὶ ταῦτα γὰρ τῇ θεότητι αὐτοῦ ἐπιῤῥιπτοῦσι, λεχθέντα περὶ τῆς ἐκ Μαρίας δουλικῆς μορφῆς, περὶ ἧς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῇ· «Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σὲ, καὶ δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι· διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον ἅγιον κληθήσεται Υἱὸς Θεοῦ. Ἔτι μὴν διαφέρονται καὶ εἰς τὸ, «Ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ Πατὴρ τῆς δόξης·» τὸ πᾶν τῇ θεότητι αὐτοῦ ἀπονέμοντες. Λέγει δὲ ἐνταῦθα Πατέρα μὲν, τοῦ μὴ ὁρωμένου· Θεὸν δὲ, τοῦ ὁρωμένου. Περὶ οὗ ὁ αὐτὸς ἄγγελος καὶ μικρῷ πρόσθεν φαίνεται ἐπὶ προσήκοντι καιρῷ, καὶ νεαροῖς τοῖς μνημονευθεῖσιν ὀνόμασιν εὐαγγελισάμενος οὑτωσί· «Τέξῃ υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. Οὗτος ἔσται μέγας, καὶ Υἱὸς Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται.» Προσέτι διαφέρονται λώβη γάρ ἐστι τὰ νοήματα καὶ ῥήματα αὐτῶν καὶ εἰς τήνδε τὴν λέγουσαν δεσποτικὴν ῥῆσιν· «Πορεύου πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφούς μου, καὶ εἰπὲ αὐτοῖς· Ἀναβαίνω πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα μου καὶ Πατέρα ὑμῶν, Θεόν μου καὶ Θεὸν ὑμῶν.» Κἀνταῦθα γὰρ Πατέρα καλεῖ, ἑαυτοῦ μὲν κατὰ φύσιν, ἡμῶν δὲ κατὰ χάριν· Θεὸν δὲ, ἑαυτοῦ μὲν διὰ τὴν πρόσφατον αὐτοῦ μορφὴν, ἡμῶν δὲ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν· ἵνα καὶ τὸ ἀρχαῖον καὶ τὸ πρόσφατον σημαίνηται Συγκαταβὰς γὰρ εἰς ὅλα τοῖς δούλοις ὁ ∆εσπότης, τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Πατέρα, ἡμῶν δὲ Θεόν. Πατέρα μὲν καὶ ἡμῶν δι' ἀγαθότητα ἐποίησεν, οὐκ ὄντων φύσει υἱῶν, Θεὸν δὲ καὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἐκάλεσε διὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν αὐτοῦ, ἣν σαφέστερον προανεφώνησεν, εἰπών· «Ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου Θεός μου εἶ σύ.» Πῶς γὰρ ἂν καὶ ἐγχωρεῖ τοῦ μονογενοῦς αὐτοῦ Υἱοῦ, τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ καὶ μεγάλου Θεοῦ, εἶναι Θεός; Ὥσπερ οὖν ἡμῶν ἐστι Θεὸς τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ οὐ Πατὴρ κατὰ φύσιν· οὕτως αὐτοῦ μόνου ἀληθῶς κατ' οὐσίαν ἐστὶ Πατὴρ, καὶ οὐ Θεὸς κατὰ τὴν ἄνω γέννησιν· καὶ ἡμεῖς. μέτοχοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ γεγονότες, καταξιούμεθα τὸν ἐπουράνιον Θεὸν ἐπικαλεῖσθαι· «Πάτερ 39.853 ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·» οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἀγαπητὸς Υἱὸς, μετασχὼν, κατὰ Παῦλον Ἑβραίοις ἐπιστέλλοντα, παραπλησίως τοῖς παιδίοις αἵματος καὶ σαρκὸς, καλεῖ τὸν Πατέρα Θεόν. Πρὸς οἷς καὶ τὸ μὴ μίξαντα εἰπεῖν, Πατέρα ἡμῶν καὶ Θεὸν ἡμῶν, ἀλλὰ κεχωρισμένως, «Πατέρα μου καὶ Πατέρα ὑμῶν, Θεόν μου καὶ Θεὸν ὑμῶν,» ἔδειξε τὴν προλεχθεῖσαν διαφορὰν αὐτοῦ τε καὶ ἡμῶν. Οὐχ εὑρίσκεται γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἐπικοίνως εἰρηκώς· Πατέρα ἡμῶν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην Εὐαγγελίῳ, περὶ τῶν μετὰ παῤῥησίας καὶ ἐλευθεροστομίας ὁμολογούντων αὐτὸν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων Θεὸν καὶ Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ μονογενῆ, ὅ ἐστιν ὁμοούσιον, ὑπισχνεῖται· «Κἀγὼ, φησὶν, ὁμολογήσω αὐτὸν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