Chapter XXVI.—Introductory to Texts from the Gospels on the Incarnation. Enumeration of texts still to be explained. Arians compared to the Jews. We must recur to the Regula Fidei. Our Lord did not come into, but became, man, and therefore had the acts and affections of the flesh. The same works divine and human. Thus the flesh was purified, and men were made immortal. Reference to I Pet. iv. 1.

26. For behold, as if not wearied in their words of irreligion, but hardened with Pharaoh, while they hear and see the Saviour’s human attributes in the Gospels1161    This Oration alone, and this entirely, treats of texts from the Gospels; hitherto from the Gospel according to St. John, and now chiefly from the first three. Hence they lead Athan. to treat more distinctly of the doctrine of the Incarnation, and to anticipate a refutation of both Nestorius and Eutyches., they have utterly forgotten, like the Samosatene, the Son’s paternal Godhead1162    §1, n. 13., and with arrogant and audacious tongue they say, ‘How can the Son be from the Father by nature, and be like Him in essence,’ who says, ‘All power is given unto Me;’ and ‘The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son;’ and ‘The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand; he that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life;’ and again, ‘All things were delivered unto Me of My Father, and no one knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him;’ and again, ‘All that the Father hath given unto Me, shall come to Me1163    Matt. xxviii. 18; John v. 22; iii. 35, 36; Matt. xi. 27; John vi. 37; infr. §§35–41..’ On this they observe, ‘If He was, as ye say, Son by nature, He had no need to receive, but He had by nature as a Son.’ “Or how can He be the natural and true Power of the Father, who near upon the season of the passion says, ‘Now is My soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour; but for this came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy Name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again1164    John xii. 27, 28..’ And He said the same another time; ‘Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me;’ and ‘When Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in spirit and testified and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me1165    Matt. xxvi. 39; John xiii. 21; infr. §§53–58..’” Then these perverse men argue; ‘If He were Power, He had not feared, but rather He had supplied power to others.’ Further they say; ‘If He were by nature the true and own Wisdom of the Father,’ how is it written, ‘And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man1166    Luke ii. 52; infr. §§50–53.?’ In like manner, when He had come into the parts of Cæsarea Philippi, He asked the disciples whom men said that He was; and when He was at Bethany He asked where Lazarus lay; and He said besides to His disciples, ‘How many loaves have ye1167    Matt. xvi. 13; John xi. 34; Mark vi. 38; infr. §27.? How then,’ say they, ‘is He Wisdom, who increased in wisdom and was ignorant of what He asked of others?’ This too they urge; “How can He be the own Word of the Father, without whom the Father never was, through whom He makes all things, as ye think, who said upon the Cross ‘My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ and before that had prayed, ‘Glorify Thy Name,’ and, ‘O Father, glorify Thou Me with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.’ And He used to pray in the deserts and charge His disciples to pray lest they should enter into temptation; and, ‘The spirit indeed is willing,’ He said, ‘but the flesh is weak.’ And, ‘Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, nor the Angels, neither the Son1168    Matt. xxvii. 46; John xii. 28; xvii. 5; Matt. xxvi. 41; Mark xiii. 32; infr. §§42–50..’” Upon this again say the miserable men, “If the Son were, according to your interpretation1169    διάνοιαν, ii. 44, a. 53, c.; iv. 17, d. &c., eternally existent with God, He had not been ignorant of the Day, but had known as Word; nor had been forsaken as being coexistent; nor had asked to receive glory, as having it in the Father; nor would have prayed at all; for, being the Word, He had needed nothing; but since He is a creature and one of things originate, therefore He thus spoke, and needed what He had not; for it is proper to creatures to require and to need what they have not.”

27. This then is what the irreligious men allege in their discourses; and if they thus argue, they might consistently speak yet more daringly; ‘Why did the Word become flesh at all?’ and they might add; ‘For how could He, being God, become man?’ or, ‘How could the Immaterial bear a body?’ or they might speak with Caiaphas still more Judaically, ‘Wherefore at all did Christ, being a man, make Himself God1170    De Decr. 1; Or. i. 4.?’ for this and the like the Jews then muttered when they saw, and now the Ario-maniacs disbelieve when they read, and have fallen away into blasphemies. If then a man should carefully parallel the words of these and those, he will of a certainty find them both arriving at the same unbelief, and the daring of their irreligion equal, and their dispute with us a common one. For the Jews said; ‘How, being a man, can He be God?’ And the Arians, ‘If He were very God from God, how could He become man?’ And the Jews were offended then and mocked, saying, ‘Had He been Son of God, He had not endured the Cross;’ and the Arians standing over against them, urge upon us, ‘How dare ye say that He is the Word proper to the Father’s Essence, who had a body, so as to endure all this?’ Next, while the Jews sought to kill the Lord, because He said that God was His own Father and made Himself equal to Him, as working what the Father works, the Arians also, not only have learned to deny, both that He is equal to God and that God is the own and natural Father of the Word, but those who hold this they seek to kill. Again, whereas the Jews said, ‘Is not this the Son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how then is it that He saith, Before Abraham was, I am, and I came down from heaven1171    John vi. 42; viii. 58.?’ the Arians on the other hand make response1172    ἐπακούουσιν. Montfaucon (Onomasticon in t. 2 fin.) so interprets this word. vid. Apol. contr. Ar. 88. note 7. and say conformably, ‘How can He be Word or God who slept as man, and wept, and inquired?’ Thus both parties deny the Eternity and Godhead of the Word in consequence of those human attributes which the Saviour took on Him by reason of that flesh which He bore.

28. Such error then being Judaic, and Judaic after the mind of Judas the traitor, let them openly confess themselves scholars of Caiaphas and Herod, instead of cloking Judaism with the name of Christianity, and let them deny outright, as we have said before, the Saviour’s appearance in the flesh, for this doctrine is akin to their heresy; or if they fear openly to Judaize and be circumcised1173    Or. i. 38., from servility towards Constantius and for their sake whom they have beguiled, then let them not say what the Jews say; for if they disown the name, let them in fairness renounce the doctrine. For we are Christians, O Arians, Christians we; our privilege is it well to know the Gospels concerning the Saviour, and neither, with Jews to stone Him, if we hear of His Godhead and Eternity, nor with you to stumble at such lowly sayings as He may speak for our sakes as man. If then you would become Christians1174    Apol. Fug. 27, n. 10., put off Arius’s madness, and cleanse1175    De Decr. 2, n. 9, c. Sab. Greg. 6 fin. with the words of religion those ears of yours which blaspheming has defiled; knowing that, by ceasing to be Arians, you will cease also from the malevolence of the present Jews. Then at once will truth shine on you out of darkness, and ye will no longer reproach us with holding two Eternals1176    Cf. de Decr. 25, n. 4. The peculiarity of the Catholic doctrine, as contrasted with the heresies on the subject of the Trinity, is that it professes a mystery. It involves, not merely a contradiction in the terms used, which would be little, for we might solve it by assigning different senses to the same word, or by adding some limitation (e.g. if it were said that Satan was an Angel and not an Angel, or man was mortal and immortal), but an incongruity in the ideas which it introduces. To say that the Father is wholly and absolutely the one infinitely-simple God, and then that the Son is also, and yet that the Father is eternally distinct from the Son, is to propose ideas which we cannot harmonize together; and our reason is reconciled to this state of the case only by the consideration (though fully by means of it) that no idea of ours can embrace the simple truth, so that we are obliged to separate it into portions, and view it in aspects, and adumbrate it under many ideas, if we are to make any approximation towards it at all; as in mathematics we approximate to a circle by means of a polygon, great as is the dissimilarity between the two figures. [Cf. Prolegg. ch. ii. §3 (2) b.], but ye will yourselves acknowledge that the Lord is God’s true Son by nature, and not as merely eternal1177    οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἀ& 188·διος, i.e. ἀΐδιος is not one of our Lord’s highest titles, for things have it which the Son Himself has created, and whom of course He precedes. Instead of two ἀΐδια then, as the Arians say, there are many ἀΐδια; and our Lord’s high title is not this, but that He is ‘the Son,’ and thereby ‘eternal in the Father’s eternity,’ or there was not ever when He was not, and ‘Image’ and ‘Radiance.’ The same line of thought is implied throughout his proof of our Lord’s eternity in Orat. i. ch. 4 6. This is worth remarking, as constituting a special distinction between ancient and modern Scripture proofs of the doctrine, and as coinciding with what was said supr. Or. ii. 1, n. 13, 44, n. 1. His mode of proof is still more brought out by what he proceeds to say about the σκοπός, or general bearing or drift of the Christian faith, and its availableness as a κανὼν or rule of interpretation., but revealed as co-existing in the Father’s eternity. For there are things called eternal of which He is Framer; for in the twenty-third Psalm it is written, ‘Lift up your gates, O ye rulers, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting gates1178    Ps. xxiv. 7.;’ and it is plain that through Him these things were made; but if even of things everlasting He is the Framer, who of us shall be able henceforth to dispute that He is anterior to those things eternal, and in consequence is proved to be Lord not so much from His eternity, as in that He is God’s Son; for being the Son, He is inseparable from the Father, and never was there when He was not, but He was always; and being the Father’s Image and Radiance, He has the Father’s eternity. Now what has been briefly said above may suffice to shew their misunderstanding of the passages they then alleged; and that of what they now allege from the Gospels they certainly give an unsound interpretation1179    Cf. 26, n. 9., we may easily see, if we now consider the scope1180    σκοπὸς, vid. 58. fin. of that faith which we Christians hold, and using it as a rule, apply ourselves, as the Apostle teaches, to the reading of inspired Scripture. For Christ’s enemies, being ignorant of this scope, have wandered from the way of truth, and have stumbled1181    Rom. ix. 32. on a stone of stumbling, thinking otherwise than they should think.

