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chosen, and whence the choice; because many thousands were on the earth and Mary alone “found grace” and 49.5 in her he chose the holy flesh. For this reason he said, I was well pleased, as David also says in the person of the apostles who had believed in the Lord and with joy were showing his grace to the gentiles, that “he has subjected peoples to us, and nations under our feet; he has chosen for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob, which 49.6 he loved,” that is, the purity of his beauty, the beauty of all Jacob, the flesh chosen from Mary through the Holy Spirit. * The Father from above showed to John the Baptist what took place in the economy of the flesh. For the Father was well pleased in the incarnate presence of Christ, but the divinity is infinite by nature. 50.1 And the apostle also calls him “Son of love,” “who rescued us,” he says, “from the power of darkness and transferred us into the 50.2 kingdom of the Son of his love.” And the triflers here, not understanding the expression, say that the Son is by a progression of God's love. And the ignorant do not know the contrast of the saying; for in another place the apostle says that “God loved us in 50.3 Christ.” For truly the only-begotten is the beloved Son, since the Father is love, the Son is love, because he is love from love. He is therefore Son of love for our sake and for his own, because in him he loved us and gave his only-begotten Son for us. Therefore he neither 50.4 toils in working nor suffers in begetting. And let them not in vain heap up blasphemies for themselves. For if the Son is created, he is not to be worshiped according to their argument. For it is foolish to worship a creature and to reject the first commandment which says, “Hear, Israel, the Lord 50.5 your God is one Lord.” Therefore the holy Word is not created, because he is to be worshiped. The disciples worshiped him, the angels in heaven worship him; for it says, “and let all 50.6 angels of God worship him” and “I will worship you, O Lord my strength.” But there is one thing, express and brief and irrefutable, which no one can contradict: if those who are hostile to the Son of God have testimony to show, where the Father said that I created a Son for myself in the Old and in the New Testament or where the Son said that the Father created me. There are four gospels of one thousand one hundred sixty-two chapters, and from beginning to end the Son spoke and the Father to him, and nowhere did he say: My Father created me, nor did the Father: I created a Son for myself or I created my Son. 51.1 But the contentious and vainglorious one says: What then do you say of the body? Assumed from Mary, obviously. But what of Mary? he says, uncreated or created? Created, obviously, we ourselves also say, born of a man and a woman. What then do you say of that which is from Mary? Do you worship the Savior in a body or do you not worship? How then should I not worship? For if I do not worship, I do not have life. Behold then, you worship a creature, 51.2 the body. But great is the mental derangement of those who say such things. For a king, clothed in purple, is worshiped by all. Is the purple worshiped or the king? It is clear that it is the king. But the purple, being worn, is also worshiped along with him; but when the king has taken it off and put it in its place, the 51.3 purple robe is no longer worshiped. And a king often sits in a temple on his own throne and those who worship, worship the king in his own temple and on the throne, but when the king has risen, no one worships either the temple or the throne. But no one, being mad, wishing to worship the

