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forced by God. Therefore, the compassionate and man-loving God, wishing to show the fallen one as a victor, becomes man, recalling like by like. That man is a rational and intelligent creature, no one will deny. How then did he become man, if he assumed soulless flesh or a mindless soul? For this is not man. And what did we profit from the incarnation if the one who first suffered was not saved, nor renewed and strengthened by union with the divinity? “For what is not assumed is not healed.” He therefore assumes the whole man, and the most excellent part of him which had fallen into sickness, in order that he might bestow salvation on the whole. But a mind without wisdom and deprived of knowledge could never exist; for if it is inactive and unmoved, it is altogether non-existent. Wishing to renew that which is in His image, God the Word became man. And what is that which is in His image, if not the mind? Did he then pass over the better part and assume the worse? For the mind is on the borderland between God and the flesh, dwelling with the latter, but an image of God. Mind therefore is mingled with mind, and the mind mediates between the purity of God and the coarseness of the flesh; for if the Lord assumed a mindless soul, he assumed the soul of an irrational animal. But if, because the Evangelist said that the Word was made flesh, it must be known that in Holy Scripture man is sometimes called soul, as in “Jacob went down into Egypt with seventy-five souls,” and sometimes flesh, as in “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Therefore, the Lord did not become soulless or mindless flesh, but man. For He Himself says: “Why do you strike me, a man who has spoken the truth to you?” He therefore assumed flesh animated by a rational and intelligent soul, which ruled the flesh, but was ruled by the divinity of the Word. He had, therefore, naturally both as God and as man, the faculty of willing, but it followed and was subject to His will, not being moved by its own thought, but willing those things which His divine will willed. For when the divine will permitted, it suffered its own properties naturally. For when he was refusing death, his divine will having willed and permitted it naturally, he refused death, and was in agony and afraid. And when his divine will willed for his human will to choose death, the passion became voluntary for it; for not only as God did he voluntarily give himself up to death, but also as man. Hence he bestowed upon us also boldness against death. Thus, before his saving passion he says: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me;” clearly he was about to drink the cup as man, not as God. As man, therefore, he wishes the cup to pass; these are the words of natural cowardice. “Nevertheless, let not my will be done,” that is, in that I am of a different substance from you, “but yours,” that is, mine and yours, in that I am by nature consubstantial with you; these are the words of courage. For having first been tried by natural weakness in the feeling of separation from the body and having suffered natural sympathy, the soul of the Lord, as He had truly become man by His good pleasure, being again strengthened by the divine will, takes courage against death. For since the same one was wholly God with his humanity and wholly man with his divinity, he himself as man in himself and through himself subjected the human to God the Father, giving himself to us as the best type and example, and became obedient to the Father. But he willed with free will by both the divine and the human will; for free will is certainly innate in every rational nature. For to what end will it possess reason, if it does not reason with free will? For the Creator implanted natural appetite even in irrational animals, leading them to the preservation of their own nature; for being devoid of reason, they cannot lead, but are led by natural appetite. Whence, as soon as the appetite arises, immediately there is the impulse to action; for it does not use reason or deliberation or reflection or judgment. Therefore, they are neither praised and blessed for pursuing virtue nor as

