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having ratified a difference, both fell away from the truth of things, rashly condemning—the one, a division; the other, a confusion of the mystery.

OF THE SAME

To GEORGE the most holy presbyter and abbot, who asked by letter about the mystery according to Christ.

Having winged your own mind with divine longing, (57) and having raised your reason with haste from matter and the things concerning it, God-honored Father, you have an insatiable encounter with the sacredly-written Oracles, and of the care concerning them through diligent attention, if anyone else, the unwearying power. For that which is beyond sense knows no satiety; nor indeed any restraint, that which is beyond thought. For the one naturally stands above all flux and reflux; while the other excels every form and shape; and that one makes the manifestation of what is hidden, as is right; and this one provides the possible comprehension of the undefined; and as much as is sufficient for the seizure of the intellect, and the grasping of the Holy Spirit. For up to this point, and for this reason, has been established the philanthropic condescension through manifestation of Him who is beyond man; deifying by grace those who ascend with their will; and who, in the emptying of the Word, receive His own fullness, in the completion of the working of the commandments; by which you yourself, having been led up to the perfection of prudence and courage, both prudently press down what is visible, and justly fatten what is hidden; so that in the one you might show the putting to death of Jesus, which completely obliterates all sin; and in the other you might display the life, which projects all virtue in a super-cosmic way; from which, having achieved a sacred practice and contemplation, you received a sacred end, salvation; which, so as to impart it to others and to make it known—this God-imitating thing—you chose to use precious syllables towards me, who am unworthy, humble and unknown; and first, to make wise by word and to bring into common cause; and also to sanctify through the grace that is united to you, being distributed to all everywhere; for it is uncircumscribed, as having for its cause the uncaused Word.

Then also to lead sufficiently to the knowledge of the new mystery of the divine formation according to man of the Word of God who for our sake was incarnate and completely became man; by being willing, through your question, not to learn what is primary; for you exist in a summary of all good things; but to advance to a more perfect initiation that which has not yet received the lesser. And having marveled at your pious manner, I put forth my discourse according to my ability; saying that the human element according to (60) nature in the Savior is not something different, and ours something else; but is the same in essence and unvaried, if indeed it was taken from our nature, according to the ineffable assumption from the virginal and pure blood of the all-holy Theotokos; to which the Word, being united in the manner of a seed, became flesh, without ceasing to be God in essence; and He was revealed as a perfect man according to us, except for sin alone; on account of which we often are in rebellion, and wrestle against God according to the will, as possessing the inclination for this in either direction; but He, being by nature free from all sin, as not a mere man but God become man, had nothing contrary; but He preserved our nature undefiled, and in every way properly unpolluted; just as He also said: Now the ruler of the world is coming and finds nothing in Me; of those things by which we, that is, debasing our nature, display the opposition of our will; on account of which Christ is also said to be unsubmissive to that which is according to us, until He should release us from this also by His power

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ἐπικυρώσας διαφοράν, ἄμφω τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀληθείας ἀπέπεσον· ὁ μέν, διαίρεσιν· ὁ δέ, σύγχυσιν τοῦ μυστηρίου τολμηρῶς κατακρίναντες.

ΤΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ

Πρός ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΝ τόν ὀσιώτατον πρεσβύτερον καί ἡγούμενον, ἐρωτήσαντα δι᾿ ἐπιστολῆς περί τοῦ κατά Χριστόν μυστηρίου.