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ἐκλελοχισμένος καὶ πόθεν ἐκλογή· ὅτι πολλαὶ μυριάδες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἦσαν καὶ Μαρία μόνη «εὗρε χάριν» καὶ 49.5 ἐν αὐτῇ ἐξελέξατο τὴν ἁγίαν σάρκα. διὰ τοῦτο ἔφη εὐδόκησα, ὡς καὶ ∆αυὶδ λέγει ἐκ προσώπου τῶν ἀποστόλων τῶν εἰς τὸν κύριον πεπιστευκότων καὶ μετὰ χαρᾶς τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὴν αὐτοῦ χάριν ὑποδεικνυόντων, ὅτι «ὑπέταξε λαοὺς ἡμῖν καὶ ἔθνη ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας ἡμῶν· ἐξελέξατο ἡμῖν τὴν κληρονομίαν αὐτοῦ, τὴν καλλονὴν Ἰακώβ, ἣν 49.6 ἠγάπησε», τουτέστι τὸ ἀκραιφνὲς τῆς καλλονῆς αὐτοῦ, ὅλου τοῦ Ἰακὼβ τὴν καλλονήν, τὴν σάρκα τὴν ἀπὸ Μαρίας διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου ἐκλελεγμένην. * τὸ γενόμενον τῆς οἰκονομίας τῆς σαρκὸς πρὸς Ἰωάννην τὸν βαπτιστὴν ἔδειξεν ἄνωθεν ὁ πατήρ. εὐδόκησε γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν τῇ ἐνσάρκῳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίᾳ, ἡ δὲ θεότης ἀπείρως ἔχει τῆς φύσεως. 50.1 Λέγει δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ ἀπόστολος καὶ «υἱὸν ἀγάπης», «ὃς ἐρρύσατο ἡμᾶς» φησίν «ἐκ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους καὶ μετέστησεν εἰς τὴν 50.2 βασιλείαν τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ». καὶ οἱ ληροῦντες ἐνταῦθα μὴ νοοῦντες τὴν λέξιν, κατὰ προκοπὴν ἀγάπης θεοῦ εἶναι τὸν υἱόν φασι. καὶ οὐκ ἴσασιν οἱ ἀμαθεῖς τὴν ἀντιπαράθεσιν τοῦ λόγου· ἐν ἄλλῳ γὰρ τόπῳ φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος ὅτι «θεὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς ἐν 50.3 Χριστῷ». ἀληθῶς γὰρ υἱὸς ἀγαπητὸς ὁ μονογενής, ἐπειδὴ ἀγάπη ὁ πατήρ, ἀγάπη ὁ υἱός, ἐπειδὴ ἀγάπη ἐξ ἀγάπης ἐστίν. υἱὸς οὖν ἐστιν ἀγάπης δι' ἡμᾶς καὶ δι' ἑαυτόν, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ παρέδωκεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. οὔτε οὖν 50.4 κάμνει ἐργαζόμενος οὔτε πάσχει γεννῶν. καὶ μὴ μάτην ἐπισωρεύωσιν ἑαυτοῖς βλασφημίας. εἰ γὰρ κτιστός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός, οὐ προσκυνητὸς κατὰ τὸν ἐκείνων λόγον. μωρὸν γάρ ἐστι κτίσιν προσκυνεῖν καὶ ἀθετεῖν τὴν πρώτην ἐντολὴν τὴν λέγουσαν «ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ, κύριος 50.5 ὁ θεός σου κύριος εἷς ἐστιν». οὐ κτιστὸς τοίνυν ὁ ἅγιος Λόγος, ὅτι προσκυνητός. προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταί, προσκυνοῦσιν αὐτῷ οἱ ἄγγελοι ἐν οὐρανῷ· φησὶ γὰρ «καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες 50.6 ἄγγελοι θεοῦ» καί «προσκυνήσω σε, κύριε ἡ ἰσχύς μου». ἓν δὲ πρᾶγμά ἐστι ῥητὸν καὶ σύντομον καὶ ἀναντίθετον, ᾧ τις ἀντειπεῖν οὐ δύναται· εἰ ἔχουσι μαρτυρίαν οἱ ἐχθραίνοντες τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ δεῖξαι, ποῦ εἶπεν ὁ πατὴρ ὅτι ἔκτισά μοι υἱὸν ἐν παλαιᾷ καὶ ἐν καινῇ διαθήκῃ ἢ ποῦ εἶπεν ὁ υἱὸς ὅτι ἔκτισέ με ὁ πατήρ. τέσσαρα εἰσὶν εὐαγγέλια κεφαλαίων χιλίων ἑκατὸν ἑξήκοντα δύο καὶ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἕως τέλους ἐλάλησεν ὁ υἱὸς καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ καὶ οὐδαμοῦ εἶπεν· ἔκτισέ με ὁ πατήρ μου, οὐδὲ ὁ πατήρ· ἔκτισά μοι υἱὸν ἢ ἔκτισα τὸν υἱόν μου. 51.1 Ἀλλά φησιν ὁ φιλόνεικος καὶ φιλόδοξος· τί οὖν λέγεις τὸ σῶμα; ἀπὸ Μαρίας δηλονότι ἀνειλημμένον. Μαρία δὲ τί; φησίν, ἄκτιστος ἢ κτιστή; κτιστὴ δηλονότι καὶ αὐτοὶ λέγομεν, γεννηθεῖσα ἐξ ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικός. τὸ ἀπὸ Μαρίας οὖν τί λέγεις; προσκυνεῖς τὸν σωτῆρα ἐν σώματι ἢ οὐ προσκυνεῖς; πῶς οὖν μὴ προσκυνήσω; ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ προσκυνήσω, οὐκ ἔχω ζωήν. ἰδοὺ οὖν, κτίσμα προσκυ51.2 νεῖς τὸ σῶμα. πολλὴ δὲ φρενοβλάβεια τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα λεγόντων. καὶ γὰρ βασιλεὺς πορφύραν ἐνδεδυμένος ὑπὸ πάντων προσκυνεῖται ἆρα ἡ πορφύρα προσκυνεῖται ἢ ὁ βασιλεύς; εὔδηλον ὅτι ὁ βασιλεύς. συμπροσκυνεῖται δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ἡ πορφύρα φορουμένη· ἐκδυσαμένου δὲ ταύτην τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ εἰς τόπον θεμένου οὐκέτι προσκυνεῖται ἡ 51.3 πορφυρίς. καθέζεται καὶ ἐν ναῷ πολλάκις βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ θρόνου ἰδίου καὶ οἱ προσκυνοῦντες προσκυνοῦσι τὸν βασιλέα ἐν τῷ ναῷ τῷ ἰδίῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ θρόνῳ, ἐξεγερθέντος δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως οὐδεὶς οὔτε τὸν ναὸν οὔτε τὸν θρόνον προσκυνεῖ. οὐδεὶς δὲ μεμηνὼς θέλων προσκυνῆσαι τὸν