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against which they have absolutely no power, opening just like the gates of Hades, the wicked mouths of the heretics. For concerning the illegitimate ones, and those grafted illegitimately from the wild olive tree onto the good olive tree, I knew, even before writing to you blessed ones, that according to the prophetic word: "Like a dog to its own vomit," I mean they are about to return to the foulness of their unpleasantness concerning the faith; like second Simons, and Demases and Hermogeneses, having chosen to prefer falsehood to the truth; and wronging in no way, as they think, by their apostasy the preachers of piety, or rather being justly harmed by the deprivation of grace; and not even the present age, for which they apostatized from the truth, are they able to possess to their satisfaction, being by nature unstable and easily changed, and always eluding those who think they possess it.

For truly unpleasant and full of foul odor and devoid of all grace is every doctrine that does not maintain that there are preserved according to nature in the one Christ the things from which Christ is after the ineffable union; but as if denying the entire economy of God concerning man, and cutting off from the Word of God what was assumed, from the immaculate and holy all-glorious Virgin and true Theotokos, a rational, ensouled body. For in fact he truly cuts off, even if he seems somehow to confess it merely with his mouth for the deception of his hearers, and completely denies the incarnation, he who does not say that after the union the nature of the flesh exists, is preserved and is spoken of, united unconfusedly and indivisibly to God the Word according to hypostasis, on the pretext, forsooth, of reverence, so as not to seem to divide the union by number, to speak properly, clearly denying after the union the existence of all the natures from which (513) Christ is.

A more physical conception of number. And they suffer this, it seems, because they are ignorant that every number neither divides

according to its own principle, nor is it divided; it is not at all productive of division, nor indeed of union. For it is not its nature to act or be acted upon, since it is not a substance or an accident, in which acting and being acted upon consist; but only indicative of the quantity of the underlying things, just as they happen to be in relation to one another; whether united, or distinct. As it were, if I may speak boldly, a name of quantity, signifying it without relation. For neither does number make the necessary natural distinction of beings, or quantity; nor does it of itself work the continuity of things joined together according to the same species; nor indeed is it characteristic of any property at all of the individuals under the same species distinguished from one another by their accidents. For to do these things is the property of divine wisdom and power, which constituted the universe, and preserves each thing unconfused, by the natural definitions of beings that concern the universe; but only, as I said, of the quantity simply, but not of the "how" of things does it make a declaration, just like some fitting name of quantity.

More accurately concerning difference, and quantity, and their pious confession. If, then, according to the Fathers, number is indicative of the quantity of things, but not of their

relation; and every quantity considered with natural otherness, certainly admits of difference; and they also speak of a natural difference in Christ after the union, even those who fight against the truth; and the quantity of the differing things, without which it is impossible for there to be a difference along with the number that indicates it; without which quantity cannot be known at all

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καθ' ἧς οὐδέν τό παράπαν ἰσχύουσιν, ἀνοιγόμενα καθάπερ ᾅδου πύλαι, τά πονηρά τῶν αἱρετικῶν στόματα. Περί γάρ τῶν νόθων, καί νόθως ἐκ τῆς ἀγριελαίας παρενκεντρισθέντων εἰς τήν καλλιέλαιον ἐγίνωσκον, καί πρίν γράψαι τούς εὐλογημένους ὑμᾶς, ὅτι κατά τόν προφητικόν λόγον· Ὡς κύων ἐπί τόν ἴδιον ἔμετον, τῆς κατά τήν πίστιν αὐτῶν ἀηδείας λέγω τό δυσῶδες ἔχουσιν ἐπιστρέψαι· οἷα δή Σίμωνες δεύτεροι, καί ∆ήμαντες καί Ἑρμογένεις, προκρίνειν ἑλόμενοι τῆς ἀληθείας τό ψεῦδος· καί μηδέν ἀδικοῦντες, ὡς οἴονται, τῇ ἀποστασίᾳ τούς κήρυκας τῆς εὐσεβείας, ἤ βλαπτόμενοι μᾶλλον ἐνδίκως τῇ στερήσει τῆς χάριτος· καί οὐδέ τόν νῦν αἰῶνα, δι᾿ ὅν τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπέστησαν, ἔχειν καταθυμίως δυνάμενοι, κατά φύσιν ἄστατον ὄντα καί εὐαλλοίωτον, καί ἀεί παρατρέχοντα τούς κρατεῖν νομίζοντας.