29. Now the scope and character of Holy Scripture, as we have often said, is this,—it contains a double account of the Saviour; that He was ever God, and is the Son, being the Father’s Word and Radiance and Wisdom1182    Or. i. 28, n. 5.; and that afterwards for us He took flesh of a Virgin, Mary Bearer of God1183    θεοτόκου. vid. supr. 14, n. 3. Vid. S. Cyril’s quotations in his de Recta Fide, p. 49, &c.; and Cyril himself, Adv. Nest. i. p. 18. Procl. Hom. i. p. 60. Theodor. ap. Conc. Eph. (p. 1529. Labbe.) Cassian. Incarn. iv. 2. Hil. Trin. ii. 25. Ambros. Virgin. i. n. 47. Chrysost. ap. Cassian. Incarn. vii. 30. Jerom. in Ezek. 44 init. Capreolus of Carthage, ap. Sirm. Opp. t. i. p. 216. August. Serm. 291, 6. Hippolytus, ap. Theod. Eran. i. p. 55, &c. Ignatius, Ep. ad Eph. 7., and was made man. And this scope is to be found throughout inspired Scripture, as the Lord Himself has said, ‘Search the Scriptures, for they are they which testify of Me1184    John v. 39..’ But lest I should exceed in writing, by bringing together all the passages on the subject, let it suffice to mention as a specimen, first John saying, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was made not one thing1185    Ib. i. 1–3.;’ next, ‘And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of one Only-begotten from the Father1186    v. 14.;’ and next Paul writing, ‘Who being in the form of God, thought it not a prize to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion like a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross1187    Phil. ii. 6–8..’ Any one, beginning with these passages and going through the whole of the Scripture upon the interpretation1188    Cf. 26, n. 9. which they suggest, will perceive how in the beginning the Father said to Him, ‘Let there be light,’ and ‘Let there be a firmament,’ and ‘Let us make man1189    Gen. i. 3, 6, 26; de Syn. 28 (14).;’ but in fulness of the ages, He sent Him into the world, not that He might judge the world, but that the world by Him might be saved, and how it is written ‘Behold, the Virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call his Name Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us1190    Matt. i. 23..’

30. The reader then of divine Scripture may acquaint himself with these passages from the ancient books; and from the Gospels on the other hand he will perceive that the Lord became man; for ‘the Word,’ he says, ‘became flesh, and dwelt among us1191    John i. 14..’ And He became man, and did not come into man; for this it is necessary to know, lest perchance these irreligious men fall into this notion also, and beguile any into thinking, that, as in former times the Word was used to come into each of the Saints, so now He sojourned in a man, hallowing him also, and manifesting1192    τούτῳ χρώμενος ὀργάνῳ infr.42. and ὄργανον πρὸς τὴν ἐνέργειαν καὶ τὴν ἔκλαμψιν τῆς θεότητος. 53. This was a word much used afterwards by the Apollinarians, who looked on our Lord’s manhood as merely a manifestation of God. vid. Or. ii. 8, n. 3. vid. σχῆμα ὀργανικὸν in Apoll. i. 2, 15. vid. a parallel in Euseb. Laud. Const. p. 536. However, it is used freely by Athan. e.g. infr. 35, 53. Incarn. 8, 9, 41, 43, 44. This use of ὄργανον must not be confused with its heretical application to our Lord’s Divine Nature, vid. Basil de Sp. S. n. 19 fin. of which de Syn. 27 (3). It may be added that φανέρωσις is a Nestorian as well as Eutychian idea; Facund. Tr. Cap. ix. 2, 3. and the Syrian use of parsopa Asseman. B. O. t. 4. p. 219. Thus both parties really denied the Atonement. vid. supr. Or. i. 60, n. 5; ii. 8, n. 4. Himself as in the others. For if it were so, and He only appeared in a man, it were nothing strange, nor had those who saw Him been startled, saying, Whence is He? and wherefore dost Thou, being a man, make Thyself God? for they were familiar with the idea, from the words, ‘And the Word of the Lord came’ to this or that of the Prophets1193    Ad Epict. 11, ad Max. 2.. But now, since the Word of God, by whom all things came to be, endured to become also Son of man, and humbled Himself, taking a servant’s form, therefore to the Jews the Cross of Christ is a scandal, but to us Christ is ‘God’s power’ and ‘God’s wisdom1194    1 Cor. i. 24.;’ for ‘the Word,’ as John says, ‘became flesh’ (it being the custom1195    Infr. iv. 33 init. of Scripture to call man by the name of ‘flesh,’ as it says by Joel the Prophet, ‘I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh;’ and as Daniel said to Astyages, ‘I do not worship idols made with hands, but the Living God, who hath created the heaven and the earth, and hath sovereignty over all flesh1196    Joel ii. 28; Bel and Dr. 5.;’ for both he and Joel call mankind flesh).

31. Of old time He was wont to come to the Saints individually, and to hallow those who rightly1197    Or. i. 39, n. 4. received Him; but neither, when they were begotten was it said that He had become man, nor, when they suffered, was it said that He Himself suffered. But when He came among us from Mary once at the end of the ages for the abolition of sin (for so it was pleasing to the Father, to send His own Son ‘made of a woman, made under the Law’), then it is said, that He took flesh and became man, and in that flesh He suffered for us (as Peter says, ‘Christ therefore having suffered for us in the flesh1198    Gal. iv. 4; 1 Pet. iv. 1.,’ that it might be shewn, and that all might believe, that whereas He was ever God, and hallowed those to whom He came, and ordered all things according to the Father’s will1199    κατὰ τὸ βούλημα. vid. Orat. i. 63. infr. §63, notes. Cf. supr. ii. 31, n. 7, for passages in which Ps. xxxiii. 9. is taken to shew the unity of Father and Son from the instantaneousness of the accomplishment upon the willing, as well as the Son’s existence before creation. Hence the Son not only works κατὰ τὸ βούλημα, but is the βουλὴ of the Father. ibid. note 8. For the contrary Arian view, even when it is highest, vid Euseb. Eccl. Theol. iii. 3. quoted ii. 64, n. 5. In that passage the Father’s νεύματα are spoken of, a word common with the Arians. Euseb. ibid. p. 75, a. de Laud. Const. p. 528, Eunom. Apol. 20 fin. The word is used of the Son’s command given to the creation, in Athan. contr. Gent. e.g. 42, 44, 46. S. Cyril. Hier. frequently as the Arians, uses it of the Father. Catech. x. 5, xi. passim, xv. 25, &c. The difference between the orthodox and Arian views on this point is clearly drawn out by S. Basil contr. Eunom. i. 21., afterwards for our sakes He became man, and ‘bodily1200    Col. ii. 9.,’ as the Apostle says, the Godhead dwelt in the flesh; as much as to say, ‘Being God, He had His own body, and using this as an instrument1201    τούτῳ χρώμενος ὀργάνῳ infr.42. and ὄργανον πρὸς τὴν ἐνέργειαν καὶ τὴν ἔκλαμψιν τῆς θεότητος. 53. This was a word much used afterwards by the Apollinarians, who looked on our Lord’s manhood as merely a manifestation of God. vid. Or. ii. 8, n. 3. vid. σχῆμα ὀργανικὸν in Apoll. i. 2, 15. vid. a parallel in Euseb. Laud. Const. p. 536. However, it is used freely by Athan. e.g. infr. 35, 53. Incarn. 8, 9, 41, 43, 44. This use of ὄργανον must not be confused with its heretical application to our Lord’s Divine Nature, vid. Basil de Sp. S. n. 19 fin. of which de Syn. 27 (3). It may be added that φανέρωσις is a Nestorian as well as Eutychian idea; Facund. Tr. Cap. ix. 2, 3. and the Syrian use of parsopa Asseman. B. O. t. 4. p. 219. Thus both parties really denied the Atonement. vid. supr. Or. i. 60, n. 5; ii. 8, n. 4., He became man for our sakes.’ And on account of this, the properties of the flesh are said to be His, since He was in it, such as to hunger, to thirst, to suffer, to weary, and the like, of which the flesh is capable; while on the other hand the works proper to the Word Himself, such as to raise the dead, to restore sight to the blind, and to cure the woman with an issue of blood, He did through His own body1202    Orat. iv. 6. and fragm. ex Euthym. p. 1275. ed. Ben. This interchange [of language] is called theologically the ἀντίδοσις or communicatio ἰδιωμάτων. Nyssen. in Apoll. t. 2. pp. 697, 8. Leon. Ep. 28, 51. Ambros. de fid. ii. 58. Nyssen. de Beat. p. 767. Cassian. Incarn. vi. 22. Aug. contr. Serm. Ar. c. 8 init. Plain and easy as such statements seem, they are of the utmost importance in the Nestorian and Eutychian controversies.. And the Word bore the infirmities of the flesh, as His own, for His was the flesh; and the flesh ministered to the works of the Godhead, because the Godhead was in it, for the body was God’s1203    θεοῦ ἦν σῶμα. also ad Adelph. 3. ad Max. 2. and so τὴν πτωχεύσασαν φύσιν θεοῦ ὅλην γενομένην. c. Apoll. ii. 11. τὸ πάθος τοῦ λόγου. ibid. 16, c. σὰρξ τοῦ λόγου. infr. 34. σῶμα σοφίας infr.53. also Or. ii. 10, n. 7. πάθος Χριστοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ μου. Ignat. Rom. 6. ὁ θεὸς πέπονθεν. Melit. ap. Anast. Hodeg. 12. Dei passiones. Tertull. de Carn. Christ. 5. Dei interemptores. ibid. caro Deitatis. Leon. Serm. 65 fin. Deus mortuus et sepultus. Vigil. c. Eut. ii. p. 502. vid. supr. Or. i. 45, n. 3. Yet Athan. objects to the phrase, ‘God suffered in the flesh,’ i.e. as used by the Apollinarians. vid. contr. Apoll. ii. 13 fin. [Cf. Harnack, Dogmg. ed. 1. vol. i. pp. 131, 628. notes.]. And well has the Prophet said ‘carried1204    Is. liii. 4.;’ and has not said, ‘He remedied our infirmities,’ lest, as being external to the body, and only healing it, as He has always done, He should leave men subject still to death; but He carries our infirmities, and He Himself bears our sins, that it might be shewn that He has become man for us, and that the body which in Him bore them, was His own body; and, while He received no hurt1205    οὐδὲν ἐβλάπτετο. (1 Pet. ii. 24.) Cf. de Incarn. 17, 54, 34; Euseb. de Laud. Const. p. 536. and 538. also Dem. Evang. vii. p. 348. Vigil. contr. Eutych. ii. p. 503. (B. P. ed. 1624.) Anast. Hodeg. c. 12. p. 220 (ed. 1606.) also p. 222. Vid also the beautiful passage in Pseudo-Basil: Hom. in Sanct. Christ. Gen. (t. 2. p. 596. ed. Ben.) also Rufin. in Symb. 12. Cyril. Quod unus est Christus. p. 776. Damasc. F. O. iii. 6 fin. August. Serm. 7. p. 26 init. ed. 1842. Suppl. 1. Himself by ‘bearing our sins in His body on the tree,’ as Peter speaks, we men were redeemed from our own affections1206    παθῶν, vid. §33, n. 2., and were filled with the righteousness1207    Orat. i. 51. of the Word.

