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where God says about the Christ according to the flesh, from the seed of David, through one of the holy prophets: And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, you are too little to be among the thousands of Judah; out of you shall come forth to me one who is to be ruler in Israel, and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity. And concerning the sons of Israel, the most holy Paul says: That all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them. And the rock was Christ. Consider then, in Christ Jesus, according to the economic union, that which is properly the most ancient quality of the Word. Is not the argument clear? For it says quite clearly that the one from Bethlehem, as a man and from a woman, has his goings forth from the beginning of eternity. For in the beginning and before every age was the incarnate Word, and he was the rock that quenched the thirst of Israel with unexpected and unlooked-for streams, although he was born according to the flesh and humanity in the last times, and anointed for his mission into the world by God the Father. For he was named Christ for no other reason than this; and Christ was the rock, according to Paul. Will you say the matter is doubtful? {B} Not at all. {A} And again, the wise John will also contend for and champion the argument, 712 almost gathering together the natures, and leading to a union the power of the properties fitting for each. For see what he says: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have touched, concerning the Word of life, and the life was made manifest, and we have seen, and testify, and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us. Behold, he says clearly that the one who is from the beginning was both seen and submitted to touch. For Thomas cried out: My Lord and my God, after examining with his finger both the side of the body and the piercings of the nails. And our divine Luke says that the holy apostles became eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word. For the bodiless became manifest, and the intangible, tangible, no longer having the flesh from the earth as a foreign covering, but having made it his own temple, and with it being known as God and Lord. And you know, I suppose, that the most holy Paul wrote: For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. It is established, then, that he who died and was raised has truly become Lord of both the dead and the living for no other reason than this and this alone. {B} It is established. {A} Whom then, O noble one, do we say both underwent death and lived again? {B} The Son, clearly. {A} But that it is the Son, you say well, for I will praise you. But I would like to learn from you whether the Word from God the Father is mortal and subject to corruption, or superior to death and corruption, as Life? {B} I say so. {A} Then how did he become free among the dead according to the Scriptures? For the Word could in no way have died in himself. {B} Because when his flesh died, he himself is said to have suffered this. {A} Most correctly and unerringly. Therefore, not without flesh, but rather with it and in it, he who died and was raised according to the law of the flesh and our nature, assumed the glory of lordship. showing that the passion of dying 713 is human, but the act of living again is divine, so that through both he might be known, at once as one of us and above us as God and Lord of all, and having become with us, he might be seen with the Father. Thus Nathanael, recognizing him, said: Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of

