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This manner is a periphrasis, when one includes two things in one word. For just as we speak of the one cutting cauterization and the cauterized cutting of the red-hot knife, but we say that the cutting is one operation and the cauterization another, and of one nature and of another, the cauterization of the fire, and the cutting of the iron, so when we speak of the one theandric operation of Christ, we understand the two operations of His two natures, the divine operation of His divinity and the human operation of His humanity. 64 Concerning the natural and blameless passions We confess, moreover, that He assumed all the natural and blameless passions of man. For He assumed the whole man and all that belongs to man, except sin; for this is not natural nor sown in us by the Creator, but arises voluntarily from the subsequent sowing of the devil in our free will, not holding sway over us by force. The natural and blameless passions are those which are not in our power, such as entered into human life from the condemnation for the transgression; such as hunger, thirst, weariness, pain, tears, corruption, shrinking from death, fear, agony (from which come sweat, drops of blood), the help of angels because of the weakness of the nature, and such like, which are naturally inherent in all men. Therefore, He assumed all things, that He might sanctify all things. He was tempted and He conquered, that He might secure the victory for us and give to our nature the power to conquer the adversary, so that the nature which was formerly conquered might conquer its former conqueror by means of the very assaults by which it was conquered. The evil one, then, attacked from without, not through thoughts as he did with Adam; for even with him it was not through thoughts, but through the serpent. But the Lord repulsed the assault and dispelled it like smoke, so that the passions which attacked Him and were conquered might become easy for us to overcome, and thus the new Adam might save the old. Surely, our natural passions were in Christ both according to nature and above nature. For they were stirred in Him according to nature, when He permitted the flesh to suffer what was proper to it; but above nature, because the natural did not precede the will in the Lord; for nothing forced is seen in Him, but all things are voluntary; for willing He was hungry, willing He was thirsty, willing He feared, willing He died. 65 Concerning ignorance and servitude It must be known that He assumed a nature that is ignorant and enslaved; for the nature of man is the slave of God who made it and does not have knowledge of the future. ‘If, therefore,’ according to Gregory the Theologian, ‘you separate what is seen from what is thought,’ the flesh is said to be both enslaved and ignorant, but because of the identity of the hypostasis and the indivisible union, the soul of the Lord was enriched with the knowledge of the future as well as with the other divine signs. For just as the flesh of men is not life-giving according to its own nature (but the flesh of the Lord, united hypostatically to God the Word Himself, did not depart from its natural mortality, yet became life-giving through its hypostatic union with the Word), and we cannot say that it was not and is not always life-giving, so the human nature does not essentially possess the knowledge of the future; but the soul of the Lord, through its union with God the Word and its hypostatic identity, was enriched, as I said, with the knowledge of the future along with the other divine signs. But it must be known that we cannot call Him a slave either; for the names of servitude and lordship are not marks of nature, but of relation, like those of fatherhood and sonship. For these are indicative not of substance, but of relationship. Just as, therefore, we said concerning ignorance, that if you separate the created from the uncreated with subtle thoughts, that is, with fine fancies of the mind, the flesh is a slave, if it were not united to God the Word. But once united hypostatically, how will it be a slave? For Christ, being one, cannot be a slave to Himself, being Lord; for these things are not spoken of absolutely, but in relation to another. Of whom, then, will he be a slave? Of the

67

