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we recognize an entirely essential existence; but by the natural properties by which He is characterized in Himself; which is the same as saying by natural wills and energies; otherwise, one might define a carpenter as a wood-working animal, but not as rational or mortal; knowing his nature from a stool, perhaps, or a bench, but not from the properties that essentially (121) constitute it; which is ignorant even to consider. Therefore we properly discern the same one to be by nature God and man, not from anything else, but from the innate properties characterizing him at once divinely and humanly; both the divine, as I said, will and energy, and the human will and energy of the same one; by which, and through which, He confirms what He was and has become; working miracles beyond us as God voluntarily; and suffering for us, the same one voluntarily as man; being known as nothing other than the things from which, in which, and which He is, like some illegitimate and intermediate, that is, third product, according to the example of the mules; as the mythology of the babbling heretics tells monstrous tales, having strayed from the pious preaching of the holy Fathers; but truly and properly being the very things from which, and in which He truly and properly is. For existing by nature from divinity and humanity, and in divinity and humanity; Christ is God by nature and man; and absolutely nothing else.
And how, they say, does the wise Cyril enjoin us to think of a certain middle class of sayings concerning Christ, writing thus to Acacius: "For some of the sayings are as divine as possible; others, again, are human-like; and others have a certain middle rank. And how could this ever contribute to their own supposition?" For not from a change or rejection of the extremes, I mean of Christ's divinity and humanity, or of His divine and human will and energy, another, middle, that is, intermediate product, partaking of neither nature from which He is; or again, a certain composite energy, being or having, according to them, does the teacher hand down to us in these words, but that these things are properly what they are, the things from which He is; but these are not named dividedly; but together, and in the same, each of these, since Christ is one and alone. And he himself testifies about these things, partly defending the eastern bishops, and writing to Acacius thus, "But the brethren in Antioch in no way divide the united things; but they insist on dividing only the sayings concerning the Lord; and that some befit his divinity, and others again his humanity. For the same is God and man; and they say that there are others that have been made common in a way, and as it were looking to both; I mean divinity and humanity. What do I mean? For some of the sayings are as divine as possible, others again are human-like; and others have a certain middle rank, showing the Son of God to be God and man together and in the same." Therefore the teacher has shown us that there is a middle rank of sayings, not signifying Christ to be something other than the things from which, in which, and which He is, as some have supposed; but that the same one exists by nature as God and man together. 124) And he adduces the divinely-inspired Scriptures as proof of these things, speaking thus. "When He says to Philip, 'Have I been with you so long, and you have not known me, Philip? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? He who has seen me has seen the Father'; and, 'I and the Father are one,' we affirm the saying to be most divine. But when he rebukes the crowds of the Jews, saying that, 'If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham; but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth; this Abraham did not do,' we say such things are spoken in a human way. But of the one Son the divine, and
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οὐσιώδη παντελῶς ἐπιγινώσκομεν ὕπαρξιν· ἀλλ᾿ οἷς αὐτός ἐν αὐτῷ χαρακτηρίζεται φυσικοῖς ἰδιώμασι· ταυτόν δέ φάναι θελήσεσι φυσικαῖς καί ἐνεργείαις· ἤ οὕτω δ᾿ ἄν, καί τόν τέκτονα ζῶον ξυλουργόν, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ λογικόν, οὐδέ θνητόν· ὁρίσοιντο ἄν, τήν τούτου φύσιν ἐκ τοῦ θώκου τυχόν, ἤ τοῦ σκίμποδος, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ τῶν οὐσιωδῶς (121) συνιστώντων αὐτήν ἰδιωμάτων γνωρίζοντες· ὅπερ κἄν ἐννοεῖν, ἀμαθές. Ὅθεν φύσει Θεόν καί ἄνθρωπον τόν αὐτόν κυρίως, οὐχ ἑτέρωθεν ὄντα διαγινώσκομεν, ἤ ἐκ τῶν θε«κῶς ἅμα καί ἀνθρωπικῶς χαρκτηριζόντων αὐτόν, ἐμφύτων ἰδιωμάτων· τῆς τε θείας, ὡς ἔφην, θελήσεως καί ἐνεργείας, καί τῆς ἀνθρωπικῆς τοῦ αὐτοῦ θελήσεως καί ἐνεργείας· αἷς, καί δι᾿ ὧν, ὅ ἦν καί γέγονεν ἐπισφραγίζει· θαυματουργῶν μέν ὑπέρ ἡμᾶς ὡς Θεός ἑκουσίως· πάσχων δέ δι᾿ ἡμᾶς ὁ αὐτός ἑκουσίως ὡς ἄνθρωπος· ὡς οὐκ ἄλλο τι παρά τῶν ἐξ ὧν, ἐν οἷς τε καί ἅπερ ἐστί γνωριζόμενος, οἷόν τι νόθον καί μεταίχμιον, ἤγουν τρίτον ἀποτέλεσμα, κατά τήν τῶν ἡμιόνων παράδειξιν· ὡς ἡ τῶν κενολόγων αἱρετικῶν μυθοπλαστία τερατολογεῖ, τοῦ εὐσεβοῦς ἀποσφαλεῖσα τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων κηρύγματος ἀλλ᾿ αὐτά κατ' ἀλήθειαν κυρίως ὤν, τά ἐξ ὧν, καί ἐν οἷς κατ᾿ ἀλήθειαν κυρίως ἐστίν. Ἐκ θεότητος γάρ καί ἀνθρωπότητος, καί ἐν θεότητι καί ἀνθρωπότητι κατά φύσιν ὑπάρχων· Θεός φύσει καί ἄνθρωπος ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός· καί ἄλλο τό παράπαν οὐδέν.
