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the creator, did not become a man without a mind, or without a share in our natural life, and of those who have received their being from him through creation; but he was shown to be a man intelligent, that is, volitional by nature and truly active, he himself who is by nature and alone God; having assumed me whole with what is mine, in order that he might grant salvation to me whole; having loosed the whole condemnation of sin, since that which is not assumed is unhealed; but what is united to 0129 God, this is also saved, as he who is named for theology says.

But since by these very pious teachings of the holy Fathers, we reject the irrational objection of those unequally yoked, they attack us from another quarter; an attack of our own upon our own; or rather, effecting the seizure of the more simple-minded by bringing forward letters, namely, the one to Marinus the presbyter, which they say we wrote; and of the letter to Pyrrhus, it is necessary to say a few things about these as well; 15Α_172 fully informing your holiness in all things, that to Marinus the presbyter we wrote on various scriptural chapters in various ways; but certainly in no way whatsoever has it been said (by us) concerning these opposing and contrary dogmas; I mean of the one and of the two, that is, of the three energies or wills fabricated by them for the one and same Christ; as if we were establishing these in him, on a par with them, or to any other person whatsoever. "For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor," says the chosen vessel. Therefore, the letter to Marinus, brought forward or fabricated as if from us, being entirely alien and not ours, we ourselves reject it, and we exhort all who piously confess the Lord to reject it just as we do; so that we might block every occasion for our adversaries, who make pretexts in sins, and make the slander against us a cover for their own contradiction; for since their own argument does not hold, being destroyed by the assault of the true one, with the mask of our supposed letter, they effect for themselves a deceitful infiltration against the more guileless; which they would not suffer henceforth, or do, those who prefer the truth to falsehood, our defense concerning these things.

And again, to Pyrrhus, who had previously written a lengthy tome to us, and who had honored us exceedingly in it, I know not how; and who had, by way of examination and not of decision, in that very tome, made his argument concerning one and two energies of the same [Christ]; 0132 and who was seeking, as it were, and inviting our judgment and opinion concerning each argument, we too, reasonably, honored him in return in the proem of our letter to him, 15Α_174 fulfilling the apostolic exhortation. For, "Outdo one another in showing honor," says the divine Apostle; where indeed the divine word commands us to love and bless even those who think differently or write to us. And at the same time it was my concern not to exasperate him, but rather to smooth the way for the man, with praises toward him, to come to an agreement with what has been piously decreed by me, according to the teaching of the holy Fathers; whence also, according to the treatise written to him by me, I acknowledged that I had understood in this way what had been written to me by him; urging him, as it were, as I said, and inviting him to the assent of the pious word, which procures the greatest salvation for him, if indeed, having accepted this, he confessed (or, might confess) with us as we have written; that is, two natural energies of the one and same Christ our God, just as also two natures, united without confusion and without division, divine and human; uncreated and created; but not one and the same in any way

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δημιουργός, οὐκ ἄνους γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, ἤ ζωῆς ἄμοιρος τῆς καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς φυσικῆς, καί παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τό εἶναι κατά δημιουργίαν λαχόντων· ἀλλά νοερός, ἤτοι θελητικός φύσει καί ἐνεργητικός κατ᾿ ἀλήθειαν ἐχρημάτισεν ἄνθρωπος, αὐτός ὁ φύσει καί μόνος Θεός· ὅλον με προσλαβών μετά τῶν ἐμῶν, ἵν᾿ ὅλῳ μοι τήν σωτηρίαν χαρίσηται· ὅλον λύσας τό κατάκριμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐπειδή ἡ τό ἀπρόσληπτον, ἀθεράπευτον· ὅ δέ ἥνωται τῷ 0129 Θεῷ, τοῦτο καί σώζεται, καθά φησιν ὁ τῆς θεολογίας ἐπώνυμος.

Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπειδή τούτοις δή τοις τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων εὐσεβέσι διδάγμασι, τήν τῶν ἑτεροζυγούντων ἀποσκευαζομένοις παράλογον ἔνστασιν, ἑτέρωθεν ἡμῖν ἐπιφύονται· τήν τῶν ἡμετέρων εἰς ἡμετέραν καταδρομήν· μᾶλλον δέ, τήν τῶν ἀκεραιοτέρων συναρπαγήν, ποιούμενοι γραμμάτων προσαγωγήν, ἤγουν τῆς πρός Μαρῖνον, ὡς φασί, γεγονυίας ἡμῖν τόν πρεσβύτερον· καί τῆς πρός τόν Πύῤῥον ἐπιστολῆς, ἀναγκαῖον καί περί τούτων βραχέα εἰπεῖν· 15Α_172 τήν ὑμετέραν ἐν πᾶσι πληροφοροῦντες ἁγιωσύνην, ὡς πρός Μαρῖνον μέν τόν πρεσβύτερον διαφόρως, περί διαφόρων ἐπεστάλκαμεν γραφικῶν κεφαλαίων· οὐ μήν γέ τοι καθ᾿ οἷον δήποτε τρόπον, ἤ λέλεκται ( ἡμῖν ) περί τῶν ἀντιῤῥόπων οὑτωσί, καί ἐναντίων δογμάτων· τῆς τε μιᾶς λέγω καί τῶν δύο, τουτέστι, τῶν πλαττομένων αὐτοῖς ἐπί τοῦ αὐτοῦ καί ἑνός Χριστοῦ τριῶν ἐνεργειῶν ἤ θελήσεων· ὡς ταύτας ἐπ'αὐτοῦ συνιστώντων ἡμῶν, ἐκείνοις ἐφάμιλλον, ἤ πρός ἕτερόν τινα παντελῶς. "Εἰ γάρ ἅ κατέλυσα, ταῦτα πάλιν οἰκοδομῶ, παραβάτην ἑμαυτόν συνιστάνω», φησί τό σκεῦος τῆς ἐκλογῆς. Ὅθεν καί οὑτωσί προφερομένην, ἤτοι πλαττομένην, ὡς ἐξ ἡμῶν δῆθεν πρός Μαρῖνον ἐπιστολήν, ἀλλοτρίαν οὖσαν πάντη καί οὐχ ἡμετέραν, ἡμεῖς τε αὐτοί διαῤῥίπτομεν, καί πάντας ὁμοίως ἡμῖν διαῤῥίπτειν παρακαλοῦμεν, τούς εὐσεβῶς ὁμολογοῦντας τόν Κύριον· ἵνα πᾶσαν τοῖς ἐναντίοις διατειχίσωμεν ἀφορμήν, προφάσεις προφασιζομένοις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, καί τῆς οἰκείας ἀντιλογίας συγκάλυμμα, τήν καθ᾿ ἡμῶν ποιουμένοις συκοφαντίαν· οἵ ἐπειδή τῷ οἰκείῳ μή συνίστανται λόγῳ, τῇ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς προσβολῇ φθειρομένῳ, τῷ τοῦ ἡμετέρου δῆθεν γράμματος προσωπείῳ, τήν κατά τῶν ἀφελεστέρων ἑαυτοῖς ἀπεργάζονται δολίαν παρείσδυσιν· ἥν οὐκ ἄν πάθοιεν λοιπόν, ἤ δράσοιεν, οἱ τοῦ ψεύδους τό ἀληθές, τήν καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς περί τούτων ἀπολογίαν προκρίνοντες.

Πρός δέ τόν Πύῤῥον πάλιν, γεγραφότα πρότερον ἡμῖν τόμον πολύστιχον, καί ἄγαν ἡμᾶς, οὐκ οἶδ᾿ ὅπως, ἐν τούτῳ τιμήσαντα· κατ᾿ ἐξέτασιν δέ, καί οὐκ ἀπόφασιν, ἐν αὐτῷ δή τῷ τόμῳ τόν περί μιᾶς καί δύο τοῦ αὐτοῦ ποιησάμενον λόγον ἐνεργειῶν· 0132 καί τήν ἡμετέραν οἷον ἐπιζητοῦντα, καί προσκαλούμενον περί ἑκατέρου λόγου κρίσιν τε καί ὑπόληψιν, εἰκότως καί ἡμεῖς αὐτόν ἐν προοιμίοις, τοῦ πρός αὐτόν ἡμετέρου γράμματος, ἀντετιμήσαμεν, 15Α_174 ἀποστολικήν ἐκπληροῦντες παραίνεσιν. Τῆ τιμῇ γάρ ἀλλήλους προηγούμενοί φησιν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος· ὅπου γε καί τούς ἑτέρως ἔχοντας, ἤ ἐπιστέλλοντας πρός ἡμᾷς ἀγαπᾷν τε καί εὐλογεῖν ὁ θεῖος παρακελεύεται λόγος. Καί ἅμα σπουδή μοι καθειστήκει, μή ἐκτραχύνειν· ὁμαλίζειν δέ μᾶλλον τόν ἄνδρα, τοῖς εἰς αὐτόν ἐγκωμίοις, πρός συγκατάθεσιν ἰέναι τῶν εὐσεβῶς μοι δεδογματισμένων, κατά τήν τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων διδασκαλίαν· ὅθεν καί οὕτω νενοηκέναι κατά τήν γεγονυῖαν αὐτῷ παρ᾿ ἐμοῦ συγγραφήν, τά ὑπ᾿ ἐκείνου μοι γραφέντα διωμολόγουν· παρορμῶν αὐτόν οἷον, ὡς ἔφην, καί προσκαλούμενος, εἰς τήν τοῦ εὐσεβοῦς ἐπίνευσιν λόγου, σωτηρίαν αὐτῶ μεγίστην προξενοῦντος, εἴγε τοῦτο στέρξας σύν ἡμῖν ὡμολόγησεν ( ὡμολογήσειεν), ὡς γεγράφαμεν· τουτέστι δύο τοῦ αὐτοῦ καί ἑνός Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατά φύσιν ἐνεργείας, ὥσπερ οὖν καί φύσεις ἡνωμένας ἀσυγχύτως καί ἀδιαιρέτως, θείαν καί ἀνθρωπίνην· ἄκτιστον καί κτιστήν· ἀλλ'οὐ μίαν καί τήν αὐτήν ὁπωσοῦν