50

differing in the mode of generation and in relation to the paternal hypostasis, being perfect, never departing from the paternal hypostasis, and that in the last days the Word, not departing from the paternal bosom (for He is uncircumscribed), dwelt in the womb of the holy Virgin without seed and incomprehensibly, as He Himself knows, and in His own pre-eternal hypostasis gave subsistence to flesh for Himself from the holy Virgin. He was therefore in all things and above all things, and being in the womb of the holy Theotokos, yet He was in her by the energy of the incarnation. He was therefore incarnate from her, taking upon Himself the first-fruits of our clay, a flesh animated with a rational and intellectual soul, so that the hypostasis of God the Word itself became the hypostasis for the flesh, and the hypostasis of the Word, which was formerly simple, became composite—composite, that is, from two perfect natures, divinity and humanity, and that it possessed the characteristic and distinguishing property of the divine Sonship of God the Word, by which it is distinguished from the Father and the Spirit, and also the characteristic and distinguishing properties of the flesh, by which it differs from its mother and from other men, and that it possessed also the properties of the divine nature, by which it is united to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the marks of the human nature, by which it is united to its mother and to us. Further, it differs from the Father and the Spirit, and from its mother and us, in that it is at once the same God and man; for this we know to be the most special property of the hypostasis of Christ. Therefore we confess Him to be one Son of God, and after the incarnation the same to be Son of man, one Christ, one Lord, the only-begotten Son and Word of God, Jesus, our Lord. Revering His two generations, one from the Father, before the ages, beyond cause and reason and time and nature, and one in the last days for us, and according to us, and above us—'for us' because it was for our salvation, 'according to us' because He became man from a woman and in time of gestation, 'above us' because it was not from seed, but from the Holy Spirit and the holy Virgin, beyond the law of gestation—, we proclaim Him not God alone, bare of our humanity, nor man alone, stripped of divinity, nor one and another, but one and the same, at once God and man, perfect God and perfect man, wholly God and wholly man, the same wholly God with His flesh, and wholly man with His super-divine divinity, by saying 'perfect God and perfect man' we signify the fullness and undiminished state of the natures, and by saying 'wholly God and wholly man' we show the oneness and indivisibility of the hypostasis. And we confess 'one incarnate nature of God the Word,' signifying, by saying 'incarnate,' the essence of the flesh, according to the blessed Cyril. And so the Word was made flesh and did not depart from His own immateriality, and He was wholly incarnate and is wholly uncircumscribed. He is made small and is contained bodily, and divinely He is uncircumscribed, His flesh not being co-extensive with His uncircumscribed divinity. Therefore, He is wholly perfect God, but not the whole of God (for He is not only God, but also man), and wholly perfect man, but not the whole of man (for He is not only man, but also God). For 'the whole' is indicative of nature, but 'wholly' is of hypostasis, just as 'another thing' is of nature, but 'another person' is of hypostasis. But it must be known that, although we say that the natures of the Lord permeate one another, we know that the permeation came from the divine nature; for it is this which passes through all things, as it wills, and permeates, but nothing passes through it. And it imparts its own glories to the flesh, while itself remaining impassible and having no share in the passions of the flesh; for if the sun, while imparting its own energies to us, remains without a share in ours, how much more so the Creator and Lord of the sun. For He did not suffer when He was made flesh—how

