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In his ignorance, he affirms that the Word will become one and the same with God, just as he was before, but as for the flesh, left behind by the Word, 3.10.3 I know not what will become of it. Listen, then, to how he says these things: “If someone should inquire concerning this flesh, which has become immortal in the Word, what do we say to him? That we do not consider it safe to dogmatize about things which we have not learned accurately from the divine scriptures. For how is it 3.10.4 possible for those to do this who also overturn the dogmas of others? But we will say to those who wish to learn from us the accurate account concerning this, that, persuaded by the holy apostle, we know that it is fitting for us to see the hidden mysteries in this way, as he himself said: “For now we see,” he says, “through a mirror in a riddle, but then face to face,” and the rest. Therefore do not ask me about things which I have not clearly learned from the divine scripture; for this reason, then, neither will I be able to speak clearly concerning that divine scripture of the flesh which partook of the Word.” Then he who confesses to be able to say nothing nor to have learned anything from 3.10.5 the scripture, declared such things about the flesh, having taken it neither from the scripture, nor having received it from others, nor having learned it from the church, but having fashioned it for himself and having devised from his own thought a strange offspring foreign to the truth, not even taking to mind the scripture which says, “Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you, and you be found a liar,” and, “Woe to those who prophesy from their own heart 3.10.6.” See, then, into how great an impiety he has fallen. For he who cast the whole theology concerning the pre-existent only-begotten Son down upon the flesh, and with these very words proclaimed it a crown of victory—for thus he said that the Word of God had prepared the human flesh to become immortal through the resurrection and having bound it on like some crown of victory, sits at the right hand of the Father—this very one says that it will be desolate and orphaned at the end of all things, uniting the Word to God but separating the flesh from the activity of the Word and leaving it, I know not how, immortal and incorruptible, but soulless and inactive by the 3.10.7 Word. And these things, again, he tries to establish from the divine readings, which he has not understood. For when our savior said to those not understanding the teachings concerning his flesh and blood, “Does this offend you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life,” 3.11.1 not having attended to the meaning of the word, he supposed that he was rejecting the flesh which he had assumed from the holy virgin. Then from this he tries to prove that after the consummation of all things, the Word who is in God will leave the flesh bereft of his own activity. For he says in these very words: “For concerning the flesh which he had when he conversed with the disciples, he says thus: ‘Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man departing to where he was before? The spirit gives life, the flesh profits nothing.’ If, then, he confesses that the flesh profits him nothing, how is it possible for that which is from the earth and profits nothing, also in the ages to come, as being profitable to him, to be with the Word?” Do you see how great a distortion of the evangelical word he has used, because of not understanding the saving voice of the Word, how it was said and for what reason? But you, at least, take up the evangelical scripture and behold the whole teaching of our savior, how he was not discoursing about the flesh which he assumed, but about the mystical body and blood. For since he fed the multitudes with the five loaves, and this provided a great wonder to those who had seen it, but most of the Jews, despising what had happened, said to him, “What sign then do you do, that we may see and believe?”, then they brought up the manna in the desert, saying, “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert, as it is written: bread from