32. Whence it was that, when the flesh suffered, the Word was not external to it; and therefore is the passion said to be His: and when He did divinely His Father’s works, the flesh was not external to Him, but in the body itself did the Lord do them. Hence, when made man, He said1208    John x. 37, 38. vid. Incarn. 18. Cf. Leo, Serm. 54, 2. ‘Suscepit nos in suam proprietatem illa natura, quæ nec nostris sua, nec suis nostra consumeret, &c.’ Serm. 72, p. 286, vid. also Ep. 165, 6. Serm. 30, 5. Cyril Cat. iv. 9. Amphiloch. ap. Theod. Eran. i. p. 66. also pp. 30, 87, 8. ed. 1614., ‘If I do not the works of the Father, believe Me not; but if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works, that ye may know that the Father is in Me and I in Him.’ And thus when there was need to raise Peter’s wife’s mother, who was sick of a fever, He stretched forth His hand humanly, but He stopped the illness divinely. And in the case of the man blind from the birth, human was the spittle which He gave forth from the flesh, but divinely did He open the eyes through the clay. And in the case of Lazarus, He gave forth a human voice as man; but divinely, as God, did He raise Lazarus from the dead1209    Cf. Leo’s Tome (Ep. 28.) 4. ‘When He touched the leper, it was the man that was seen; but something beyond man, when He cleansed him, &c.’ Ambros. Epist. i. 46, n. 7. Hil. Trin. x. 23 fin. vid. infr. 56 note, and S. Leo’s extracts in his Ep. 165. Chrysol. Serm. 34 and 35. Paul. ap. Conc. Eph. (p. 1620. Labbe.) These are instances of what is theologically called the θεανδρικὴ ἐνέργεια [a condemned formula], i.e. the union of the energies of both Natures in one act.. These things were so done, were so manifested, because He had a body, not in appearance, but in truth1210    μὴ φαντασί& 139· ἀλλ᾽ ἀληθῶς. vid. Incarn. 18, d. ad Epict. 7, c. The passage is quoted by S. Cyril. Apol. adv. Orient p. 194.; and it became the Lord, in putting on human flesh, to put it on whole with the affections proper to it; that, as we say that the body was His own, so also we may say that the affections of the body were proper to Him alone, though they did not touch Him according to His Godhead. If then the body had been another’s, to him too had been the affections attributed; but if the flesh is the Word’s (for ‘the Word became flesh’), of necessity then the affections also of the flesh are ascribed to Him, whose the flesh is. And to whom the affections are ascribed, such namely as to be condemned, to be scourged, to thirst, and the cross, and death, and the other infirmities of the body, of Him too is the triumph and the grace. For this cause then, consistently and fittingly such affections are ascribed not to another1211    οὐκ ἄλλου, ἀλλὰ τοῦ κυρίου· and so οὐκ ἑτέρου τινός, Incarn. 18; also Orat. i. 45. supr. p. 244. and Orat. iv. 35. Cyril Thes. p. 197. and Anathem. 11. who defends the phrase against the Orientals., but to the Lord; that the grace also may be from Him1212    Cf. Procl. ad Armen. p. 615, ed. 1630., and that we may become, not worshippers of any other, but truly devout towards God, because we invoke no originate thing, no ordinary1213    κοινόν opposed to ἴδιον. vid. infr. §51, Cyril Epp. p. 23, e. communem, Ambros. de Fid. i. 94. man, but the natural and true Son from God, who has become man, yet is not the less Lord and God and Saviour.

33. Who will not admire this? or who will not agree that such a thing is truly divine? for if the works of the Word’s Godhead had not taken place through the body, man had not been deified; and again, had not the properties of the flesh been ascribed to the Word, man had not been thoroughly delivered from them1214    Or. i. 5 n. 5, ii. 56 n. 5, 68, n. 1, infr. note 6.; but though they had ceased for a little while, as I said before, still sin had remained in him and corruption, as was the case with mankind before Him; and for this reason:—Many for instance have been made holy and clean from all sin; nay, Jeremiah was hallowed1215    Vid. Jer. i. 5. And so S. Jerome, S. Leo, &c., as mentioned in Corn. a Lap. in loc. S. Jerome implies a similar gift in the case of Asella, ad Marcell. (Ep. xxiv. 2.) And so S. John Baptist, Maldon. in Luc. i. 16. It is remarkable that no ancient writer (unless indeed we except S. Austin), [Patrol. Lat. xlvii. 1144?] refers to the instance of S. Mary;—perhaps from the circumstance of its not being mentioned in Scripture. even from the womb, and John, while yet in the womb, leapt for joy at the voice of Mary Bearer of God1216    θεοτόκου. For instances of this word vid. Alexandr. Ep. ad Alex. ap. Theodor. H. E. i. 4. p. 745. (al. 20). Athan. (supra); Cyril. Cat. x. 19. Julian Imper. ap. Cyril c. Jul. viii. p. 262. Amphiloch. Orat. 4. p. 41. (if Amphil.) ed. 1644. Nyssen. Ep. ad Eustath. p. 1093. Chrysost. apud. Suicer Symb. p. 240. Greg. Naz. Orat. 29, 4 Ep. 181. p. 85. ed. Ben. Antiochus and Ammon. ap. Cyril. de Recta Fid. pp. 49, 50. Pseudo-Dion. contr. Samos. 5. Pseudo-Basil. Hom. t. 2. p. 600 ed. Ben.; nevertheless ‘death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression1217    Rom. v. 14.;’ and thus man remained mortal and corruptible as before, liable to the affections proper to their nature. But now the Word having become man and having appropriated1218    ἰδιοποιουμένου. vid. also [Incar. 8.] infr. §38. ad Epict. 6, e. fragm. ex Euthym. (t. i. p. 1275. ed. Ben.) Cyril. in Joann. p. 151, a. For ἴδιον, which occurs so frequently here, vid. Cyril. Anathem. 11. And οἰκείωται. contr. Apoll. ii. 16, e. Cyril. Schol. de Incarn. p. 782, d. Concil. Eph. pp. 1644, d. 1697, b. (Hard.) Damasc. F. O. iii. 3. p. 208. ed. Ven. Vid. Petav. de Incarn. iv. 15. what pertains to the flesh, no longer do these things touch the body, because of the Word who has come in it, but they are destroyed1219    Vid. Or. i. §§45, 46, ii. 65, note. Vid. also iv. 33. Incarn. c. Arian. 12. contr. Apoll. i. 17. ii. 6. ‘Since God the Word willed to annul the passions, whose end is death, and His deathless nature was not capable of them…He is made flesh of the Virgin, in the way He knoweth, &c.’ Procl. ad Armen. p. 616. also Leo. Serm. 22. pp. 69. 71. Serm. 26. p. 88. Nyssen contr. Apoll. t. 2 p. 696. Cyril. Epp. p. 138, 9. in Joan. p. 95. Chrysol. Serm. 148. by Him, and henceforth men no longer remain sinners and dead according to their proper affections, but having risen according to the Word’s power, they abide1220    ii. 69, n. 3, &c. ever immortal and incorruptible. Whence also, whereas the flesh is born of Mary Bearer of God1221    θεοτόκου. supr. 14, n. 3. For ‘mater Dei’ vid. before S. Leo, Ambros. de Virg. ii. 7. Cassian. Incarn. ii. 5. vii. 25. Vincent. Lir. Commonit. 21. It is obvious that θεοτόκος, though framed as a test against Nestorians, was equally effective against Apollinarians [?] and Eutychians, who denied that our Lord had taken human flesh at all, as is observed by Facundus Def. Trium. Cap. i. 4. Cf. Cyril. Epp. pp. 106, 7. Yet these sects, as the Arians, maintained the term. vid. supr. Or. ii. 8, n. 5., He Himself is said to have been born, who furnishes to others an origin of being; in order that He may transfer our origin into Himself, and we may no longer, as mere earth, return to earth, but as being knit into the Word from heaven, may be carried to heaven by Him. Therefore in like manner not without reason has He transferred to Himself the other affections of the body also; that we, no longer as being men, but as proper to the Word, may have share in eternal life. For no longer according to our former origin in Adam do we die; but henceforward our origin and all infirmity of flesh being transferred to the Word, we rise from the earth, the curse from sin being removed, because of Him who is in us1222    ii. 59. n. 5., and who has become a curse for us. And with reason; for as we are all from earth and die in Adam, so being regenerated from above of water and Spirit, in the Christ we are all quickened; the flesh being no longer earthly, but being henceforth made Word1223    λογωθείσης τῆς σαρκὄς. This strong term is here applied to human nature generally; Damascene speaks of the λόγωσις of the flesh, but he means especially our Lord’s flesh. F. O. iv. 18. p. 286. (Ed. Ven.) for the words θεοῦσθαι, &c. vid. supr. ii. 70, n. 1., by reason of God’s Word who for our sake ‘became flesh.’