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που Θεὸς περὶ τοῦ ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυεὶδ τὸ κατὰ σάρκα Χριστοῦ δι' ἑνὸς τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν· Καὶ σύ, Βηθλεέμ, οἶκος τοῦ Ἐφραθᾶ, ὀλιγοστὸς εἶ τοῦ εἶναι ἐν χιλιάσιν Ἰούδα· ἐκ σοῦ μοι ἐξελεύσεται τοῦ εἶναι εἰς ἄρχοντα ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ αἱ ἔξοδοι αὐτοῦ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἐξ ἡμερῶν αἰῶνος. Περὶ δέ γε τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ὁ ἱερώτατος Παῦλος· Ὅτι πάντες εἰς τὸν Μωϋσῆν ἐβαπτίσθησαν ἐν τῇ νεφέλῃ καὶ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ, καὶ πάντες βρῶμα τὸ πνευματικὸν ἔφαγον, καὶ πάντες τὸ αὐτὸ πνευματικὸν ἔπιον πόμα. Ἔπινον γὰρ ἐκ πνευματικῆς ἀκολουθούσης πέτρας. Ἡ δὲ πέτρα ἦν ὁ Χριστός. Ἄθρει δὴ οὖν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καθ' ἕνωσιν οἰκονομικὴν τὸ ἰδικῶς τοῦ Λόγου πρεσβύτατον. Ἦ οὐκ ἐναργὴς ὁ λόγος; Τὸν γάρ τοι Βηθλεεμίτην ὡς ἄνθρωπον καὶ ἐκ γυναικὸς ἀπ' ἀρχῆς αἰῶνος τὰς ἐξόδους ἔχειν εὖ μάλα φησίν. Ἐν ἀρχῇ γὰρ ἦν καὶ πρὸ παντὸς αἰῶνος ὁ ἐνανθρωπήσας Λόγος, καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν ἡ πέτρα δεδιψηκότα τὸν Ἰσραὴλ τοῖς παρ' ἐλπίδα καὶ ἀδοκήτοις ἐκμεθύσκων νάμασι, καίτοι γεννηθεὶς κατά γε τὴν σάρκα καὶ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον ἐν ἐσχάτοις καιροῖς, καὶ κεχρισμένος εἰς τὴν εἰς κόσμον ἀποστολὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρός. Κατωνόμασται γὰρ οὐχ ἑτέρου του χάριν ἀλλ' ἢ διὰ τοῦτο Χριστός· Χριστὸς δὲ ἦν ἡ πέτρα, κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον. Ἦ ἐνδοιαστὸν τὸ χρῆμα ἐρεῖς; {Β} Οὐδαμῶς. {Α} Ἐπαγωνιεῖται δὲ αὖ καὶ συναθλήσει τῷ λόγῳ καὶ 712 ὁ σοφὸς Ἰωάννης μονονουχὶ καὶ συναγείρων τὰς φύσεις, καὶ μισγάγκειαν ἄγων τῶν ἑκατέρᾳ πρεπόντων ἰδιωμάτων τὴν δύναμιν. Θέα γὰρ ὅ φησιν· Ὃ ἦν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν περὶ τοῦ Λόγου τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη, καὶ ἑωράκαμεν, καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν, καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν. Ἰδοὺ τὸν ὄντα ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ὦφθαί τέ φησιν ἐναργῶς, ὑπομεῖναι δὲ καὶ ἁφήν. Ἀνεκεκράγει γὰρ ὁ Θωμᾶς· Ὁ Κύριός μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου, ἀναμετρήσας δακτύλῳ πλευράν τε τὴν σώματος καὶ τὰς διατρήσεις τῶν ἥλων. Γεγενῆσθαι δέ φησι τοὺς ἁγίους ἀποστόλους καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἡμῖν Λουκᾶς αὐτόπτας τε καὶ ὑπηρέτας τοῦ Λόγου. Γέγονε γὰρ ἐμφανὴς ὁ ἀσώματος, καὶ ἁπτὸς ὁ ἀναφής, οὐκ ὀθνεῖον ἔχων ἔτι περίβλημα τὴν ἀπὸ γῆς σάρκα, ἀλλ' ἴδιον αὐτὴν ποιησάμενος ναόν, καὶ σὺν αὐτῇ γνωριζόμενος ὡς Θεὸς καὶ Κύριος. Γεγραφότα δὲ οἶσθά που τὸν ἱερώτατον Παῦλον· Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἑαυτῷ ζῇ, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἑαυτῷ ἀποθνήσκει. Ἐάν τε γὰρ ζῶμεν, τῷ Κυρίῳ ζῶμεν, ἐάν τε ἀποθνήσκωμεν, τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀποθνήσκομεν. Ἐάν τε οὖν ζῶμεν, ἐάν τε ἀποθνήσκωμεν, τοῦ Κυρίου ἐσμέν. Εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ Χριστὸς ἀπέθανε καὶ ἔζησεν, ἵνα καὶ νεκρῶν καὶ ζώντων κυριεύσῃ. Ἄραρεν οὖν ὅτι κεκυρίευκεν ἀληθῶς νεκρῶν τε καὶ ζώντων ὁ μὴ ἑτέρου του χάριν ἢ ὅτι τοῦδε καὶ μόνου τεθνεὼς καὶ ἐγηγερμένος. {Β} Ἄραρεν. {Α} Τίνα δὴ οὖν, ὦ γενναῖε, φαμὲν ὡς ὑπέδυ μὲν θάνατον, ἀνεβίω δὲ αὖ; {Β} Τὸν Υἱὸν δηλονότι. {Α} Ἀλλ' ὅτι μὲν τὸν Υἱόν, εὖ λέγεις, ἐπαινέσομαι γὰρ οὖν. Ἐθέλοιμι δ' ἄν σου διαμαθεῖν πότερα θνητὸς καὶ φθορᾷ κάτοχος ὁ ἐκ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγος ἢ πέρα θανάτου καὶ φθορᾶς ἀμείνων ὡς ζωή; {Β} Οὕτω φημί. {Α} Εἶτα πῶς γέγονεν ἐν νεκροῖς καὶ ἐλεύθερος κατὰ τὰς Γραφάς; Τεθναίη γὰρ ἂν οὔτι που καθ' ἑαυτὸν ὁ Λόγος. {Β} Ὅτι τεθνεώσης αὐτοῦ τῆς σαρκός, αὐτὸς τοῦτο λέγεται παθεῖν. {Α} Ὀρθότατά τε καὶ ἀπλανῶς. Οὐκοῦν, οὐ δίχα σαρκός, σὺν αὐτῇ δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ μετ' αὐτῆς, τὴν τῆς κυριότητος ἀνεδήσατο δόξαν ὁ νόμῳ σαρκὸς καὶ φύσει τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς τεθνεὼς καὶ ἐγηγερμένος. Ἀνθρώπινον μὲν τὸ τεθνάναι 713 πάθος, ἐνέργημα δὲ θεϊκὸν τὸ ἀναβιῶναι δεικνύς, ἵνα δι' ἀμφοῖν γνωρίζηται, καθ' ἡμᾶς τε ἅμα καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς ὡς Θεὸς καὶ τῶν ὅλων <Κύριος>, καὶ μεθ' ἡμῶν γεγονὼς ὁρῷτο μετὰ Πατρός. Οὕτως αὐτὸν ὁ Ναθαναὴλ ἐπιγινώσκων ἔφασκε· Ῥαββί, σὺ εἶ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, σὺ εἶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