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spectators, if it is possible for any of the ensouled and sensible bodies subject to generation and corruption, to be of a monadic nature in its hypostasis; for which the succession from one another according to species is a very clear characteristic and definition of their being. Just as holy Scripture also testifies, providing certainty to the argument through itself, introducing God as commanding these things to the great Noah. And God said to Noah, Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. And of all the clean animals bring with you seven pairs, male and female; and of the animals that are not clean, two by two, male and female; and of all the clean birds of the air, seven pairs, male and female, and of all the birds of the air that are not clean, two by two, male and female, to preserve seed upon all the earth. Among which, if indeed the phoenix is numbered as a winged creature, it is not of a monadic nature in its hypostasis according to the divine decree, that we may not say these things, as I said; for it is not pleasing to us to fight over things that are not necessary; it is very clear to all, that if Christ is a monadic nature, He is consubstantial neither with God the Father, nor with men. For that which is entirely monadic in nature, is completely alienated from natural (15B_244> kinship with anything else whatever. But if, according to them, as the argument has shown, Christ is entirely alienated in nature from all beings; we shall urge these new dogmatists themselves to say what He is in nature, and by what principle they worship Christ, who, as far as their own logical hypotheses are concerned, is nothing, being blasphemed by them.

If, therefore, a great and terrible danger necessarily follows, according to the force of the argument that has been given, for those who say that Christ is one in nature, that is, one nature, whether it is called simple, or composite; and this, whether generic, that is, common, or monadic, that is, particular; let us with all vigilance keep our hearts pure from such an opinion, so that we may also be freed from the future threat against it. And on the one hand, let us piously confess the two in Christ, according to the principle of natural otherness, that is, of the difference of the natures from which He is, which are preserved even after the union, as parts in a whole; according to which the parts never naturally coincide with one another, as long as each preserves unharmed its own natural principle in relation to the other; and on the other hand, the one according to the principle of hypostatic identity, according to which Christ as a whole admits unto Himself no distinction arising from difference, that is, division; inasmuch as He is believed to be one hypostasis both before the flesh and after the incarnation; and as one of the holy and royal Trinity He is worshipped and glorified by us. For the hypostasis of Christ is monadic, as a whole, in no way being divided among the extremes according to its characteristic property, by which it is distinguished from them. And by extremes I now mean God the Father, from whom Christ was divinely begotten before the ages; and the holy all-glorious Virgin and Mother, from whom the same was humanly born for our sake, by the affinity of its own parts for both extremes, preserving its identity in essence without diminution; in which parts Christ, admitting the principle of difference, does not depart from His own monadic hypostasis. (15B_246> For every whole, and especially one by composition, being considered from different things, while monadically preserving the identity of its own hypostasis, also has the unconfused difference of its own parts with respect to each other, by which it preserves unadulterated the essential principle of each part in relation to the other. And likewise the parts, in their composition with each other, preserving their natural principle pure and undiminished, have the single, undivided identity of their own whole; according to which it monadically preserves the hypostatic principle completely undivided.

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θεάμονας, εἰ δυνατόν ἐστί τι τῶν ὑπό γένεσιν καί φθοράν ἐμψύχων καί αἰσθητικῶν σωμάτων, μοναδικῆς ὑπάρχειν καθ᾿ ὑπόστασιν, φύσεως· ὧν ἡ ἐξ ἀλλήλων κατ᾿ εἶδος διαδοχή, ἀρίδηλος χαρακτήρ τοῦ εἶναι καί ὅρος ἐστί. Καθάπερ καί ἡ θεία Γραφή μαρτύρεται, τό βέβαιον δι᾿ ἑαυτῆς τῷ λόγῳ παρεχομένη, τῷ μεγάλῳ Νῶε τόν Θεόν εἰσηγουμένη ταῦτα προστάσσοντα. Καί εἶπεν ὁ Θεός τῷ Νῶε, Εἴσελθε σύ, καί πᾶς ὁ οἶκός σου εἰς τήν κιβωτόν, ὅτι σε εἶδον δίκαιον ἐναντίον ἐμοῦ ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ. Ἀπό δέ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν καθαρῶν εἰσάγαγε πρός σέ ἑπτά ἑπτά, ἄρσεν καί θῆλυ· ἀπό δέ τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν μή ὄντων καθαρῶν, δύο δύο, ἄρσεν καί θῆλυ· καί ἀπό πάντων τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῶν καθαρῶν, ἑπτά ἑπτά, ἄρσεν καί θῆλυ, καί ἀπό πάντων τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῶν μή καθαρῶν, δύο δύο, ἄρσεν καί θῆλυ, διαστρέψαι σπέρμα ἐπί πᾶσαν τήν γῆν. Οἷς, εἴπερ ὡς πτηνόν ζῶον ὁ φοίνιξ ἐστίν ἐναρίθμιος, μοναδικῆς καθ᾿ ὑπόστασιν φύσεως οὐκ ἔστι κατά τήν θείαν ἀπόφασιν, ἵνα ταῦτα καθώς ἔφην μή λέγωμεν· οὐ γάρ φίλον ἡμῖν ὑπέρ τῶν οὐκ ἀναγκαίων τό μάχεσθαι· πᾶσιν εὔδηλόν ἐστι, ὡς εἴπερ μοναδική φύσις ἐστίν ὁ Χριστός, οὔτε τῷ Θεῷ καί Πατρί ὁμοούσιος ἐστιν, οὔτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Τό γάρ πάντη κατά τήν φύσιν μοναδικόν, τῆς πρός ὁτιοῦν ἄλλο παντελῶς ἠλλοτρίωται φυσικῆς (15Β_244> συγγενείας. Εἰ δέ κατ᾿ αὐτούς ἐκείνους, ὡς ἔδειξεν ὁ λόγος, πάντη κατά τήν φύσιν ὁ Χριστός πάντων ἠλλοτρίωται τῶν ὄντων· αὐτούς εἰπεῖν προτρεψόμεθα τούς καινούς δογματιστάς, τί ὄντα κατά τήν φύσιν, καί ποίῳ λόγῳ σέβουσι τόν Χριστόν, τόν μηδέν ὅσον ἐπί ταῖς αὐτῶν ὑποθήκαις τῶν λόγων, ὄντα παρ᾿ αὐτῶν βλασφημούμενον.

