1

 2

 3

 4

 5

 6

 7

 8

 9

 10

 11

 12

 13

 14

 15

 16

 17

 18

 19

 20

 21

 22

 23

 24

 25

 26

 27

 28

 29

 30

 31

 32

 33

 34

 35

 36

 37

 38

 39

 40

 41

 42

 43

 44

 45

 46

 47

 48

 49

 50

 51

 52

 53

 54

 55

 56

 57

 58

 59

 60

 61

 62

 63

 64

 65

 66

 67

 68

 69

 70

 71

 72

 73

 74

 75

 76

 77

 78

 79

 80

 81

 82

 83

 84

 85

 86

 87

 88

 89

 90

 91

 92

 93

 94

 95

 96

 97

 98

56

turning away from the philanthropic master; and Christ, throwing himself in the middle, brought both natures together into friendship, and he himself endured the punishment from the Father that lay upon us. Of the same, from the same discourse. Therefore he offered the firstfruits of our nature to the Father, and the Father himself marveled at the gift, both on account of the great worth of the one offering and the blamelessness of what was offered. For he received this with his own hands, and has made it a partaker of his own throne. And what is more, he has established it on the part of his own right hand. Let us then recognize who it is that heard, "Sit at my right hand;" what was that nature to which he said, you shall be a partner of my throne? It was that nature to which he said, "You are earth and to earth you shall return." Of the same, a little later. What word shall I use, what phrases shall I utter, I do not know. The frail nature, the cheap nature, which was shown to be less than all things, has conquered all things, has surpassed all things. Today it has been deemed worthy to become higher than all things, today they have received what angels for a long time desired, today archangels have been able to become beholders of things long desired, and they perceived our nature on the king's throne, shining with the glory of immortality. Of Saint Flavian, bishop of Antioch. From the Gospel according to Luke. In all things the Lord delineates for us the character of piety, and 177 in various ways points out to our nature the paths of salvation; and he provides for us many and clear proofs both of his own bodily coming, and of the divinity working through the body. For he wished to confirm both of his natures. Of the same, on the Theophany. "Who will truly tell of the mighty acts of the Lord, or make all his praises heard?" Who could present in words the magnitude of the benefaction towards us? Human nature is joined to divinity, while each nature remains in itself. Of Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem. From the fourth catechetical oration on the ten dogmas. Concerning the birth from the virgin. But believe that this only-begotten Son of God for our sins came down from heaven to earth, having taken up this humanity that shares our sufferings, and was born of the holy virgin and the Holy Spirit, the incarnation having happened not in appearance and fantasy, but in truth; not as though passing through the virgin as through a pipe, but truly being made flesh from her, truly eating as we do, truly drinking as we do, and truly being nursed with milk. For if the incarnation was a fantasy, salvation is also a phantom. Christ was twofold, man in what was seen, but God in what was not seen; eating as a man, truly as we do; for he had the same suffering nature of the flesh as we do; but feeding the five thousand from five loaves as God; truly dying as a man; but raising a four-day-old corpse as God; sleeping in the boat as a man, and walking on the waters as God. Of Antiochus, bishop of Ptolemais. Do not confuse the natures, and you will not be numbed concerning the economy. 178 Of Saint Hilary, bishop and confessor. In the ninth discourse on the faith. He truly does not know his own life, who does not know Jesus Christ as true God, and thus also as true man. For the matter happens to be of the same danger, if we should deny Christ Jesus is both God the spirit and flesh of our body. "Therefore everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven." These things the Word made flesh was saying, and the man Jesus Christ the Lord of glory was teaching, to the of the church