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ἀμαθῶς ἔχων τὸν μὲν λόγον διαβεβαιοῦται ἓν καὶ ταὐτὸν μέλλειν γίγνεσθαι τῷ θεῷ ὥσπερ καὶ πρότερον ἦν, τὴν δὲ σάρκα καταλειφθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου 3.10.3 οὐκ οἶδ' ὅ τι ποτὲ γενήσεσθαι. ἐπάκουσον δ' οὖν ὅπως ταῦτά φησιν εἰ δέ τις περὶ τῆς σαρκὸς ταύτης τῆς ἐν τῷ λόγῳ ἀθανάτου γεγονυίας πυνθάνοιτο, τί φαμεν πρὸς αὐτόν; ὅτι δογ ματίζειν μὲν ἡμεῖς περὶ ὧν μὴ ἀκριβῶς παρὰ τῶν θείων μεμα θήκαμεν γραφῶν οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς εἶναι νομίζομεν. πῶς γὰρ τοῦτο 3.10.4 πράττειν δυνατὸν τοῖς καὶ τὰ ἑτέρων ἀνατρέπουσιν δόγματα; ἀλλ' ἐροῦμεν πρὸς τοὺς τὸν ἀκριβῆ περὶ τούτου μαθεῖν παρ' ἡμῶν βουλομένους λόγον, ὅτι πειθόμενοι τῷ ἱερῷ ἀποστόλῳ ἴσμεν ὅτι οὕτως ἡμᾶς ὁρᾶν τὰ ἀποκεκρυμμένα μυστήρια προσήκει, ὡς αὐτὸς ἔφη· «βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι» φησὶν «δι' ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι, τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ὥστε μή μου πυν θάνου περὶ ὧν σαφῶς παρὰ τῆς θείας γραφῆς μὴ μεμάθηκα· διὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν οὐδὲ περὶ τῆς θείας γραφῆς ἐκείνης τῆς τῷ λόγῳ κοινωνησάσης σαρκὸς σαφῶς εἰπεῖν δυνήσομαι. εἶθ' ὁ μηδὲν λέγειν δύνασθαι ὁμολογῶν μηδὲ μεμαθηκέναι τι ἀπὸ 3.10.5 τῆς γραφῆς, τοιαῦτα περὶ τῆς σαρκὸς ἀπεφήνατο, οὔτ' ἀπὸ τῆς γραφῆς λαβὼν οὔτε ἀφ' ἑτέρων παραλαβὼν οὔτε ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας μαθών, ἑαυτῷ δὲ ἀναπλάσας καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ἐνθυμήσεως ἐπινοήσας ξένον καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀλλότριον γέννημα, μηδὲ ἐν νῷ λαβὼν τὴν λέγουσαν γραφὴν «μὴ προσθῇς τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ, μή ποτε ἐλέγξῃ σε, καὶ ψευδὴς γένῃ» καὶ «οὐαὶ τοῖς προφητεύουσιν ἀπὸ καρδίας 3.10.6 αὐτῶν». ὅρα δ' οὖν ὅσῃ δυσσεβείᾳ περιπέπτωκεν. ὁ γὰρ τὴν πᾶσαν περὶ τοῦ προϋπάρχοντος μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ θεολογίαν ἐπὶ τὴν σάρκα καταβαλὼν αὐτοῖς τε ῥήμασιν νίκης στέφανον αὐτὴν ἀναγορεύσας οὕτως γὰρ ἔφη τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην σάρκα διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἀθάνατον γενέσθαι παρεσκευακέναι καὶ ὥσπερ τινὰ νίκης στέφανον ἀναδησάμενον ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρὸς καθέζεσθαι οὗτος αὐτός φησιν αὐτὴν ἔρημον ἔσεσθαι καὶ ὀρφανὴν ἐν τῷ τοῦ παντὸς τέλει, ἑνῶν μὲν τὸν λόγον τῷ θεῷ τὴν δὲ σάρκα χωρίζων τῆς τοῦ λόγου ἐνεργείας καὶ καταλιπὼν αὐτὴν οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ἀθάνατον μὲν καὶ ἄφθαρτον ἄψυχον δὲ καὶ ἀνενέργητον ὑπὸ τοῦ 3.10.7 λόγου. καὶ ταῦτα δὲ πάλιν ἐκ τῶν θείων ἀναγνωσμάτων, ἃ μὴ νενόηκεν, συνιστᾶν πειρᾶται. τοῦ γὰρ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν πρὸς τοὺς μὴ συνιέντας τὰς περὶ τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίας εἰρηκότος «τοῦτο ὑμᾶς σκανδαλίζει; ἐὰν οὖν θεωρῆτε τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀναβαίνοντα ὅπου ἦν τὸ πρότερον; τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν τὸ ζωοποιοῦν, ἡ σὰρξ οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν· τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἐγὼ λελάληκα ὑμῖν πνεῦμά ἐστιν καὶ ζωή ἐστιν», 3.11.1 οὐκ ἐπιστήσας τῇ διανοίᾳ τοῦ λόγου ὑπέλαβεν αὐτὸν ἀθετεῖν τὴν σάρκα ἣν ἀνείληφεν ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου. εἶτ' ἐκ τούτου πειρᾶται κατασκευάζειν ὡς μετὰ τὴν συντέλειαν τοῦ παντὸς ἔρημον τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἐνεργείας ὁ ἐν τῷ θεῷ λόγος καταλείψει τὴν σάρκα. λέγει γοῦν αὐτοῖς ῥήμασιν περὶ γὰρ τῆς σαρκός, ἣν ἔχων ὡμίλει τοῖς μαθηταῖς, οὕτω λέγει «τοῦτο ὑμᾶς σκανδαλίζει; ἐὰν οὖν ἴδητε τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀπιόντα ὅπου ἦν τὸ πρότερον; τὸ πνεῦμα ζωοποιεῖ, ἡ σὰρξ οὐδὲν ὠφελεῖ». εἰ οὖν ὁμολογεῖ τὴν σάρκα μηδὲν ὠφελεῖν αὐτόν, πῶς ἐγχωρεῖ τὴν ἐκ γῆς τε οὖσαν καὶ μηδὲν ὠφελοῦσαν καὶ ἐν τοῖς μέλλουσιν αἰῶσιν ὡς αὐτῷ λυσιτελοῦσαν συνεῖναι τῷ λόγῳ; ὁρᾷς ὅσῃ κέχρηται τοῦ εὐαγγελικοῦ λόγου διαστροφῇ διὰ τὸ μὴ συνιέναι τοῦ λόγου τὴν σωτήριον φωνήν, ὅπως εἴρηται καὶ διὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν. ἀλλὰ σύ γε ἀναλαβὼν τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν γραφήν, θέα τὴν πᾶσαν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν διδασκαλίαν ὅπως οὐ περὶ ἧς ἀνείληφεν σαρκὸς διελέγετο, περὶ δὲ τοῦ μυστικοῦ σώματός τε καὶ αἵματος. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῖς πέντε ἄρτοις ἔθρεψεν τὰ πλήθη, μέγα δὲ θαῦμα τοῦτο παρέσχεν τοῖς ἑωρακόσιν, Ἰουδαίων δὲ οἱ πλεῖστοι ἐξευτελίζοντες τὸ γεγονὸς ἔλεγον αὐτῷ «τί οὖν ποιεῖς σὺ σημεῖον, ἵνα ἴδωμεν καὶ πιστεύσωμεν», εἶτα παρέβαλλον τὸ μάννα τὸ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ λέγοντες «οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν τὸ μάννα ἔφαγον ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καθώς ἐστιν γεγραμμένον· ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