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ὑπὸ θεοῦ βιασθέντι. Αὐτὸν οὖν τὸν πεσόντα νικητὴν ἀναδεῖξαι βουληθεὶς ὁ συμπαθὴς θεὸς καὶ φιλάνθρωπος, ἄνθρωπος γίνεται τῷ ὁμοίῳ τὸ ὅμοιον ἀνακαλούμενος. Ὅτι δὲ λογικὸν καὶ νοερὸν ζῷον ὁ ἄνθρωπος, οὐδεὶς ἀντερεῖ. Πῶς οὖν ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν, εἰ σάρκα ἄψυχον ἢ ψυχὴν ἄνουν ἀνέλαβεν; Οὐ τοῦτο γὰρ ἄνθρωπος. Τί δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως ἀπωνάμεθα τοῦ πρωτοπαθήσαντος μὴ σεσωσμένου μηδὲ τῇ συναφείᾳ τῆς θεότητος ἀνακεκαινισμένου τε καὶ νενευρωμένου; «Τὸ γὰρ ἀπρόσληπτον ἀθεράπευτον». Ἀναλαμβάνει τοίνυν ὅλον τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ τὸ τούτου κάλλιστον ὑπὸ ἀρρωστίαν πεσόν, ἵνα ὅλῳ τὴν σωτηρίαν χαρίσηται. Νοῦς δὲ ἄσοφος ἐστερημένος τε γνώσεως οὐκ ἂν εἴη ποτέ· εἰ γὰρ ἀνενέργητος καὶ ἀκίνητος, καὶ ἀνύπαρκτος πάντως. Τὸ κατ' εἰκόνα ἀνακαινίσαι βουλόμενος ὁ θεὸς λόγος γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος. Τί δὲ τὸ κατ' εἰκόνα εἰ μὴ ὁ νοῦς; Τὸ κρεῖττον οὖν παρεὶς τὸ χεῖρον ἀνέλαβε; Νοῦς γὰρ ἐν μεταιχμίῳ ἐστὶ θεοῦ καὶ σαρ κός, τῆς μὲν ὡς σύνοικος, τοῦ θεοῦ δὲ ὡς εἰκών. Νοῦς οὖν νοῒ μίγνυται, καὶ μεσιτεύει νοῦς θεοῦ καθαρότητι καὶ σαρκὸς παχύτητι· εἰ γὰρ ψυχὴν ἄνουν ὁ κύριος ἀνέλαβεν, ἀλόγου ζῴου ψυχὴν ἀνέλαβεν. Εἰ δέ, ὅτι σάρκα γεγενῆσθαι τὸν λόγον, ἔφη ὁ εὐαγγελιστής, ἰστέον ὡς παρὰ τῇ ἁγίᾳ γραφῇ ποτὲ μὲν ψυχὴ λέγεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὡς τὸ «ἐν ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε ψυχαῖς εἰσῆλθεν Ἰακὼβ εἰς Αἴγυπτον», ποτὲ δὲ σὰρξ ὡς τὸ» ὄψεται πᾶσα σὰρξ τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ». Οὐ σὰρξ τοίνυν ἄψυχος οὐδὲ ἄνους, ἀλλ' ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν ὁ κύριος. Φησὶ γοῦν αὐτός· «Τί με δέρεις ἄνθρωπον, ὃς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑμῖν λελάληκα;» Ἀνέλαβε τοίνυν σάρκα ἐψυχωμένην ψυχῇ λογικῇ τε καὶ νοερᾷ, ἡγεμονικῇ μὲν τῆς σαρκός, ἡγεμονευομένῃ δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ λόγου θεότητος. Εἶχε μὲν οὖν φυσικῶς καὶ ὡς θεὸς καὶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος τὸ θέλειν, εἵπετο δὲ καὶ ὑπετάσσετο τῷ αὐτοῦ θελήματι μὴ κινούμενον γνώμῃ ἰδίᾳ, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα θέλον, ἃ τὸ θεῖον αὐτοῦ ἤθελε θέλημα. Παραχωρούσης γὰρ τῆς θείας θελήσεως ἔπασχε τὰ ἴδια φυσικῶς. Ὅτε μὲν γὰρ παρῃτεῖτο τὸν θάνατον, φυσικῶς τῆς θείας αὐτοῦ θελησάσης θελήσεως καὶ παραχωρησάσης παρῃτήσατο τὸν θάνατον, ἠγωνίασέ τε καὶ ἐδειλίασε. Καὶ ὅτε ἤθελεν ἡ θεία αὐτοῦ θέλησις αἱρεῖσθαι τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην αὐτοῦ θέλησιν τὸν θάνατον, ἑκούσιον αὐτῇ τὸ πάθος ἐγίνετο· οὐ γὰρ καθὸ θεὸς μόνον ἑκουσίως ἑαυτὸν παρέδωκεν εἰς θάνατον, ἀλλὰ καὶ καθὸ ἄνθρωπος. Ὅθεν τὴν κατὰ τοῦ θανάτου τόλμαν καὶ ἡμῖν ἐχαρίσατο. Οὕτω γοῦν πρὸ τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους φησί· «Πάτερ, εἰ δυνατόν, παρελθέτω ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο»· δηλονότι ὡς ἄνθρωπος τὸ ποτήριον πίνειν ἔμελλεν, οὐ γὰρ ὡς θεός. Ὡς ἄνθρωπος τοίνυν θέλει τὸ ποτήριον παρελθεῖν· ταῦτα τῆς φυσικῆς δειλίας τὰ ῥήματα. «Πλὴν μὴ τὸ ἐμὸν γινέσθω θέλημα» ἤτοι καθ' ὅ σου ἑτεροούσιός εἰμι, «ἀλλὰ τὸ σὸν» ἤτοι τὸ ἐμὸν καὶ σόν, καθ' ὅ σου πέφυκα ὁμοούσιος· ταῦτα τῆς εὐτολμίας τὰ ῥήματα. Πρότερον γὰρ τῆς φυσικῆς ἀσθενείας πειραθεῖσα κατ' αἴσθησιν τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ χωρισμῷ τοῦ σώματος καὶ φυσικὴν συμπάθειαν παθοῦσα ἡ τοῦ κυρίου ψυχὴ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἀνθρώπου γενομένου κατ' εὐδοκίαν αὐτοῦ, αὖθις τῷ θείῳ νευρωθεῖσα θελήματι τοῦ θανάτου καταθαρρύνεται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ αὐτὸς ὅλος ἦν θεὸς μετὰ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅλος ἄνθρωπος μετὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ θεότητος, αὐτὸς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐν ἑαυτῷ καὶ δι' ἑαυτοῦ ὑπέταξε τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ τύπον ἡμῖν ἑαυτὸν ἄριστον καὶ ὑπογραμμὸν διδοὺς καὶ ὑπήκοος τῷ πατρὶ γέγονεν. Αὐτεξουσίως δὲ ἤθελε τῷ τε θείῳ καὶ τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ θελήματι· πάσῃ γὰρ λογικῇ φύσει πάντως ἐμπέφυκε τὸ αὐτεξούσιον θέλημα. Εἰς τί γὰρ ἕξει τὸ λογικὸν μὴ αὐτεξουσίως λογιζομένη; Τὴν μὲν γὰρ φυσικὴν ὄρεξιν καὶ τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζῴοις δημιουργὸς ἐνέσπειρε πρὸς σύστασιν τῆς οἰκείας φύσεως αὐτὰ ἄγουσαν· λόγου γὰρ ἀμοιροῦντα οὐ δύναται ἄγειν, ἀλλ' ἄγεται ὑπὸ τῆς φυσικῆς ὀρέξεως. Ὅθεν ἅμα ἡ ὄρεξις γένηται, εὐθέως καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὴν πρᾶξιν ὁρμή· οὐ γὰρ λόγῳ ἢ βουλῇ ἢ σκέψει ἢ κρίσει κέχρηται. Ὅθεν οὔτε ὡς ἀρετὴν μετιόντα ἐπαινεῖται καὶ μακαρίζεται οὔτε ὡς