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to be so united to the Lord, as the assumed flesh is united to him, <since> he added in the conclusion, that things not so united are not so worthy of worship, he adds another flourish: And nothing is so worthy of worship as the flesh of Christ. We shall pass over these things in silence, since their absurdity, along with their foolishness, is familiar even to little children. For even the children who sit and play in the marketplaces would say that, if nothing is so worthy of worship as the flesh, then the flesh of Christ is more to be revered even than the majesty of the Father himself and his omnipotent authority and the dominion over all things and whatever else our nature is capable of uttering about the divine power, so that, abandoning the worship of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we should revere and worship only the flesh preferred by him and place in it the power over all things. And the next argument is similar to those already given: The flesh of the Lord, he says, is worshipped, insofar as it is one person and 3,1.5 one living being with him. Having mentioned two things, the Lord and the Lord's flesh, he made the two one living being. Now he clearly reveals what is indicated in the title of his discourse, in which he professes to teach concerning the divine incarnation which is in the likeness of man; for since, when soul and body come together, human life is constituted from the mixture and communion of these heterogeneous things, and no one would define our constitution as anything other than a communion of body and soul, this very thing the writer, imagining it also with regard to the divine nature, immediately professes to teach in the title of his discourse, that in the likeness of man the divine is also seen in flesh, and now in this part of his discourse he clearly establishes that the flesh and the Lord are one person and one living being, as if he were saying that the visible Paul is the same as the hidden Paul because of the natural union of the body with the soul. What then is the point of going through what has been said and arguing against it? And how would someone not accuse us of folly for objecting to these contrived thoughts? Therefore, let us consider what follows.

If no created thing, he says, is worthy of worship with the Lord as his flesh is. Who will judge the contest for the prize in impiety between Apollinarius and Eunomius? Who then will be deemed worthy of the prize of valor in the struggles against the truth? Perhaps the victory will be left undecided for both, due to the contested and evenly matched nature of their impiety. For the one, saying the only-begotten God is a creature, does not deny that he is intellectual and outside of resistant nature; but this one, having fashioned him from the beginning as a composite being from different natures, composed of flesh and divinity, establishes that he is one living being in the likeness of human nature. 3,1.6 For the worship of the creature is equal in both; but that one says that the intellectual and incorporeal nature was created; while this one adds that there is also a fleshly nature about the creature and that this is to be worshipped more than the other creatures, as if worship were also brought to other creatures, which even by those who hold Eunomius's views is confessed to be impious. Therefore, let him have the victory prizes against Eunomius and let him exult, adorning himself with the crowns of impiety; for inasmuch as in human nature the body is inferior to the soul, by so much, among those who worship creatures, is he who legislates the worship of the flesh more absurd in his account of impiety than those who revere the intellectual creature, and especially, if he should say that other creatures are also to be worshipped, over which the flesh has the advantage by comparison in worship; For nothing, he says, is a creature to be worshipped as is the flesh of the Lord. For all things that are comprehended in creation, whether incorporeal or with a body, are equally beneath the divine power. But creation has, in comparison with itself, superiority and inferiority, with the nature of incorporeal beings taking precedence

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οὕτως ἡνῶσθαι τῷ κυρίῳ, ὡς ἥνωται πρὸς αὐτὸν ἡ προσληφθεῖσα σάρξ, <ἐπεὶ> ἐπήγαγεν ἐν τῷ συμπεράσματι, ὅτι τὰ μὴ οὕτως ἡνωμένα οὐδ' οὕτω προσκυνητά, ἑτέραν ἐπιτίθησι κορωνίδα· Οὐδὲν δὲ οὕτως προσκυνητὸν ὡς ἡ σὰρξ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. ταῦτα ὡς καὶ παιδίοις γνώριμον ἔχοντα τὴν ἀτοπίαν μετὰ τῆς ἀνοίας σιωπησόμεθα. εἴποι γὰρ ἂν καὶ τὰ ταῖς ἀγοραῖς ἐγκαθήμενα παιδία καὶ παίζοντα ὅτι, εἰ μηδὲν οὕτως ἐστὶ προσκυνητὸν ὥσπερ ἡ σάρξ, ἄρα σεβασμιωτέρα ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σὰρξ καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς μεγαλειότητος καὶ τῆς παντοδυνάμου ἐξουσίας καὶ τῆς πάντων ἀρχῆς καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο χωρεῖ ἡ φύσις ἡμῶν περὶ τῆς θείας δυνάμεως φθέγ γεσθαι, ὥστε καταλιπόντας τὸ προσκυνεῖν τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον μόνην σέβεσθαι καὶ προσ κυνεῖν τὴν παρὰ τούτου προτετιμημένην σάρκα καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τὸ κατὰ πάντων τίθεσθαι κράτος. ὅμοιον δὲ τοῖς προαποδεδο μένοις καὶ τὸ ἐφεξῆς ἐπιχείρημα· Ἡ σὰρξ τοῦ κυρίου, φησί, προσκυνεῖται, καθὸ ἕν ἐστι πρόσωπον καὶ 3,1.5 ἓν ζῷον μετ' αὐτοῦ. δύο μνημονεύσας πραγμάτων, κυρίου καὶ σαρκὸς κυρίου, ἓν ζῷον τὰ δύο ἐποίησεν. νῦν ἀποκαλύπτει σαφῶς τὸ ἐν τῇ ἐπιγραφῇ τοῦ λόγου δηλούμενον, ἐν ᾗ διδάσκειν κατεπαγγέλλεται περὶ τῆς θείας σαρκώσεως τῆς καθ' ὁμοίωσιν ἀνθρώπου· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ψυχῆς σώματι συνδραμούσης ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἑτερογενῶν τούτων μίξεώς τε καὶ κοινωνίας συνίσταται ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη ζωὴ καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις ἄλλο τι τὴν σύστασιν ἡμῶν ὁρίσαιτο πλὴν σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς κοινωνίαν, τοῦτο αὐτὸ καὶ περὶ τὴν θείαν φύσιν φαντασθεὶς ὁ λογογράφος εὐθὺς ἔν τε τῇ ἐπιγραφῇ τοῦ λόγου διδάσκειν κατεπαγγέλλεται, ὅτι καθ' ὁμοίωσιν ἀνθρώπου καὶ τὸ θεῖον ἐν σαρκὶ θεωρεῖται, καὶ νῦν ἐν τῷ μέρει τούτῳ τοῦ λόγου σαφῶς κατασκευάζει, ὅτι ἕν ἐστι πρόσωπον καὶ ζῷον ἓν ἥ τε σὰρξ καὶ ὁ κύριος, ὡσανεὶ λέγοι Παῦλον τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι τῷ κρυπτῷ τὸν φαινόμενον διὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν συμφυΐαν. τί οὖν ἄρα ἐπεξιέναι προσήκει τοῖς εἰρημένοις καὶ ἀντιμάχεσθαι; καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἄν τις ἡμᾶς ἀφραίνειν κατῃτιάσατο τοῖς παρεξευρημένοις τῶν νοημάτων ἐνισταμένους; οὐκοῦν τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο κατανοήσωμεν.