Καί πῶς, φασί, Κύριλλος ὁ σοφός μέσην τινά τάξιν τῶν ἐπί Χριστοῦ φωνῶν διαγορεύει φρονεῖν, οὑτωσί πρός Ἀκάκιον γράφων· "Αἱ μέν γάρ εἰσι τῶν φωνῶν ὅτι μάλιστα θεοπρεπεῖς· αἱ δέ, οὕτω πάλιν ἀνθρωποπρεπεῖς· αἱ δέ μέσην τινά τάξιν ἔχουσι. Καί τί τοῦτο συμβαλεῖταί ποτ᾿ ἄν ἐκείνοις πρός τήν οἰκείαν ὑπόληψιν;" Οὐ γάρ ἐκ μεταβολῆς, ἤ ἀποβολῆς τῶν ἄκρων, θεότητός φημι τοῦ Χριστοῦ καί ἀνθρωπότητος· ἤ θείας τοῦ αὐτοῦ καί ἀνθρωπίνης θελήσεως καί ἐνεργείας, ἕτερόν τι μέσον, ἤγουν μεταίχμιον ἀποτέλεσμα, μηδετέρᾳ φύσει τῶν ἐξ ὧν ἐστι κοινωνοῦν· ἤ πάλιν, ἐνέργειάν τινα σύνθετον ὄντα κατ᾿ αὐτούς, ἤ ἔχοντα παραδίδωσιν ἐν τούτοις ἡμῖν ὁ διδάσκαλος, ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι ταῦτα μέν κυρίως ἐστί, τά ἐξ ὧν ἐστιν· οὐ διῃρημένως δέ ταῦτα κατονομάζεται· ὁμοῦ δέ, καί ἐν ταυτῷ τούτων ἑκάτερον, ὡς εἷς ὤν καί μόνος ὁ Χριστός. Καί μαρτυρεῖ περί τούτων αὐτός ὑπαραπολογούμενος τῶν Ἀνατολικῶν ἐπισκόπων, καί γράφων πρός Ἀκάκιον οὕτως, "Οἱ δέ γε κατά τήν Ἀντιόχειαν ἀδελφοί, μερίζουσι μέν κατ' οὐδένα τρόπον τά ἡνωμένα· διαιρεῖσθαι δέ μόναι διατείνονται τάς ἐπί τοῦ Κυρίου φωνάς· πρέπειν τε τάς μέν τῇ θεότητι αὐτοῦ, τάς δέ τῇ αὐτοῦ πάλιν ἀνθρωπότητι. Θεός γάρ ἐστιν ὁ αὐτός καί ἄνθρωπος· εἶναι δέ φασι καί ἑτέρας κοινοποιηθείσας τρόπον τινά, καί οἷον ἐπ' ἄμφω βλεπούσας· θεότητα καί ἀνθρωπότητα λέγω· οἷον τί φημι, αἱ μέν γάρ εἰσι τῶν φωνῶν ὅτι μάλιστα θεοπρεπεῖς, αἱ δέ οὕτω πάλιν ἀνθρωποπρεπεῖς· αἱ δέ μέσην τινά τάξιν ἔχουσιν, ἐμφανίζουσαι τόν Υἱόν τοῦ Θεοῦ Θεόν ὄντα καί ἄνθρωπον ὁμοῦ τε καί ἐν ταὐτῶ." δέδειχε τοιγαροῦν ἡμῖν ὁ διδάσκαλος, μέσην τάξιν εἶναι φωνῶν, οὐχ ἕτερόν τι τόν Χριστόν εἶναι, σημαινουσῶν, παρά τά ἐξ ὧν, ἐν οἷς τε καί ἅπερ ἐστίν, ὥς τινες ὑπειλήφασιν· ἀλλά τόν Θεόν ὁμοῦ καί ἄνθρωπον 124) τόν αὐτόν κατά φύσιν ὑπάρχειν. Καί παρακομίζει πρός ἀπόδειξιν τούτων τάς θεοπνεύστους Γραφάς οὑτωσί φάσκων. " Ὅταν μέν τῷ Φιλίππῳ λέγῃ, Τοσοῦτον χρόνον μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν εἰμί, καί οὐκ ἔγνωκάς με, Φίλιππε; οὐ πιστεύεις ὅτι ἐγώ ἐν τῷ Πατρί, καί ὁ Πατήρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστιν; ὁ ἑωρακώς ἐμέ, ἑώρακε καί τόν Πατέρα· καί, Ἐγώ, καί ὁ Πατήρ ἕν ἐσμέν, θεωπρεπεστάτην εἶναι διαβεβαιούμεθα τήν φωνήν. Ὅτε δέ τοῖς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐπιπλήττει δήμοις, ἐκεῖνο λέγων, Εἰ τέκνα ἦτε τοῦ Ἀβραάμ, τά ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραάμ ἐποιεῖτε ἄν· νῦν δέ ζητεῖτε με ἀποκτεῖναι ἄνθρωπον, ὅς τήν ἀλήθειαν ὑμῖν λελάληκα· τοῦτο Ἀβραάμ οὐκ ἐποίησεν· ἀνθρωποπρεπῶς εἰρῆσθαι τά τοιαῦτα φαμεν. Πλήν τοῦ ἑνός Υἱοῦ τάς θεοπρεπεῖς, καί