34. And that one may attain to a more exact knowledge of the impassibility of the Word’s nature and of the infirmities ascribed to Him because of the flesh, it will be well to listen to the blessed Peter; for he will be a trustworthy witness concerning the Saviour. He writes then in his Epistle thus; ‘Christ then having suffered for us in the flesh1224    1 Pet. iv. 1..’ Therefore also when He is said to hunger and thirst and to toil and not to know, and to sleep, and to weep, and to ask, and to flee, and to be born, and to deprecate the cup, and in a word to undergo all that belongs to the flesh1225    Cf. Chrysost. in Joann. Hom. 67. 1 and 2. Cyril de Rect. Fid. p. 18. ‘As a man He doubts, as a man He is troubled; it is not His Power (virtus) that is troubled, not His Godhead, but His soul, &c.’ Ambros. de Fid. ii. n. 56. vid. a beautiful passage in S. Basil’s Hom. iv. 5. in which he insists on our Lord’s having wept to shew us how to weep neither too much nor too little., let it be said, as is congruous, in each case ‘Christ then hungering and thirsting “for us in the flesh;”’ and saying ‘He did not know, and being buffeted, and toiling “for us in the flesh;”’ and ‘being exalted too, and born, and growing “in the flesh;”’ and ‘fearing and hiding “in the flesh;”’ and ‘saying, “If it be possible let this cup pass from Me1226    Mat. xxvi. 39.,” and being beaten, and receiving, “for us in the flesh;”’ and in a word all such things ‘for us in the flesh.’ For on this account has the Apostle himself said, ‘Christ then having suffered,’ not in His Godhead, but ‘for us in the flesh,’ that these affections may be acknowledged as, not proper to the very Word by nature, but proper by nature to the very flesh.

Let no one then stumble at what belongs to man, but rather let a man know that in nature the Word Himself is impassible, and yet because of that flesh which He put on, these things are ascribed to Him, since they are proper to the flesh, and the body itself is proper to the Saviour. And while He Himself, being impassible in nature, remains as He is, not harmed1227    βλαπτόμενος, §31, n. 15. by these affections, but rather obliterating and destroying them, men, their passions as if changed and abolished1228    Cf. 33, n. 6. in the Impassible, henceforth become themselves also impassible and free1229    Vid. Or. ii. 56, n. 5. Cf. Cyril. de Rect. Fid. p. 18. from them for ever, as John taught, saying, ‘And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin1230    1 John iii. 5..’ And this being so, no heretic shall object, ‘Wherefore rises the flesh, being by nature mortal? and if it rises, why not hunger too and thirst, and suffer, and remain mortal? for it came from the earth, and how can its natural condition pass from it?’ since the flesh is able now to make answer to this so contentious heretic, ‘I am from earth, being by nature mortal, but afterwards I have become the Word’s flesh,’ and He ‘carried’ my affections, though He is without them; and so I became free from them, being no more abandoned to their service because of the Lord who has made me free from them. For if you object to my being rid of that corruption which is by nature, see that you object not to God’s Word having taken my form of servitude; for as the Lord, putting on the body, became man, so we men are deified by the Word as being taken to Him through His flesh, and henceforward inherit life ‘everlasting.’

35. These points we have found it necessary first to examine, that, when we see Him doing or saying aught divinely through the instrument1231    Cf. 31, n. 10. of His own body, we may know that He so works, being God, and also, if we see Him speaking or suffering humanly, we may not be ignorant that He bore flesh and became man, and hence He so acts and so speaks. For if we recognise what is proper to each, and see and understand that both these things and those are done by One1232    Vid. infr. 39–41. and 56, n. 7. Cf. Procl. ad Armen. p. 615. Leo’s Tome (Ep. 28, 3) also Hil. Trin. ix. 11 fin. ‘Vagit infans, sed in cœlo est, &c.’ ibid. x. 54. Ambros. de Fid. ii. 77. Erat vermis in cruce sed dimittebat peccata. Non habebat speciem, sed plenitudinem divinitatis, &c. Id. Epist. i. 46, n. 5. Theoph. Ep. Pasch. 6. ap. Conc. Ephes. p. 1404. Hard., we are right in our faith, and shall never stray. But if a man looking at what is done divinely by the Word, deny the body, or looking at what is proper to the body, deny the Word’s presence in the flesh, or from what is human entertain low thoughts concerning the Word, such a one, as a Jewish vintner1233    Vid. Is. i. 22, LXX.; Or. ii. 80; de Decr. 10., mixing water with the wine, shall account the Cross an offence, or as a Gentile, will deem the preaching folly. This then is what happens to God’s enemies the Arians; for looking at what is human in the Saviour, they have judged Him a creature. Therefore they ought, looking also at the divine works of the Word, to deny1234    Thus heresies are partial views of the truth, starting from some truth which they exaggerate, and disowning and protesting against other truth, which they fancy inconsistent with it. vid. supr. Or. i. 26, n. 2. the origination of His body, and henceforth to rank themselves with Manichees1235    De Syn. 33; Or. i. 8.. But for them, learn they, however tardily, that ‘the Word became flesh;’ and let us, retaining the general scope1236    Cf. §28, n. 11. of the faith, acknowledge that what they interpret ill, has a right interpretation1237    Cf. §30, n. 7..