Εἰ μηδέν, φησί, ποίημα προσκυνητὸν μετὰ τοῦ κυρίου ὡς ἡ σὰρξ αὐτοῦ. τίς ἀγωνοθετήσει περὶ τῶν ἐν ἀσεβείᾳ πρωτείων ἀγωνιζομένῳ τῷ Ἀπολιναρίῳ πρὸς τὸν Εὐνόμιον; τίς ἄρα τῶν ἀριστείων ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ἱδρῶσιν ἀξιωθήσεται; τάχα ἄκριτος ἐπ' ἀμφοτέρων ἡ νίκη τῷ ἀμφηρίστῳ καὶ ἰσοπαλεῖ τῆς ἀσεβείας καταλειφ θήσεται. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ποίημα τὸν μονογενῆ θεὸν λέγων νοερόν τε αὐτὸν καὶ ἔξω τῆς ἀντιτύπου φύσεως εἶναι οὐκ ἀπομάχεται· οὗτος δὲ σύνθετον ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτὸν ἐξ ἑτεροφυῶν ἀναπλάσας, ἐκ σαρκός τε καὶ θεότητος συγκεκροτημένον, ἓν εἶναι ζῷον κατασκευάζει καθ' ὁμοίωσιν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως. 3,1.6 ἡ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ ποιήματος προσκύνησις ἐπ' ἀμφοῖν ἴση· ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος μὲν τὴν νοεράν τε καὶ ἀσώματον φύσιν πεποιῆσθαί φησιν· οὗτος δὲ προστίθησι καὶ τὸ σαρκώδη φύσιν εἶναι περὶ τὸ ποίημα καὶ ταύτην προσκυνεῖσθαι πλέον τῶν λοιπῶν ποιη μάτων ὡς καὶ ἄλλοις ποιήμασι προσαγομένης τῆς προσκυ νήσεως, ὃ καὶ τοῖς τὰ Εὐνομίου πρεσβεύουσιν ἀσεβὲς εἶναι ὁμολογεῖται. οὐκοῦν ἐχέτω κατὰ τοῦ Εὐνομίου τὰ νικητήρια καὶ ἐπαγαλλέσθω τοῖς τῆς ἀσεβείας στεφάνοις καλλωπιζόμενος· ὅσῳ γὰρ ἐν τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ σῶμα καταδεέστερον, τοσοῦτον ἐν τοῖς τὰ ποιήματα προσκυνοῦσιν ὁ τὴν σάρκα προσκυνεῖν νομοθετῶν τῶν τὸ νοερὸν ποίημα σεβομένων ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐστὶν ἀτοπώτερος, καὶ μάλιστα, εἰ καὶ ἄλλα προσκυνεῖσθαι ποιή ματα λέγοι, ὧν τὸ πλέον ἡ σὰρξ διὰ συγκρίσεως κατὰ τὴν προσκύνησιν ἔχει· Οὐδὲν γάρ, φησί, ποίημα προσκυνη τὸν ὡς ἡ σὰρξ τοῦ κυρίου. πάντα μὲν γὰρ ἐπίσης κάτω τῆς θείας ἐστὶ δυνάμεως, ὅσαπερ ἐν τῇ κτίσει κατα λαμβάνεται, κἂν ἀσώματον ᾖ κἂν μετὰ σώματος. ἀλλ' ἔχει πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἡ κτίσις διὰ συγκρίσεως ὑπερβολὴν καὶ ἐλάττω σιν, τῆς τῶν ἀσωμάτων φύσεως προτερευούσης