56

φιλάνθρωπον δεσπότην ἀποστρεφόμενοι· καὶ μέσον ἑαυτὸν ἐμβαλὼν ὁ Χριστός, ἑκατέραν φύσιν εἰς φιλίαν συνήγαγε, καὶ τὴν παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐπικειμένην ἡμῖν αὐτὸς τιμωρίαν ὑπέμεινεν. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου. Προσήνεγκε τοίνυν τὰς ἀπαρχὰς τῆς ἡμετέρας φύσεως τῷ πατρί, καὶ τὸ δῶρον αὐτὸς ἐθαύμασεν ὁ πατὴρ διά τε τὴν τοσαύτην ἀξίαν τοῦ προσκομίσαντος καὶ τοῦ προσενεχθέντος τὸ ἄμωμον. Καὶ γὰρ οἰκείαις ἐδέξατο τοῦτο χερσί, καὶ τοῦ θρόνου μέτοχον εἶναι τοῦ οἰκείου πεποίηκε. Καὶ τὸ πλέον, ἐν τῷ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δεξιᾶς αὐτὸ μέρει καθίδρυσεν. Οὐκοῦν ἐπιγνῶμεν, τίς ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἀκούσας ἐστί, "Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου·" τίς ἦν ἡ φύσις ἐκείνη πρὸς ἣν εἶπεν, ἔσο τοῦ θρόνου μου κοινωνός; ἐκείνη ἦν ἡ φύσις πρὸς ἣν εἶπεν, "Γῆ εἶ καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ." Τοῦ αὐτοῦ μετ' ὀλίγα. Ποίῳ χρήσομαι λόγῳ, ποίοις φθέγξομαι ῥήμασιν, ἀγνοῶ. Ἡ φύσις ἡ σαθρά, ἡ φύσις ἡ εὐτελής, ἡ πάντων ἐλάσσων ἀποδειχθεῖσα, πάντα νενίκηκεν, ὑπερέβαλεν ἅπαντα. Σήμερον ἀνωτέρα γενέσθαι πάντων ἠξίωται, σήμερον ἀπέλαβον ὅπερ ἐπὶ χρόνον πολὺν ἐπεθύμησαν ἄγγελοι, σήμερον ἀρχάγγελοι τῶν ἐπὶ πολὺ ποθουμένων θεαταὶ γενέσθαι δεδύνηνται, καὶ τὴν φύσιν τὴν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ θρόνῳ τοῦ βασι λέως τῇ δόξῃ τῆς ἀθανασίας ἐκλάμπουσαν κατενόησαν. Τοῦ ἁγίου Φλαβιανοῦ ἐπισκόπου Ἀντιοχείας. Ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Λουκᾶν εὐαγγελίου. Ἐν πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ὁ κύριος ὑπογράφει τὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας χαρακτῆρα, καὶ 177 διαφόρως ὑποδείκνυσι τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ φύσει τὰς τῆς σωτηρίας ὁδούς· καὶ πολλὰς ἡμῖν καὶ ἐναργεῖς ἀποδείξεις παρέχει τῆς τε σωματικῆς αὑτοῦ ἐπιφοιτήσεως, καὶ τῆς διὰ σώματος ἐνεργούσης θεότητος. Ἀμφοτέρας γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐβούλετο πιστώσασθαι τὰς φύσεις. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰ θεοφάνια. "Τίς ὡς ἀληθῶς λαλήσει τὰς δυναστείας τοῦ κυρίου, ἀκουστὰς ποιήσει πάσας τὰς αἰνέσεις αὐτοῦ;" Τίς ἂν λόγῳ παραστήσειε τῆς εἰς ἡμᾶς εὐεργεσίας τὸ μέγεθος; Ἀνθρωπεία φύσις θεότητι συνάπτεται, μενού σης ἐφ' ἑαυτῆς ἑκατέρας τῆς φύσεως. Κυρίλλου ἐπισκόπου Ἱεροσολύμων. Ἐκ τοῦ κατηχητικοῦ δʹ λόγου περὶ τῶν δέκα δογμάτων. Περὶ τῆς ἐκ παρθένου γεννήσεως. Πίστευε δέ, ὅτι οὗτος ὁ μονογενὴς υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ἐξ οὐρανῶν κατῆλθεν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὴν ὁμοιοπαθῆ ταύτην ἡμῖν ἀναλαβὼν ἀνθρωπότητα, καὶ γεννηθεὶς ἐξ ἁγίας παρθένου καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος, οὐ δοκήσει καὶ φαντασίᾳ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως γενομένης, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· οὐδ' ὥσπερ διὰ σωλῆνος διελθὼν τῆς παρθένου, ἀλλὰ σαρκωθεὶς ἀληθῶς ἐξ αὐτῆς, φαγὼν ὡς ἡμεῖς ἀληθῶς, πιὼν ὡς ἡμεῖς ἀληθῶς, καὶ γαλακτοτροφηθεὶς ἀληθῶς. Εἰ γὰρ φαντασία ἦν ἡ ἐνανθρώπησις, φάντασμα καὶ ἡ σωτηρία. ∆ιπλοῦς ἦν ὁ Χριστός, ἄνθρωπος μὲν τὸ φαινόμενον, θεὸς δὲ τὸ μὴ φαινόμενον· ἐσθίων μὲν ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἀληθῶς ὡς ἡμεῖς· εἶχε γὰρ τῆς σαρκὸς τὸ ὁμοιοπαθὲς ὡς ἡμεῖς· τρέφων δὲ ἐκ πέντε ἄρτων τοὺς πεντακισχιλίους ὡς θεός· ἀποθνῄσκων μὲν ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἀληθῶς· νεκρὸν δὲ τετραήμερον ἐγεί ρων ὡς θεός· καθεύδων εἰς τὸ πλοῖον ὡς ἄνθρωπος, καὶ περιπατῶν ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων ὡς θεός. Ἀντιόχου ἐπισκόπου Πτολεμαΐδος. Μὴ συγχέῃς τὰς φύσεις, καὶ οὐ ναρκήσεις περὶ τὴν οἰκονομίαν. 178 Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἱλαρίου ἐπισκόπου καὶ ὁμολογητοῦ. Ἐν τῷ περὶ πίστεως θʹ λόγῳ. Οὐκ οἶδεν ὄντως τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ζωήν, ὃς Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν ὡς ἀληθῆ θεόν, οὕτως καὶ ἀληθῆ ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἐπίσταται. Τοῦ γὰρ αὐτοῦ κιν δύνου τὸ πρᾶγμα τυγχάνει, ἐὰν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ πνεῦμα θεὸν ἢ σάρκα τοῦ ἡμετέρου ἀρνησώμεθα σώματος. "Ἅπας τοιγαροῦν, ὃς ἂν ὁμολογήσῃ με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κἀγὼ ὁμολογήσω αὐτὸν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· ὃς δ' ἂν ἀπαρνήσηταί με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κἀγὼ ἀρνήσομαι αὐτὸν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς." Ταῦτα ὁ λόγος σὰρξ γενόμενος ἔλεγε, καὶ ἄνθρωπος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ὁ κύριος τῆς δόξης ἐδίδασκε, πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας