8. This character [of our faith] is from the Apostles through the Fathers. It remains that he who reads Scripture should examine and judge when it speaks of the Godhead of the Word, and when it speaks of his human life; lest, by understanding the one when the other is intended, we become victims of the same derangement as has befallen the Arians. Knowing him to be Word, we know that ‘through him all things were made, and without him was not anything made’, and, ‘by the Word of the Lord the heavens were established’, and, ‘he sendeth his Word and healeth all things’. Knowing him to be Wisdom, we know that ‘God by Wisdom founded the earth’, and the Father ‘hath made all things in Wisdom’. Knowing him to be God, we have believed that he is the Christ; for, ‘Thy throne, O God,’ sings David, ‘is for ever and ever; a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated unrighteousness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows’. In Isaiah he says concerning himself: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me.’ Peter confessed: ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ So likewise, knowing him to be made man, we do not repudiate those things which are spoken of him in his human nature, as, for example, that he hungered, thirsted, was smitten, wept, slept, and finally endured death in our behalf upon the Cross. For all these things are written concerning him. So Scripture has not suppressed, but employs the words, ‘He created’, though they are applicable to men. For we men have been created and made. But as, when we hear that he hungered, slept, was beaten, we do not deny his Godhead: so, when we hear the words, ‘He created’, we should be consistent and remember that, being God, he was created man. For it belongs to man to be created, as do the experiences mentioned above, hunger and the like.

Ὁ μὲν χαρακτὴρ οὗτος ἐκ τῶν ἀποστόλων διὰ τῶν Πατέρων· δεῖ δὲ λοιπὸν, ἐντυγχάνοντα τῇ Γραφῇ, δοκιμάζειν καὶ διακρίνειν, πότε μὲν περὶ τῆς θεότητος τοῦ Λόγου λέγει, πότε δὲ περὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων αὐτοῦ· ἵνα μὴ ἕτερα ἀνθ' ἑτέρων νοοῦντες παραπαίωμεν, οἷα πεπόνθασιν οἱ Ἀρειανοί. Ὥσπερ τοίνυν, Λόγον αὐτὸν εἰδότες, οἴδαμεν, ὅτι «δι' αὐτοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐγέ νετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν·» καὶ, «Τῷ Λόγῳ Κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν·» καὶ, «Ἀποστέλλει τὸν Λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἰᾶται τὰ πάντα·» καὶ σοφίαν δὲ αὐτὸν εἰδότες, οἴδαμεν, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς τῇ σοφίᾳ ἐθεμελίωσε τὴν γῆν, καὶ πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησεν ὁ Πατήρ· καὶ Θεὸν δὲ αὐτὸν εἰδότες, πεπι στεύκαμεν, ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός· «Ὁ θρόνος σου» γὰρ, «ὁ Θεὸς,» ᾄδει ∆αβὶδ, «εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶ νος· ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου. Ἠγάπησας δικαιοσύνην, καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀδικίαν· διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέ σε ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ Θεός σου, ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιά σεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου.» Καὶ ἐν μὲν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ αὐτὸς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ λέγει· «Πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἐπ' ἐμὲ, οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέ με.» Ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ὡμο λόγησεν, ὅτι «Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος·» οὕτως εἰδότες αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον, οὐκ ἀρνούμεθα τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀνθρωπίνως λεγόμενα, οἷά ἐστι τὸ πεινᾷν, τὸ διψᾷν, τὸ ῥαπισθῆναι, τὸ δακρῦσαι, τὸ κοιμηθῆναι, καὶ τέλος τῷ σταυρῷ ἀναδέξασθαι τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν θάνατον· ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα περὶ αὐτοῦ γέγραπται. Οὕτως καὶ τὸ, «ἔκτι σεν,» ἀνθρώποις ἁρμόζον οὐκ ἀπέκρυψεν ἡ Γραφὴ, ἀλλ' εἴρηκεν. Ἐκτίσθημεν γὰρ καὶ πεποιήμεθα οἱ ἄνθρωποι. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἀκούοντες, ἐπείνασεν, ἐκοιμήθη, ἐῤῥαπίσθη, οὐκ ἀρνούμεθα αὐτοῦ τὴν θεότητα· οὕτως ἀκούοντας τὸ, «ἔκτισεν,» ἀκόλουθον ἂν εἴη μνημονεύειν, ὅτι, Θεὸς ὢν, ἐκτίσθη ἄνθρωπος. Ἀνθρώπων γὰρ ἴδιον τὸ κτίζεσθαι, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ προειρημένα, τὸ πεινᾷν, καὶ τὰ ὅμοια.