Ἰδοὺ γὰρ, ὥσπερ οὐκ ἀποκάμνοντες ἐν ταῖς δυσσεβείαις, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν Φαραὼ σκληρυνόμενοι, τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πάλιν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἀκούοντες καὶ βλέποντες ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις, ἐπελάθοντο τέλεον κατὰ τὸν Σαμωσατέα τῆς πατρικῆς θεότητος τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τολμηρᾷ τῇ γλώσσῃ θρασυνόμενοι, λέγουσι· «Πῶς δύναται ὁ Υἱὸς ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς εἶναι φύσει καὶ ὅμοιος αὐτῷ κατ' οὐσίαν, ὁ λέγων· Ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία· καὶ, Ὁ Πατὴρ οὐδένα κρίνει, ἀλλὰ τὴν κρίσιν πᾶσαν δέδωκε τῷ Υἱῷ· καὶ, Ὁ Πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ τὸν Υἱὸν, καὶ πάντα δέδωκεν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ. Ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν, ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον· καὶ πάλιν· Πάντα μοι παρ εδόθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρός μου· καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐπιγινώ σκει τὸν Πατέρα εἰ μὴ ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν θέ λῃ ὁ Υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψαι· καὶ πάλιν· Πᾶν ὃ δέδωκέ μοι ὁ Πατὴρ, πρὸς ἐμὲ ἥξει. Εἶτα ἐπιλέ γουσιν· Εἰ ἦν, ὡς λέγετε, Υἱὸς κατὰ φύσιν, οὐ χρείαν εἶχε λαβεῖν, ἀλλ' εἶχε κατὰ φύσιν ὡς υἱός. Ἢ πῶς δύναται δύναμις εἶναι φύσει καὶ ἀληθινὴ τοῦ Πατρὸς, ὁ παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ πάθους λέγων· Νῦν ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται· καὶ τί εἴπω; Πάτερ, σῶσόν με ἐκ τῆς ὥρας ταύτης· ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον εἰς τὴν ὥραν ταύτην. Πάτερ, δόξασόν σου τὸ ὄνομα. Ἦλθεν οὖν φωνὴ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ· Καὶ ἐδόξασα, καὶ πάλιν δοξάσω. Πάλιν τε τὸ ὅμοιον ἔλεγε· Πάτερ, εἰ δυνατὸν, παρελθέτω τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο· καὶ, Ταῦτα εἰπὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐταράχθη τῷ Πνεύματι, καὶ ἐμαρτύρησε, καὶ εἶπεν· Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν παραδώσει με. Καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις δέ φασιν οἱ κακόφρονες· Εἰ δύναμις ἦν, οὐκ ἂν ἐδειλίασεν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον καὶ ἑτέροις τὸ δύνασθαι παρεῖχεν. Εἶτά φασιν· Εἰ σοφία ἦν φύσει ἡ ἀληθινὴ καὶ ἰδία τοῦ Πατρὸς, πῶς γέ γραπται· Καὶ Ἰησοῦς προέκοπτε σοφίᾳ, καὶ ἡλικίᾳ, καὶ χάριτι παρὰ Θεῷ καὶ ἀνθρώποις· καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς μὲν τὰ μέρη Καισαρείας τῆς Φιλίπ που, ἐπυνθάνετο τῶν μαθητῶν, τίνα λέγουσιν οἱ ἄν θρωποι αὐτὸν εἶναι· εἰς δὲ τὴν Βηθανίαν παραγενό μενος ἠρώτα ποῦ Λάζαρος κεῖται· ἔλεγε δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα τοῖς μαθηταῖς· Πόσους ἄρτους ἔχετε; Πῶς οὖν, φασὶν, οὗτος σοφία, ὁ ἐν σοφίᾳ προ κόπτων, καὶ ἀγνοῶν ἃ παρ' ἑτέρων μανθάνειν ἠξίου; Ἔστι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο παρ' αὐτῶν λεγόμενον Πῶς δύνα ται ὁ Λόγος ἴδιος εἶναι τοῦ Πατρὸς, οὗ ἄνευ οὐκ ἦν ὁ Πατήρ ποτε, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ποιεῖ, ὡς ὑμεῖς φρονεῖτε, ὁ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ σταυροῦ λέγων· Θεέ μου, Θεέ μου, ἵνα τί με ἐγκατέλιπες; πρὸ δὲ τού των εὐχόμενος· ∆όξασόν σου τὸ ὄνομα· καὶ, ∆όξα σόν με σὺ, Πάτερ, τῇ δόξῃ, ᾗ εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί. Ηὔχετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἐρήμοις, καὶ παρήγγελλε τοῖς μαθηταῖς προσεύχε σθαι μὴ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς πειρασμόν· καὶ, Τὸ Πνεῦμα πρόθυμον, ἔλεγεν, ἡ δὲ σὰρξ ἀσθενής· καὶ, Περὶ τῆς ἡμέρας ἢ τῆς ὥρας ἐκείνης οὐδεὶς οἶδεν, οὐδὲ οἱ ἄγγελοι, οὐδὲ ὁ Υἱός. Εἶτα πάλιν φασὶν ἐπὶ τούτοις οἱ δείλαιοι· Εἰ ἦν κατὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν διάνοιαν ἀϊδίως ὑπάρχων ὁ Υἱὸς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, οὔτ' ἂν ἠγνόησε περὶ τῆς ἡμέρας, ἀλλ' ἐγίνωσκεν ὡς Λό γος, οὔτ' ἂν ἐγκατελείπετο ὁ συνυπάρχων, οὔτε δόξαν ᾔτει λαβεῖν, ἔχων αὐτὴν ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, οὔτε ὅλως ηὔχετο· οὐδενὸς γὰρ Λόγος ὢν ἐδέετο· ἀλλ' ἐπει δὴ κτίσμα ἐστὶ καὶ εἷς τῶν γενητῶν, διὰ τοῦτο τοι αῦτα ἔλεγε, καὶ ἐδέετο ὧν οὐκ εἶχε· κτισμάτων γὰρ ἴδιον τὸ χρῄζειν καὶ δέεσθαι ὧν οὐκ ἔχουσιν.» Τοιαῦτα μὲν οὖν οἱ ἀσεβεῖς ἐξάγονται λαλοῦν τες· ἔδει δὲ ταῦτα διαλογιζομένους εἰπεῖν καὶ τολμηρότερον· ∆ιὰ τί ὅλως ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο; καὶ πάλιν ἐπειπεῖν· Πῶς γὰρ ἠδύνατο Θεὸς ὢν γε νέσθαι ἄνθρωπος; Ἢ πῶς ἠδύνατο ὁ ἀσώματος σῶμα φορέσαι; ἢ καὶ Ἰουδαϊκώτερον κατὰ τὸν Καϊά φαν εἰπεῖν· ∆ιὰ τί ὅλως, ἄνθρωπος ὢν ὁ Χριστὸς, Θεὸν ἑαυτὸν ἐποίει; ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια τότε μὲν Ἰουδαῖοι βλέποντες ἐγόγγυζον, νῦν δὲ ἀναγινώσκοντες οἱ Ἀρειομανῖται ἀπιστοῦσι, καὶ εἰς βλασφημίας ἐκπεπτώκασιν. Εἴ τις οὖν ἐκ παραλλήλου τὰ τούτων κἀκείνων ἐξετάζοι ῥήματα, εὑρήσει πάντως εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν αὐτοὺς συναντῶντας ἀπιστίαν, καὶ ἴσην αὐτῶν τὴν τῆς ἀσεβείας τόλ μαν, καὶ κοινὴν αὐτῶν οὖσαν τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς μάχην. Ἰουδαῖοι μὲν γὰρ ἔλεγον· Πῶς, ἄνθρωπος ὢν, δύναται Θεὸς εἶναι; Ἀρειανοὶ δέ. Εἰ Θεὸς ἦν ἀληθινὸς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, πῶς ἠδύνατο ἄνθρωπος γενέσθαι; Καὶ Ἰου δαῖοι μὲν ἐσκανδαλίζοντο, καὶ ἐχλεύαζον λέγοντες· Οὐκ ἂν οὗτος, εἰ ἦν Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὑπέμεινε σταυ ρόν· Ἀρειανοὶ δὲ εἰς τὸ κατ' ἀντικρὺ στήκοντες αὐ τῶν, φάσκουσιν ἡμῖν· Πῶς τολμᾶτε λέγειν Λόγον ἴδιον εἶναι τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας τὸν ἔχοντα σῶμα, ὥστε τοῦτο ὑπομεῖναι; Εἶτα τῶν Ἰουδαίων ζητούντων ἀποκτεῖναι τὸν Κύριον, ὅτι Πατέρα ἴδιον ἔλεγε τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ἐποίει, ἐργαζόμενος ἃ ἐρ γάζεται ὁ Πατὴρ, ἔμαθον οἱ Ἀρειανοὶ λέγειν καὶ αὐ τοὶ, ὅτι οὔτε ἴσος τῷ Θεῷ ἐστιν, οὔτε Πατὴρ ἴδιός ἐστι καὶ φύσει τοῦ Λόγου ὁ Θεός· ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ταῦτα φρονοῦντας ζητοῦσιν ἀποκτεῖναι. Πάλιν τε τῶν Ἰουδαίων λεγόντων· Οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ, οὗ ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα; Πῶς οὖν λέγει· Πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι, ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβέβηκα; οἱ Ἀρειανοὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐπακούουσιν ἐξ ἴσου λέγον τες· Πῶς δύναται Λόγος εἶναι ἢ Θεὸς ὁ κοιμώμενος ὡς ἄνθρωπος, καὶ κλαίων, καὶ πυνθανόμενος; Ἀμφό τεροι γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων, ὧν ὑπέμεινεν ὁ Σωτὴρ δι' ἣν εἶχε σάρκα, ἀρνοῦνται τὴν ἀϊδιότητα καὶ θεότητα τοῦ Λόγου. Ἰουδαϊκῆς τοίνυν οὔσης, καὶ Ἰουδαϊκῆς τῆς ἐκ τοῦ προδότου Ἰούδα τῆς τοιαύτης παρανοίας, ἢ ἐκ φανεροῦ πάλιν ὁμολογείτωσαν ἑαυτοὺς τοῦ Καϊάφα καὶ Ἡρώδου μαθητὰς εἶναι, μὴ σκέποντες τὸν Ἰουδαϊσμὸν τῷ τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ ὀνόματι, καὶ ἀρνείσθω σαν τέλεον, καθὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν εἰρήκα μεν, τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἔνσαρκον παρουσίαν· τοῦτο γὰρ τῆς αἱρέσεως αὐτῶν οἰκεῖον τὸ φρόνημα· ἢ εἰ δεδοίκασιν Ἰουδαΐζειν ἐκ φανεροῦ, καὶ περιτέμνεσθαι, διὰ τὴν πρὸς Κωνστάντιον ἀρέσκειαν καὶ τοὺς ἀπατηθέντας παρ' αὐτῶν, μηδὲ λεγέτωσαν τὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων· δίκαιον γὰρ ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα παραιτοῦνται, τούτων ἀποστρέφεσθαι καὶ τὸ φρόνημα. Χριστιανοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν, ὦ Ἀρειανοὶ, Χριστιανοί ἐσμεν ἡμεῖς· ἡμῶν τε ἴδιον καλῶς τὰ Εὐαγγέλια νοεῖν περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, καὶ μήτε μετὰ Ἰουδαίων λιθάζειν αὐτὸν, ἐὰν περὶ τῆς θεότητος καὶ τῆς ἀϊδιότητος ἀκούωμεν αὐτοῦ, μήτε μεθ' ὑμῶν σκανδαλίζεσθαι, ἐφ' οἷς ἂν, ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ταπεινοῖς φθέγ γοιτο ῥήμασιν. Εἰ θέλετε γοῦν καὶ ὑμεῖς γενέσθαι Χριστιανοὶ, ἀπόθεσθε τὴν Ἀρείου μανίαν, τήν τε ἀκοὴν ὑμῶν τὴν ῥυπωθεῖσαν ἀπὸ τῶν βλασφήμων ῥημάτων ἀπονίψασθε τοῖς τῆς εὐσεβείας λόγοις· γινώσκοντες, ὡς παυόμενοι τοῦ εἶναι Ἀρειανοὶ, παύ σεσθε καὶ τῆς τῶν νῦν Ἰουδαίων κακοφροσύνης, εὐ θύς τε ὡς ἀπὸ σκότους ἡ ἀλήθεια ὑμῖν λάμψει· καὶ οὐκέτι μὲν ἡμῖν ὀνειδίσετε, ὡς δύο ἀΐδια λέγουσιν, ἐπιγνώσεσθε δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὅτι τε ἀληθινὸς καὶ φύσει Υἱός ἐστι τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ Κύριος, καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἀΐδιος, ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀϊδιότητι συνὼν γι νώσκεται. Ἔστι γὰρ λεγόμενα ἀΐδια, ὧν αὐτὸς δημιουργός ἐστιν· ἐν γὰρ τῷ κγʹ ψαλμῷ γέγραπται· Ἄρατε πύλας, οἱ ἄρχοντες, ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε, πύλαι αἰώνιοι. ∆ῆλον δέ ἐστιν, ὅτι δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ ταῦτα γέγονεν· εἰ δὲ καὶ τῶν αἰωνίων αὐτός ἐστι δημιουργὸς, τίς ἡμῶν ἔτι λοιπὸν ἀμφιβάλλειν δυνή σεται, ὅτι καὶ τούτων τῶν ἀϊδίων ἀνώτερός ἐστι; Καὶ οὐ τοσοῦτον ἐκ τοῦ ἀϊδίου γνωρίζεται Κύριος, ὅσον ὅτι Υἱός ἐστι τοῦ Θεοῦ· Υἱὸς γὰρ ὢν, ἀχώριστός ἐστι τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὅτε οὐκ ἦν, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ ἦν· καὶ εἰκὼν καὶ ἀπαύγασμα ὢν τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἔχει καὶ τὴν ἀϊδιότητα τοῦ Πατρός. Ὅπως μὲν οὖν ἠλέγ χθησαν κακῶς νοοῦντες ἃ προεφασίζοντο ῥητὰ, δυνα τόν πως ἐκ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν δι' ὀλίγων εἰρημένων κα ταμαθεῖν· ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἐν οἷς πάλιν προφασίζονται νῦν ἐκ τῶν Εὐαγγελίων, γνωρίζονται σαθρὰν ἔχον τες τὴν διάνοιαν, ῥᾴδιόν ἐστι συνιδεῖν, ἐὰν μάλιστα καὶ νῦν τὸν σκοπὸν τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς πίστεως λάβωμεν, καὶ τούτῳ ὥσπερ κανόνι χρησά μενοι, προσέχωμεν, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, τῇ ἀνα γνώσει τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς. Οἱ γὰρ χριστομάχοι, τοῦτον ἀγνοήσαντες, ἐπλανήθησαν ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ προσέκοψαν τῷ λίθῳ τοῦ προσκόμ ματος, φρονοῦντες παρ' ὃ δεῖ φρονεῖν. Σκοπὸς τοίνυν οὗτος καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ἁγίας Γραφῆς, ὡς πολλάκις εἴπομεν, διπλῆν εἶναι τὴν περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐπαγγελίαν ἐν αὐτῇ· ὅτι τε ἀεὶ Θεὸς ἦν καὶ Υἱός ἐστι, Λόγος ὢν καὶ ἀπαύγασμα καὶ σοφία τοῦ Πατρός· καὶ ὅτι ὕστερον, δι' ἡμᾶς σάρκα λαβὼν ἐκ Παρθένου τῆς Θεοτόκου Μαρίας, ἄν θρωπος γέγονε. Καὶ ἔστι μὲν τοῦτον εὑρεῖν διὰ πάσης τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς σημαινόμενον, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος εἴρηκεν· Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς Γραφὰς, ὅτι αὐταί εἰσιν αἱ μαρτυροῦσαι περὶ ἐμοῦ· ἵνα δὲ μὴ, πάντα τὰ ῥητὰ συνάγων, πολὺς ἐν τῷ γρά φειν γένωμαι, ἀρκεσθῶμεν ὡς πάντων μνημονεῦσαι, τοῦ μὲν Ἰωάννου λέγοντος· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λό γος· οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. Εἶτα· Καὶ ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο, καὶ ἐσκή νωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐ τοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ Πατρός· τοῦ δὲ Παύλου γράφοντος· Ὃς, ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων, οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα Θεῷ· ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε, μορφὴν δούλου λα βὼν, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος, καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος. Ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν, γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θα νάτου δὲ σταυροῦ. Ἀπὸ τούτων γὰρ, τῇ αὐτῇ δια νοίᾳ διερχόμενός τις πᾶσαν τὴν Γραφὴν, ὄψεται πῶς ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν εἶπε τούτῳ ὁ Πατήρ· Γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ, Γενηθήτω στερέωμα, καὶ, Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρω πον· ἐπὶ δὲ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, οὐχ ἵνα κρίνῃ τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλ' ἵνα σωθῇ ὁ κόσμος δι' αὐτοῦ· καὶ γέγραπται· Ἰδοὺ ἡ Παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει, καὶ τέξεται Υἱόν· καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ, ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον, Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός. Ὁ τοίνυν ἐντυγχάνων τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ, ἀπὸ μὲν τῶν Παλαιῶν τὰ ῥητὰ καταμανθανέτω, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Εὐαγγελίων θεωρείτω τὸν Κύριον γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον· Ὁ Λόγος γὰρ, φησὶ, σὰρξ ἐγένετο, καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν. Ἄνθρωπος δὲ γέγονε, καὶ οὐκ εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἦλθε· καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ ἀναγκαῖον εἰδέναι· μήποτε καὶ, εἰς τοῦτο πεσόντες οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, ἀπατήσωσί τινας, κἀκεῖνοι νομίσωσιν, ὅτι, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν χρόνοις εἰς ἕκαστον τῶν ἁγίων ἐγίνετο, οὕτω καὶ νῦν εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἐπεδή μησεν ὁ Λόγος ἁγιάζων καὶ τοῦτον, καὶ φανερούμε νος ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις. Εἰ γὰρ οὕτως ἦν, καὶ μόνον ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ φανεὶς ἦν, οὐδὲν ἦν παράδοξον, οὔτε οἱ ὁρῶντες ἐξενίζοντο λέγοντες· Ποταπὸς ἄρα ἐστὶν οὗτος; καὶ, ∆ιὰ τί σὺ, ἄνθρωπος ὢν, ποιεῖς σεαυτὸν Θεόν; Εἶχον γὰρ τὴν συνήθειαν ἀκούοντες· Καὶ ἐγένετο Λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν προφη τῶν. Νῦν δὲ, ἐπειδὴ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, δι' οὗ γέγονε τὰ πάντα, ὑπέμεινε καὶ Υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου γενέσθαι, καὶ ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν, λαβὼν δούλου μορφήν· διὰ τοῦτο Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλόν ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σταυρὸς, ἡμῖν δὲ Χριστὸς Θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ Θεοῦ σο φία· Ὁ Λόγος γὰρ, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ Ἰωάννης, σὰρξ ἐγένετο· τῆς Γραφῆς ἔθος ἐχούσης λέγειν σάρκα τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὡς διὰ Ἰωὴλ τοῦ προφήτου φησίν· Ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα· καὶ ὡς ∆ανιὴλ εἴρηκε τῷ Ἀστυάγῃ· Οὐ σέβομαι εἴδωλα χειροποίητα, ἀλλὰ τὸν ζῶντα Θεὸν, τὸν κτίσαντα τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἔχοντα πάσης σαρκὸς κυρείαν· σάρκα γὰρ καὶ οὗτος καὶ Ἰωὴλ τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος λέγουσιν. Πάλαι μὲν οὖν πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν ἁγίων ἐγίνετο, καὶ ἡγίαζε μὲν τοὺς γνησίως δεχομένους αὐ τόν· οὔτε δὲ, γεννωμένων ἐκείνων, εἴρηται, ὅτι αὐτὸς γεγένηται ἄνθρωπος, οὔτε, πασχόντων ἐκείνων, εἴ ρηται· Πέπονθεν αὐτός. Ὅτε δὲ ἐκ Μαρίας ἐπεδή μησεν ἅπαξ ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς ἀθέ τησιν ἁμαρτίας (οὕτω γὰρ εὐδοκήσας ὁ Πατὴρ ἔπεμψε τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Υἱὸν γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικὸς, γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον), τότε εἴρηται, ὅτι σάρκα προσλαβὼν γεγένηται ἄνθρωπος, καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ πέπονθεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ Πέτρος· Χριστοῦ οὖν πα θόντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκί· ἵνα δειχθῇ, καὶ πάντες πιστεύσωμεν, ὅτι, ἀεὶ ὢν Θεὸς, καὶ ἁγιάζων, πρὸς οὓς ἐγένετο, διακοσμῶν τε κατὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ Πατρὸς τὰ πάντα, ὕστερον καὶ δι' ἡμᾶς γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, καὶ σωματικῶς, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, κατῴκησεν ἡ θεότης ἐν τῇ σαρκί· ἴσον τῷ φάναι, Θεὸς ὢν, ἴδιον ἔσχε σῶμα, καὶ τούτῳ χρώμενος ὀργάνῳ, γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος δι' ἡμᾶς. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὰ μὲν ἴδια ταύτης αὐτοῦ λέγεται, ἐπειδὴ ἐν αὐτῇ ἦν, οἷά ἐστι τὸ πεινῇν, τὸ διψῇν, τὸ πάσχειν, τὸ κοπιᾷν, καὶ τὰ ὅμοια, ὧν ἐστιν ἡ σὰρξ δεκτική· τὰ δὲ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Λόγου ἴδια ἔργα, οἷά ἐστι, τὸ ἐγεί ρειν νεκροὺς, καὶ τυφλοὺς ποιεῖν ἀναβλέπειν, καὶ τὴν αἱμοῤῥοοῦσαν ἰᾶσθαι αὐτὸν, διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου σώμα τος αὐτὸς ἐποίει· καὶ ὁ μὲν Λόγος τὰς τῆς σαρκὸς ἐβάσταζεν ἀσθενείας, ὡς ἰδίας· αὐτοῦ γὰρ ἦν ἡ σάρξ· καὶ ἡ σὰρξ δὲ ὑπούργει τοῖς τῆς θεότη τος ἔργοις, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῇ ἐγένετο· Θεοῦ γὰρ ἦν σῶμα. Εὖ δὲ ὁ προφήτης εἴρηκεν, ἐβάσταξε· καὶ οὐκ εἴρηκε, Τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἐθεράπευσεν, ἵνα μὴ, ὡς ἐκτὸς ὢν τοῦ σώματος, καὶ μόνον αὐ τὸ ἰασάμενος, ὡς ἀεὶ πεποίηκεν, ὑπευθύνους πάλιν τοῦ θανάτου τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καταλείψῃ. Τὰς δὲ ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν βαστάζει, καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς φέρει, ἵνα δειχθῇ ὅτι τε ἄνθρωπος δι' ἡμᾶς γέγονε, καὶ σῶμα τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ φέρον αὐτὰς αὐτοῦ ἴδιόν ἐστι· καὶ αὐτὸς μὲν οὐδὲν ἐβλάπτετο ἀναφέρων τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον τῷ σώ ματι αὐτοῦ, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ Πέτρος· ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ ἄνθρω ποι, ἀπὸ μὲν τῶν ἰδίων παθῶν ἐλυτρούμεθα, τῆς δὲ τοῦ Λόγου δικαιοσύνης ἐπληρούμεθα. Ὅθεν τῆς σαρκὸς πασχούσης, οὐκ ἦν ἐκτὸς ταύτης ὁ Λόγος· διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτοῦ λέγεται καὶ τὸ πάθος· καὶ θεϊκῶς δὲ ποιοῦντος αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Πατρὸς, οὐκ ἦν ἔξωθεν αὐτοῦ ἡ σάρξ· ἀλλ' ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ σώματι ταῦτα πάλιν ὁ Κύριος ἐποίει· διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος ἔλεγεν· Εἰ οὐ ποιῶ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Πατρός μου, μὴ πιστεύετέ μοι· εἰ δὲ ποιῶ, κἂν ἐμοὶ μὴ πιστεύητε, τοῖς ἔργοις πι στεύετε, ἵνα γινώσκητε, ὅτι ἐν ἐμοὶ ὁ Πατὴρ, κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ. Ἀμέλει ὅτε χρεία γέγονε τὴν πεν θερὰν τοῦ Πέτρου πυρέσσουσαν ἐγεῖραι, ἀνθρωπίνως μὲν ἐξέτεινε τὴν χεῖρα, θεϊκῶς δὲ ἦν παύων τὴν νό σον. Καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ ἐκ γενετῆς τυφλοῦ ἀνθρώ πινον ἀπὸ τῆς σαρκὸς ἠφίει τὸ πτύσμα, θεϊκῶς δὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἤνοιγε διὰ τοῦ πηλοῦ· ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ Λαζάρου φωνὴν μὲν, ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἀνθρωπίνην ἠφίει· θεϊκῶς δὲ, ὡς Θεὸς, τὸν Λάζαρον ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Ταῦτα δὲ οὕτως ἐγίνετο, καὶ ἐδείκνυτο, ὅτι μὴ φαντασίᾳ ἀλλὰ ἀληθῶς ἦν ἔχων σῶμα· ἔπρεπε δὲ τὸν Κύριον, ἐνδιδυσκόμενον ἀνθρωπίνην σάρκα, ταύ την μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων παθῶν αὐτῆς ὅλην ἐνδύ σασθαι, ἵνα, ὥσπερ ἴδιον αὐτοῦ λέγομεν εἶναι τὸ σῶμα, οὕτω καὶ τὰ τοῦ σώματος πάθη ἴδια μόνον αὐτοῦ λέγηται, εἰ καὶ μὴ ἥπτετο κατὰ τὴν θεό τητα αὐτοῦ. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἑτέρου ἦν τὸ σῶμα, ἐκείνου ἂν λέγοιτο καὶ τὰ πάθη· εἰ δὲ τοῦ Λόγου ἡ σὰρξ (ὁ γὰρ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο), ἀνάγκη καὶ τὰ τῆς σαρκὸς πάθη λέγεσθαι αὐτοῦ, οὗ καὶ ἡ σάρξ ἐστιν. Οὗ δὲ λέγεται τὰ πάθη, οἷά ἐστι μάλιστα τὸ κατακριθῆναι, τὸ μαστιγωθῆναι, τὸ διψᾷν, καὶ ὁ σταυρὸς, καὶ ὁ θάνατος, καὶ αἱ ἄλλαι τοῦ σώματος ἀσθένειαι, τούτου καὶ τὸ κατόρθωμα καὶ ἡ χάρις ἐστί. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν ἀκολούθως καὶ πρεπόντως οὐκ ἄλλου, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Κυρίου λέγεται τὰ τοιαῦτα πάθη· ἵνα καὶ ἡ χάρις παρ' αὐτοῦ ᾖ καὶ μὴ ἄλλου λάτραι γινώμεθα, ἀλλὰ ἀληθῶς θεοσεβεῖς, ὅτι μηδένα τῶν γενητῶν, μηδὲ κοινόν τινα ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ φύσει καὶ ἀληθινὸν Υἱὸν τοῦτον καὶ γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον, οὐδὲν ἧττον Κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ Θεὸν καὶ Σωτῆρα ἐπικαλούμεθα. Τοῦτο δὲ τίς οὐκ ἂν θαυμάσειεν; ἢ τίς οὐκ ἂν σύνθοιτο θεῖον ἀληθῶς εἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα; Εἰ γὰρ τὰ τῆς θεότητος τοῦ Λόγου ἔργα μὴ διὰ τοῦ σώματος ἐγίνετο, οὐκ ἂν ἐθεοποιήθη ἄνθρωπος· καὶ πάλιν, εἰ τὰ ἴδια τῆς σαρκὸς οὐκ ἐλέγετο τοῦ Λόγου, οὐκ ἂν ἠλευθερώθη παντελῶς ἀπὸ τούτων ὁ ἄνθρωπος· ἀλλ' εἰ ἄρα πρὸς ὀλίγον μὲν ἀνεπαύετο, ὡς προεῖπον, πάλιν δὲ ἔμενεν ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἡ φθορὰ, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἀνθρώπων γέγονε, καὶ τοῦτο δείκνυται. Πολλοὶ γοῦν ἅγιοι γεγόνασι καὶ καθαροὶ πάσης ἁμαρτίας· Ἱερεμίας δὲ καὶ ἐκ κοι λίας ἡγιάσθη· καὶ Ἰωάννης ἔτι κυοφορούμενος ἐσκίρτησεν ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει ἐπὶ τῇ φωνῇ τῆς Θεοτόκου Μαρίας· καὶ ὅμως Ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Μωσέως, καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς μὴ ἁμαρτή σαντας, ἐπὶ τῷ ὁμοιώματι τῆς παραβάσεως Ἀ δάμ· καὶ οὕτως ἔμενον οὐδὲν ἧττον οἱ ἄνθρωποι