Εἰ τοίνυν μέγας καί φοβερός ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἕπεται κίνδυνος, κατά τήν ἀποδοθεῖσαν τοῦ λόγου δύναμιν, τοῖς λέγουσιν ἕν κατά τήν φύσιν εἶναι τόν Χριστόν, ἤγουν μίαν φύσιν, εἴτε ἁπλῶς λεγομένην, εἴτε σύνθετον· καί ταύτην εἴτε γενικήν ἤγουν κοινήν, εἴτε μοναδικήν ἤγουν ἴδικήν· πάσῃ φυλακῇ τάς ἑαυτῶν καρδίας τῆς τοιαύτης δόξης τηρήσωμεν καθαράς, ἵνα καί τῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐτῇ μελλούσης ἀπειλῆς ἐλευθερωθῶμεν. Καί τό μέν δύο ἐπί Χριστοῦ κατά τόν τῆς φυσικῆς ἑτερότητος λόγον, ἤγουν διαφορᾶς τῶν ἐξ ὧν ἐστι φύσεων σωζομένων καί μετά τήν ἕνωσιν, ὡς ἐν ὅλῳ μερῶν, εὐσεβῶς ὁμολογήσωμεν· καθ᾿ ὅν οὐδέποτε τά μέρη φυσικῶς ἀλλήλοις συμπίπτουσιν, ἕως ἑκάτερον τόν οἰκεῖον τῆς φύσεως πρός τό ἕτερον διαφυλλάτει λόγον ἀλώβητον· τό δέ ἕν κατά τόν τῆς ὑποστατικῆς ταυτότητος λόγον, καθ᾿ ὅν οὐδεμίαν τό σύνολον πρός ἑαυτόν ὁ Χριστός ὡς ὅλον τήν ἐκ διαφορᾶς διάκρισιν, ἤγουν μερισμόν ἐπιδέχεται· ἕως μία καί πρό σαρκός, καί μετά σάρκωσιν ὑπόστασις ὑπάρχων πιστεύεται· καί εἷς τῆς ἁγίας καί βασιλικῆς Τριάδος προσκυνεῖται παρ᾿ ἡμῶν καί δοξάζεται. Μοναδική γάρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡ ὑπόστασις, ὡς ὅλον, μηδενί λόγῳ κατά τήν χαρακτηρισικήν αὐτῆς ἰδιότητα τοῖς ἄκροις ἐπιμεριζομένη, καθ᾿ ἥν αὐτῶν ἀφορίζεται. Ἄκρα δέ νῦν λέγω, τόν Θεόν καί Πατέρα, ἐξ οὗ πρό τῶν αἰώνων ὁ Χριστός γεγένηται θεϊκῶς· καί τήν ἁγίαν πανένδοξον Παρθένον καί Μητέρα, ἐξ ἧς ὁ αὐτός ἀνθρωπίνως γεγέννηται δ᾿ ἡμᾶς, τῇ πρός ἄμφω τά ἄκρα τῶν ἰδίων μερῶν οἰκειότητι, φυλάττουσα τήν κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ἀμειώτως ταυτότητα· οἷς μέρεσι τόν τῆς διαφορᾶς ὁ Χριστός ἐπιδεχόμενος λόγον, τῆς οἰκείας οὐκ ἐξίσταται μοναδικῆς ὑποστάσεως. (15Β_246> Πᾶσα γαρ ὁλότης, καί μάλιστα κατά σύνθεσιν, ἐκ διαφόρων θεωρουμένη, τῆς οἰκείας ὑποστάσεως μοναδικῶς φυλάττουσα τήν ταυτότητα, καί τήν πρός ἄλληλα τῶν οἰκείων μερῶν ἀσύγχυτον ἔχει διαφοράν, καθ᾿ ἥν τόν ἑκατέρου μέρους πρός θάτερον κατ᾿ οὐσίαν διασώζει λόγον ἀνόθευτον. Ὡσαύτως δέ καί τά μέρη κατά τήν πρός ἄλληλα σύνθεσιν, ἀκραιφνῆ καί ἀμείωτον τόν κατά φύσιν λόγον φυλάττοντα, τήν ἑνικήν τῆς οἰκείας ὁλότητος ἀδιάκριτον ἔχει ταυτότητα· καθ' ἥν μοναδικῶς τόν καθ᾿ ὑπόστασιν διαφυλάττει λόγον παντελῶς ἀδιαίρετον.