τρόπος οὗτος περίφρασις, ὅταν τις δύο τινὰ διὰ μιᾶς περιλάβῃ λέξεως. Ὥσπερ γὰρ μίαν τὴν τετμημένην καῦσιν λέγομεν καὶ τὴν κεκαυμένην τομὴν τῆς πεπυρακτωμένης μαχαίρας, ἄλλην δὲ ἐνέργειάν φαμεν τὴν τομὴν καὶ ἄλλην τὴν καῦσιν καὶ ἄλλης καὶ ἄλλης φύσεως, τοῦ μὲν πυρὸς τὴν καῦσιν, τοῦ δὲ σιδήρου τὴν τομήν, οὕτω μίαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ θεανδρικὴν ἐνέργειαν λέγοντες δύο τὰς ἐνεργείας νοοῦμεν τῶν δύο φύσεων αὐτοῦ, τῆς μὲν θεότητος αὐτοῦ τὴν θείαν καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἐνέργειαν. 64 Περὶ τῶν φυσικῶν καὶ ἀδιαβλήτων παθῶν Ὁμολογοῦμεν δέ, ὅτι πάντα τὰ φυσικὰ καὶ ἀδιάβλητα πάθη τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀνέλαβεν. Ὅλον γὰρ τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ πάντα τὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀνέλαβε πλὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας· αὕτη γὰρ οὐ φυσική ἐστιν οὐδὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ ἡμῖν ἐνσπαρεῖσα, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς τοῦ διαβόλου ἐπισπορᾶς ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ αὐτεξουσίῳ προαιρέσει ἑκουσίως συνισταμένη, οὐ βίᾳ ἡμῶν κρατοῦσα. Φυσικὰ δὲ καὶ ἀδιάβλητα πάθη εἰσὶ τὰ οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, ὅσα ἐκ τῆς ἐπὶ τῇ παραβάσει κατακρίσεως εἰς τὸν ἀνθρώπινον εἰσῆλθε βίον· οἷον πεῖνα, δίψα, κόπος, πόνος, τὸ δάκρυον, ἡ φθορά, ἡ τοῦ θανάτου παραίτησις, ἡ δειλία, ἡ ἀγωνία (ἐξ ἧς οἱ ἱδρῶτες, οἱ θρόμβοι τοῦ αἵματος), ἡ διὰ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τῆς φύσεως ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων βοήθεια καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἅτινα πᾶσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις φυσικῶς ἐνυπάρχουσι. Πάντα τοίνυν ἀνέλαβεν, ἵνα πάντα ἁγιάσῃ. Ἐπειράσθη καὶ ἐνίκησεν, ἵνα ἡμῖν τὴν νίκην πραγματεύσηται καὶ δῷ τῇ φύσει δύναμιν νικᾶν τὸν ἀντίπαλον, ἵνα ἡ φύσις ἡ πάλαι νικηθεῖσα, δι' ὧν προσβολῶν ἐνικήθη, διὰ τούτων νικήσῃ τὸν πάλαι νικήσαντα. Ὁ μὲν οὖν πονηρὸς ἔξωθεν προσέβαλεν οὐ διὰ λογισμῶν ὥσπερ καὶ τῷ Ἀδάμ· κἀκείνῳ γὰρ οὐ διὰ λογισμῶν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦ ὄφεως. Ὁ δὲ κύριος τὴν προσβολὴν ἀπεκρούσατο καὶ ὡς καπνὸν διέλυσεν, ἵνα προσβαλόντα αὐτῷ τὰ πάθη καὶ νικηθέντα καὶ ἡμῖν εὐκαταγώνιστα γένηται καὶ οὕτως ὁ νέος Ἀδὰμ τὸν παλαιὸν ἀνασώσηται. Ἀμέλει τὰ φυσικὰ ἡμῶν πάθη κατὰ φύσιν καὶ ὑπὲρ φύσιν ἦσαν ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ. Κατὰ φύσιν μὲν γὰρ ἐκινεῖτο ἐν αὐτῷ, ὅτε παρεχώρει τῇ σαρκὶ πάσχειν τὰ ἴδια· ὑπὲρ φύσιν δέ, οὐ γὰρ προηγεῖτο ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ τῆς θελήσεως τὰ φυσικά· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἠναγκασμένον ἐπ' αὐτοῦ θεωρεῖται, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἑκούσια· θέλων γὰρ ἐπείνασε, θέλων ἐδίψησε, θέλων ἐδειλίασε, θέλων ἀπέθανεν. 65 Περὶ ἀγνοίας καὶ δουλείασ ∆εῖ γινώσκειν, ὅτι τὴν μὲν ἀγνοοῦσαν καὶ δούλην ἀνέλαβεν φύσιν· καὶ γὰρ δούλη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνθρώπου φύσις τοῦ ποιήσαντος αὐτὴν θεοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἔχει τὴν τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν. «Ἐὰν οὖν» κατὰ τὸν θεολόγον Γρηγόριον «χωρίσῃς τὸ ὁρώμενον τοῦ νοουμένου», δούλη τε λέγεται καὶ ἀγνοοῦσα ἡ σάρξ, διὰ δὲ τὴν τῆς ὑποστάσεως ταυτότητα καὶ τὴν ἀδιάσπαστον ἕνωσιν κατεπλούτησεν ἡ τοῦ κυρίου ψυχὴ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν ὡς καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς θεοσημίας. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ σὰρξ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατὰ τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν οὐκ ἔστι ζωοποιός (ἡ δὲ τοῦ κυρίου σὰρξ ἑνωθεῖσα καθ' ὑπόστασιν αὐτῷ τῷ θεῷ λόγῳ τῆς μὲν κατὰ φύσιν θνητότητος οὐκ ἀπέστη, ζωοποιὸς δὲ γέγονε διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν λόγον καθ' ὑπόστασιν ἕνωσιν) καὶ οὐ δυνάμεθα λέγειν, ὅτι οὐκ ἦν καὶ ἔστιν ἀεὶ ζωοποιός, οὕτως ἡ μὲν ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις οὐσιωδῶς οὐ κέκτηται τῶν μελλόντων τὴν γνῶσιν· ἡ δὲ τοῦ κυρίου ψυχὴ διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν λόγον ἕνωσιν καὶ τὴν ὑποστατικὴν ταυτότητα κατεπλούτησεν, ὡς ἔφην, μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν θεοσημιῶν καὶ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν. Ἰστέον δέ, ὅτι οὔτε δοῦλον αὐτὸν λέγειν δυνάμεθα· τὸ γὰρ τῆς δουλείας καὶ τῆς δεσποτείας ὄνομα οὐ φύσεώς εἰσι γνωρίσματα, ἀλλὰ τῶν πρός τι, ὥσπερ τὸ τῆς πατρότητος καὶ τῆς υἱότητος. Ταῦτα γὰρ οὐκ οὐσίας, ἀλλὰ σχέσεώς εἰσι δηλωτικά. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγνοίας εἴπομεν, ὅτι, ἐὰν ἰσχναῖς ἐπινοίαις ἤτοι νοῦ λεπταῖς φαντασίαις διέλῃς τὸ κτιστὸν ἐκ τοῦ ἀκτίστου, δούλη ἐστὶν ἡ σάρξ, εἰ μὴ ἥνωτο τῷ θεῷ λόγῳ. Ἅπαξ δὲ ἑνωθεῖσα καθ' ὑπόστασιν πῶς ἔσται δούλη; Εἷς γὰρ ὢν ὁ Χριστὸς οὐ δύναται δοῦλος ἑαυτοῦ εἶναι κύριος ὤν· ταῦτα γὰρ οὐ τῶν ἁπλῶς λεγομένων εἰσίν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἕτερον. Τίνος οὖν ἔσται δοῦλος; Τοῦ