θνητοὶ καὶ φθαρτοὶ, δεκτικοὶ τῶν ἰδίων τῆς φύσεως παθῶν. Νῦν δὲ τοῦ Λόγου γενομένου ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ἰδιοποιουμένου τὰ τῆς σαρκὸς, οὐκέτι ταῦτα τοῦ σώματος ἅπτεται διὰ τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ γενόμενον Λόγον· ἀλλ' ὑπ' αὐτοῦ μὲν ἀνήλωται, λοιπὸν δὲ οἱ ἄν θρωποι οὐκέτι κατὰ τὰ ἴδια πάθη μένουσιν ἁμαρ τωλοὶ καὶ νεκροὶ, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Λόγου δύναμιν ἀναστάντες, ἀθάνατοι καὶ ἄφθαρτοι ἀεὶ διαμένουσιν. Ὅθεν καὶ γεννωμένης τῆς σαρκὸς ἐκ τῆς Θεοτό κου Μαρίας, αὐτὸς λέγεται γεγεννῆσθαι, ὁ τοῖς ἄλ λοις γένεσιν εἰς τὸ εἶναι παρέχων· ἵνα τὴν ἡμῶν εἰς ἑαυτὸν μεταθῇ γένεσιν, καὶ μηκέτι ὡς γῆ μόνη ὄντες εἰς γῆν ἀπέλθωμεν, ἀλλ' ὡς τῷ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ Λόγῳ συναφθέντες, εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναχθῶμεν παρ' αὐτοῦ. Οὐκοῦν οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάθη τοῦ σώ ματος οὐκ ἀπεικότως εἰς ἑαυτὸν μετέθηκεν· ἵνα μη κέτι ὡς ἄνθρωποι, ἀλλ' ὡς ἴδιοι τοῦ Λόγου, τῆς αἰω νίου ζωῆς μετάσχωμεν. Οὐκέτι γὰρ κατὰ τὴν προτέ ραν γένεσιν ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ ἀποθνήσκομεν· ἀλλὰ λοι πὸν τῆς γενέσεως ἡμῶν καὶ πάσης τῆς σαρκικῆς ἀσθενείας μετατεθέντων εἰς τὸν Λόγον, ἐγειρόμεθα ἀπὸ γῆς, λυθείσης τῆς δι' ἁμαρτίαν κατάρας διὰ τὸν ἐν ἡμῖν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν γενόμενον κατάραν· καὶ εἰκότως γε. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκ γῆς ὄντες πάντες ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ ἀποθνήσκομεν, οὕτως ἄνωθεν ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος ἀναγεννηθέντες, ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ πάντες ζωοποιούμεθα, οὐκέτι ὡς γηΐνης, ἀλλὰ λοιπὸν λογω θείσης τῆς σαρκὸς διὰ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον, ὃς δι' ἡμᾶς ἐγένετο σάρξ. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀπαθὲς τῆς τοῦ Λόγου φύσεως, καὶ τὰς διὰ τὴν σάρκα λεγομένας ἀσθενείας αὐτοῦ γινώσκειν τις ἀκριβέστερον ἔχῃ, καλὸν ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ μακαρίου Πέτρου· ἀξιόπιστος γὰρ οὗτος γένοιτ' ἂν μάρτυς περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος· γράφει τοίνυν ἐν τῇ Ἐπιστολῇ λέγων· Χριστοῦ οὖν παθόντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκί. Οὐκοῦν καὶ ὅταν λέγηται πεινᾷν, καὶ διψᾷν, καὶ κάμνειν, καὶ μὴ εἰδέναι, καὶ καθεύ δειν, καὶ κλαίειν, καὶ αἰτεῖν, καὶ φεύγειν, καὶ γεννᾶσθαι, καὶ παραιτεῖσθαι τὸ ποτήριον, καὶ ἁπλῶς πάντα τὰ τῆς σαρκὸς, λεχθείη ἂν ἀκολούθως ἐφ' ἑκάστου· Χριστοῦ οὖν πεινῶντος καὶ διψῶντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκί· καὶ μὴ εἰδέναι λέγοντος καὶ ῥα πιζομένου, καὶ κάμνοντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκί· καὶ ὑψουμένου πάλιν, καὶ γεννωμένου, καὶ αὐξάνοντος σαρκί· καὶ φοβουμένου, καὶ κρυπτομένου σαρκί· καὶ λέγοντος, Εἰ δυνατὸν, παρελθέτω ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο, καὶ τυπτομένου, καὶ λαμβά νοντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκί· καὶ ὅλως πάντα τὰ τοιαῦ τα ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκί. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἀπόστολος διὰ τοῦτ' εἴρηκε, Χριστοῦ οὖν παθόν τος οὐ θεότητι, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκὶ, ἵνα μὴ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Λόγου ἴδια κατὰ φύσιν, ἀλλ' αὐτῆς τῆς σαρκὸς ἴδια φύσει τὰ πάθη ἐπιγνωσθῇ. Μὴ τοίνυν ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων τις σκανδαλιζέσθω, ἀλλὰ μᾶλ λον γινωσκέτω, ὡς τὴν φύσιν αὐτὸς ὁ Λόγος ἀπα θής ἐστι, καὶ ὅμως δι' ἣν ἐνεδύσατο σάρκα, λέ γεται περὶ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα, ἐπειδὴ τῆς μὲν σαρκὸς ἴδια ταῦτα, τοῦ δὲ Σωτῆρος ἴδιον αὐτὸ τὸ σῶμα. Καὶ αὐτὸς μὲν ἀπαθὴς τὴν φύσιν, ὡς ἔστι, διαμέ νει, μὴ βλαπτόμενος ἀπὸ τούτων, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἐξ αφανίζων καὶ ἀπολλύων αὐτά· οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι, ὡς εἰς τὸν ἀπαθῆ μεταβάντων αὐτῶν τῶν παθῶν καὶ ἀπηλειμμένων, ἀπαθεῖς καὶ ἐλεύθεροι τούτων λοιπὸν καὶ αὐτοὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας γίγνονται, καθὼς ἐδίδαξεν ὁ Ἰωάννης λέγων· Καὶ οἴδατε, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ἐφα νερώθη, ἵνα τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ἄρῃ· καὶ ἁμαρτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστι. Τούτου δὲ οὕτως ὄντος, οὐκ ἐγκαλέσει τις αἱρετικὸς, ∆ιὰ τί ἀνίσταται ἡ σὰρξ φύσει θνητὴ τυγχάνουσα; Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀνίσταται, διὰ τί μὴ πάλιν πεινᾷ καὶ διψᾷ, καὶ πάσχει, καὶ μένει θνητή; Ἐκ γὰρ τῆς γῆς γέγονε, καὶ τὸ κατὰ φύσιν πῶς ἂν ἀπ' αὐτῆς παύσοιτο; ∆υναμένης τότε τῆς σαρκὸς ἀποκρίνεσθαι πρὸς τὸν οὕτω φιλό νεικον αἱρετικόν· Εἰμὶ μὲν ἐκ γῆς κατὰ φύσιν θνητὴ, ἀλλ' ὕστερον τοῦ Λόγου γέγονα σὰρξ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐβάσταξέ μου τὰ πάθη, καίτοι ἀπαθὴς ὤν· ἐγὼ δὲ γέγονα τούτων ἐλευθέρα, οὐκ ἀφιεμένη δουλεύειν ἔτι τούτοις διὰ τὸν ἐλευθερώσαντά με Κύριον ἀπὸ τούτων. Εἰ γὰρ ἐγκαλεῖς, ὅτι τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἀπηλ λάγην φθορᾶς, ὅρα μὴ ἐγκαλέσῃς, ὅτι ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος τὴν ἐμὴν τῆς δουλείας ἔλαβε μορφήν. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ Κύριος, ἐνδυσάμενος τὸ σῶμα, γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, οὕτως ἡμεῖς οἱ ἄνθρωποι παρὰ τοῦ Λόγου τε θεο ποιούμεθα προσληφθέντες διὰ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ λοιπὸν ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομοῦμεν. Ταῦτα ἀναγκαίως προεξητάσαμεν, ἵνα, ἐὰν ἴδωμεν αὐτὸν δι' ὀργάνου τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος θεϊκῶς πράττοντά τι ἢ λέγοντα, γινώσκωμεν, ὅτι Θεὸς ὢν, ταῦτα ἐργάζεται· καὶ πάλιν, ἐὰν ἴδωμεν αὐ τὸν ἀνθρωπίνως λαλοῦντα, ἢ πάσχοντα, μὴ ἀγνοῶ μεν, ὅτι σάρκα φορῶν γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, καὶ οὕτω ταῦτα ποιεῖ καὶ λαλεῖ. Ἑκάστου γὰρ τὸ ἴδιον γινώ σκοντες, καὶ ἀμφότερα ἐξ ἑνὸς πραττόμενα βλέποντες καὶ νοοῦντες, ὀρθῶς πιστεύομεν, καὶ οὐκ ἄν ποτε πλανηθησόμεθα. Ἐὰν δέ τις, θεϊκῶς τὰ παρὰ τοῦ Λόγου γινόμενα βλέπων, ἀρνήσηται τὸ σῶμα, ἢ καὶ τὰ τοῦ σώματος ἴδια βλέπων, ἀρνήσηται τὴν τοῦ Λόγου ἔνσαρκον παρουσίαν, ἢ ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρωπί νων ταπεινὰ περὶ τοῦ Λόγου φρονήσῃ, ὁ τοιοῦτος, ὡς μὲν Ἰουδαϊκὸς κάπηλος μίσγων τὸν οἶνον ὕδατι, σκάνδαλον νομίσει τὸν σταυρὸν, ὡς δὲ Ἕλλην, μωρίαν ἡγήσεται τὸ κήρυγμα, οἷα δὴ καὶ οἱ θεομάχοι Ἀρειανοὶ πεπόνθασι. Τὰ γὰρ ἀνθρώπινα βλέποντες τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ἐνόμισαν αὐτὸν εἶναι κτίσμα. Οὐκοῦν ἔδει καὶ τὰ θεϊκὰ βλέποντας αὐτοὺς ἔργατοῦ Λόγου, ἀρνήσασθαι τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ τὴν γένεσιν, καὶ λοιπὸν καὶ Μανιχαίοις ἑαυτοὺς συγκατ αριθμεῖν. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοι μὲν κἂν ὀψέ ποτε μανθα νέτωσαν, ὅτι ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο· ἡμεῖς δὲ, τὸν σκοπὸν τῆς πίστεως ἔχοντες, ἐπιγινώσκωμεν ἃ διανοοῦνται οὗτοι κακῶς, ὀρθὴν ἔχοντα τὴν διάνοιαν.