Νοῦν μέν τόν οἰκεῖον ἐφέσει θείᾳ πτερώσας, (57) καί τόν λόγον διάρας σπουδῇ ὕλης

καί τῶν περί ταύτην, θεοτίμητε Πάτερ, ἀκόρεστον ἔχεις τῶν ἱερογράφων Λογίων τήν ἔντευξιν , καί τῆς περί αὐτά φροντίδος δι᾿ ἐμμελοῦς προσοχῆς, εἰ καί τις ἄλλος τήν ἀκάματον δύναμιν. Οὐ γάρ οἶδε κόρον τόν ὑπέρ αἴσθησιν· οὔτε μήν τήν οἰανοῦν περιστολήν, τό ὑπέρ ἔννοιαν. Τό μέν γάρ, ῥοῆς ἁπάσης καί ἀποῤῥοῆς κατά φύσιν ὑπερανέστηκε· τό δέ παντός εἴδους ὑπερανέχει καί σχήματος· τοῦ τε κρυφίου τήν ἔκφανσιν, ὡς θέμις , ἐκεῖνο ποιεῖται· καί τοῦ ἀορίστου τήν ἐνδεχομένην τοῦτο παρέχει κατάληψιν· καί ὅση πρός ἁρπαγήν διανοίας αὐτάρκης, καί Πνεύματος ἁγίου περίδραξιν. Ἕως γάρ τούτου, καί διά τοῦτο καθέστηκεν, ἡ φιλάνθρωπος τοῦ ὑπέρ ἀνθρώπου δι᾿ ἐκφάνσεως συγκατάβασις· χάριτι θεουργούσα τούς γνώμη συναναβαίνοντας· καί τῇ κενώσει τοῦ Λόγου τό κατ᾿ αὐτό πλήρωμα δεχομένους, ἐν τῷ ἀπαρτισμῷ τῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐργασίας· καθ᾿ ἥν προς ἐντέλειαν φρονήσεως καί ἀνδρείας αὐτός ἀναχθείς, τό τε φαινόμενον σωφρόνως πιέζεις, καί τό κρυπτόμενον, δικαίως πιαίνεις· ἵν᾿ ἐκείνῳ μέν τήν νέκρωσιν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ παραδείξῃς, πᾶσαν ὁλικῶς ἁμαρτίαν ἐξαφανίζουσαν· ἐν τούτῳ δέ τήν ζωήν ἐπιδείξῃς, ἀρετήν πᾶσαν ὑπερκασμίως προβαλλομένην· ἐξ ὧν πρᾶξιν ἱεράν κατορθώσας καί θεωρίαν, τέλος ἱερόν ἐκομίσω τήν σωτηρίαν· ἥν ὥστε μεταδοῦναι καί ἄλλοις, καί ταύτην γνωρίσαι, τό θεομίμητον, εἵλου πρός ἐμέ τόν ἀνάξιον, ταπεινόν τε καί ἀγνώτην ὑπάρχοντα, τιμίαις προσχρήσασθαι συλλαβαῖς· καί πρῶτα μέν, σοφίσαι λόγῳ καί συναιτίσαι· πρός δέ καί ἁγιάσαι διά τῆς ἑνούσης σοι χάριτος, πᾶσι πανταχοῦ διαδιδομένης· ἀπερίγραφον γάρ, ὡς αἰτίαν τόν ἀναίτιον ἔχουσα Λόγον.

Εἶτα καί πρός ἐπιστήμην ἱκανῶς ἀγαγεῖν τοῦ καινοῦ μυστηρίου τῆς κατ᾿ ἄνθρωπον θεοπλαστίας τοῦ δι᾿ ἡμᾶς σαρκωθέντος Θεοῦ Λόγου καί τελείως ἐνανθρωπήσαντος· τῷ δι᾿ ἐρωτήσεως ἐθέλειν, οὐ τό ἡγούμενον μαθεῖν· ἐν περιλήψει γάρ τῶν καλῶν ὑπάρχεις ἁπάντων· ἀλλ᾿ εἰς μύησιν προβιβάσαι τελεωτέραν, τό οὔπω δεδεγμένον τήν ἥττονα. Καί σου τόν εὐσεβῆ τρόπον ἀποθαυμάσας, τόν λόγον προΐσχομαι κατά δύναμιν· φάσκων, ὡς οὐκ ἄλλο τι κατά (60) φύσιν ὑπάρχει τό κατά τόν Σωτῆρα ἀνθρώπινον, καί ἄλλο τό καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς· ἀλλά ταυτόν τῇ οὐσίᾳ καί ἀπαράλλακτον, εἴπερ ἐκτῆς ἡμετέρας ἐλήφθη, κατά τήν ἐκ τῶν παρθενικῶν τῆς πανάγνου καί θεομήτορος ἀχράντων αἱμάτων ἄῤῥητον πρόσληψιν· οἷς δίκην σπορᾶς ἑνωθεῖς ὁ Λόγος, γέγονε σάρξ, μή ἐκστάς τοῦ εἶναι κατ' οὐσίαν Θεός· καί τέλειος καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐχρημάτισεν ἄνθρωπος, πλήν μόνης τῆς ἁμαρτίας· δι᾿ ἥν ἡμεῖς μέν πολλάκις στασιάζομεν, καί ἀντιπαλαίομεν τῷ Θεῷ κατά τήν θέλησιν, ὡς ἐφ᾿ ἑκατέρα τήν ταύτης κεκτημένοι ῤοπήν· αὐτός δέ πάσης κατά φύσιν ἐλεύθερος ὤν ἁμαρτίας, ὡς ἄνθρωπος οὐ ψιλός, ἀλλ᾿ ἐνανθρωπήσας Θεός, οὐδέν ἐναντίον εἶχεν· ἀλλ᾿ ἄχραντον, καί πάντη κυρίως ἀμόλυντον τήν ἡμετέραν φύσιν διέσωζε· καθό καί ἔλεγε· Νῦν ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου ἔρχεται καί ἐν ἐμοί εὑρίσκειν οὐδέν· τῶν οἷς ἡμεῖς δηλαδή τήν φύσιν παραχαράττοντες, τήν ἐναντίωσιν τοῦ θελήματος ἐπιδείκνυμεν· δι᾿ ἥν τῷ καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ἀνυπότακτος λέγεται καί Χριστός, ἕως ἄν ταύτης καί ἡμᾶς ἀπολύσῃ τῇ δυνάμει