50

γεννήσεως τρόπῳ καὶ σχέσει τῆς πατρικῆς ὑποστάσεως διαφέρουσαν, τελείως ἔχουσαν, οὐδέποτε τῆς πατρικῆς ἐκφοιτῶσαν ὑποστάσεως, ἐπ' ἐσχάτων δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν τῶν πατρικῶν κόλπων οὐκ ἀποστάντα τὸν λόγον (ἀπεριγράπτως γάρ) ἐνῳκηκέναι τῇ γαστρὶ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου ἀσπόρως καὶ ἀπεριλήπτως, ὡς οἶδεν αὐτός, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ προαιωνίῳ αὐτοῦ ὑποστάσει ὑποστήσασθαι ἑαυτῷ σάρκα ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου. Ἐν πᾶσι μὲν οὖν καὶ ὑπὲρ τὰ πάντα ἦν καὶ ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ ὑπάρχων τῆς ἁγίας θεοτόκου, ἀλλ' ἐν αὐτῇ ἐνεργείᾳ σαρκώσεως. Σεσάρκωται τοίνυν ἐξ αὐτῆς προσλαβόμενος τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ ἡμετέρου φυράματος, σάρκα ἐψυχωμένην ψυχῇ λογικῇ τε καὶ νοερᾷ, ὥστε αὐτὴν χρηματίσαι τῇ σαρκὶ ὑπόστασιν τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου ὑπόστασιν καὶ σύνθετον γενέσθαι τὴν πρότερον ἁπλῆν οὖσαν τοῦ λόγου ὑπόστασιν, σύνθετον δὲ ἐκ δύο τελείων φύσεων θεότητός τε καὶ ἀνθρωπότητος, καὶ φέρειν αὐτὴν τῆς θείας τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου υἱότητος τὸ χαρακτηριστικὸν καὶ ἀφοριστικὸν ἰδίωμα, καθ' ὃ διακέκριται τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος, τά τε τῆς σαρκὸς χαρακτηριστικὰ καὶ ἀφοριστικὰ ἰδιώματα, καθ' ἃ διαφέρει τῆς τε μητρὸς καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων, φέρειν δὲ καὶ τὰ τῆς θείας φύσεως ἰδιώματα, καθ' ἃ ἥνωται τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι, καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως γνωρίσματα, καθ' ἃ ἥνωται τῇ τε μητρὶ καὶ ἡμῖν. Ἔτι δὲ διαφέρει τοῦ τε πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς τε μητρὸς καὶ ἡμῶν κατὰ τὸ ὑπάρχειν θεόν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ἄνθρωπον τὸν αὐτόν· τοῦτο γὰρ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑποστάσεως ἰδιαίτατον ἰδίωμα γινώσκομεν. Τοιγαροῦν ὁμολογοῦμεν αὐτὸν ἕνα υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν καὶ υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου τὸν αὐτόν, ἕνα Χριστόν, ἕνα κύριον, τὸν μόνον μονογενῆ υἱὸν καὶ λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, Ἰησοῦν, τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν. ∆ύο αὐτοῦ τὰς γεννήσεις σέβοντες, μίαν τὴν ἐκ πατρὸς προαιώνιον ὑπὲρ αἰτίαν καὶ λόγον καὶ χρόνον καὶ φύσιν καὶ μίαν τὴν ἐπ' ἐσχάτων δι' ἡμᾶς καὶ καθ' ἡμᾶς καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς-»δι' ἡμᾶς» ὅτι διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν, «καθ' ἡμᾶς» ὅτι γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος ἐκ γυναικὸς καὶ χρόνῳ κυήσεως, «ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς» ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ σπορᾶς, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἁγίου πνεύματος καὶ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου ὑπὲρ νόμον κυήσεως-, οὐ θεὸν αὐτὸν μόνον κηρύττοντες γυμνὸν τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀνθρωπότητος οὐδὲ μὴν ἄνθρωπον μόνον ψιλοῦντες αὐτὸν τῆς θεότητος, οὐκ ἄλλον καὶ ἄλλον, ἀλλ' ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ὁμοῦ θεόν τε καὶ ἄνθρωπον, θεὸν τέλειον καὶ ἄνθρωπον τέλειον, ὅλον θεὸν καὶ ὅλον ἄνθρωπον, τὸν αὐτὸν ὅλον θεὸν καὶ μετὰ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅλον ἄνθρωπον καὶ μετὰ τῆς ὑπερθέου αὐτοῦ θεότητος, διὰ τοῦ εἰπεῖν «τέλειον θεὸν καὶ τέλειον ἄνθρωπον» τὸ πλῆρες καὶ ἀνελλιπὲς δηλοῦντες τῶν φύσεων, διὰ δὲ τοῦ εἰπεῖν «ὅλον θεὸν καὶ ὅλον ἄνθρωπον» τὸ μοναδικὸν καὶ ἄτμητον δεικνύντες τῆς ὑποστάσεως. Καὶ «μίαν φύσιν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου σεσαρκωμένην» ὁμολογοῦμεν διὰ τοῦ εἰπεῖν «σεσαρκωμένην» τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς οὐσίαν σημαίνοντες κατὰ τὸν μακάριον Κύριλλον. Καὶ σεσάρκωται τοίνυν ὁ λόγος καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ἀυλό τητος οὐκ ἐξέστηκε καὶ ὅλος σεσάρκωται καὶ ὅλος ἐστὶν ἀπερίγραπτος. Σμικρύνεται σωματικῶς καὶ συστέλλεται καὶ θεϊκῶς ἐστιν ἀπερίγραπτος οὐ συμπαρεκτεινομένης τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ τῇ ἀπεριγράπτῳ αὐτοῦ θεότητι. Ὅλος μὲν οὖν ἐστι θεὸς τέλειος, οὐχ ὅλον δὲ θεός (οὐ γὰρ μόνον θεός, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνθρωπος), καὶ ὅλος ἄνθρωπος τέλειος, οὐχ ὅλον δὲ ἄνθρωπος (οὐ μόνον γὰρ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεός). Τὸ μὲν «ὅλον» φύσεως ἐστι παραστατικόν, τὸ «ὅλος» δὲ ὑποστάσεως, ὥσπερ τὸ μὲν «ἄλλο» φύσεως, τὸ «ἄλλος» δὲ ὑποστάσεως. Ἰστέον δέ, ὡς, εἰ καὶ περιχωρεῖν ἐν ἀλλήλαις τὰς τοῦ κυρίου φύσεις φαμέν, ἀλλ' οἴδαμεν, ὡς ἐκ τῆς θείας φύσεως ἡ περιχώρησις γέγονεν· αὕτη μὲν γὰρ διὰ πάντων διήκει, καθὼς βούλεται, καὶ περιχωρεῖ, δι' αὐτῆς δὲ οὐδέν. Καὶ αὐτὴ μὲν τῶν οἰκείων αὐχημάτων τῇ σαρκὶ μεταδίδωσι μένουσα αὐτὴ ἀπαθὴς καὶ τῶν τῆς σαρκὸς παθῶν ἀμέτοχος· εἰ γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος ἡμῖν τῶν οἰκείων ἐνεργειῶν μεταδιδοὺς μένει τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀμέτοχος, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ τοῦ ἡλίου ποιητής τε καὶ κύριος. Οὐ γὰρ πέπονθεν σαρκωθείς-πῶς