Ἀηδής γάρ ὄντως ὑπάρχει καί δυσωδίας μεστός καί πάσης χάριτος ἔρημος, πᾶς λόγος, μή σώζεσθαι πρεσβεύων κατά φύσιν ἐν τῷ ἑνί Χριστῷ τά ἐξ ὧν Χριστός μετά τήν ἄφραστον ἕνωσιν· ἀλλ᾿ οἷον ἀρνούμενος τήν ὅλην τοῦ Θεοῦ περί τόν ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομίαν, καί περιτέμνων τοῦ Λόγου τοῦ Θεοῦ τό προσειλημμένον, ἐκ τῆς ἀχράντου καί ἁγίας πανενδόξου Παρθένου καί κατά ἀλήθειαν Θεοτόκου, σῶμα λογικόν ἐμψυχωμένον. Περιτέμνει γάρ ἀληθῶς τῷ πράγματι, κἄν δοκῇ πῶς ψιλῶς ὀμολογεῖν τῷ στόματι τῶν ἀκουόντων ἐξαπάτην, καί παντελῶς ἀρνεῖται τήν σάρκωσιν, ὁ μετά τήν ἕνωσιν μή λέγων εἶναι, σώζεσθαί τε καί λέγεσθαι τῆς σαρκός τήν φύσιν, ἀσυγχύτως τε καί ἀδιαιρέτως ἡνωμένην τῷ Θεῷ Λόγῳ καθ᾿ ὑπόστασιν, προφάσει δῆθεν εὐλαβείας, τοῦ μή τεμεῖν δόξαι διά τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τήν ἕνωσιν, αὐτήν κυρίως εἰπεῖν, τήν πᾶσαν τῶν ἐξ ὧν (513) ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός φύσεων, μετά τήν ἕνωσιν σαφῶς ἀρνούμενος ὕπαρξιν.

Περί ἀριθμοῦ φυσικωτέρα διάληψις. Τοῦτο δέ πάσχουσιν, ὡς ἔοικε, παρά τό ἀγνοεῖν αὐτούς, ὅτι πᾶς ἀριθμός οὔτε διαιρεῖ

κατά τόν ἴδιον λόγου, οὔτε διαιρεῖται· οὔτε διαιρέσεως, οὔτε μήν ἑνώσεως παντελῶς ἐστι ποιητικός. Ποιεῖν γάρ ἤ πάσχειν οὐ πέφυκε, μή ὑπάρχων οὐσία ἤ συμβεβηκός· περί ἅ τό ποιεῖν τε καί πάσχειν ἐστίν· ἀλλά μόνον δηλωτικός τοῦ ποσοῦ τῶν ὑποκειμένων πραγμάτων, ὡς δ᾿ ἄν κατά τήν σχέσιν ἔχοντα τύχωσιν· εἴτε ἡνωμένα, εἴτε διακεκριμένα. Οἷον, ἵν᾿ εἴπω τι θαῤῥήσας, ὄνομα ποσοῦ, χωρίς τῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ σχέσεως σημαντικόν. Οὔτε γάρ τήν τῶν ὄντων ἐξ ἀνάγκης φυσικήν ὁ ἀριθμός ποιεῖται διάκρισιν, ἤ ποσότητα· οὔτε τῶν συνημμένων κατά τό αὐτό εἶδος ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ ἐργάζεται τήν συνέχειαν· οὔτε μήν καθ᾿ ὅλου τινός ἐστι χαρακτηριστικός ἰδιότητος τῶν ὑπό τό αὐτό εἶδος πρός ἄλληλα τοῖς συμβεβηκόσι διακεκριμμένων ἀτόμων. Ταῦτα γάρ ποιεῖν τῆς θείας σοφίας τε καί δυνάμεως καθέστηκεν ἴδιον, τῆς τό πᾶν συστησαμένης, καί ἀσύγχυτον διατηρούσης ἔκστον, τοῖς περί τό πᾶν κατά φύσιν τῶν ὄντων διορισμοῖς· ἀλλά μόνον, ὡς ἔφην, τοῦ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ τοῦ πῶς τῶν πραγμάτων ποσοῦ ποιεῖται δήλωσιν, καθάπερ τι ὄνομα ποσοῦ προσφυές.

Περί διαφορᾶς, καί ποσότητος ἀκριβέστερον, καί τῆς αὐτῶν εὐσεβοῦς ὁμολογίας. Εἰ τοίνυν κατά τούς Πατέρας, ὁ ἀριθμός τοῦ ποσοῦ τῶν πραγμάτων, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ τῆς

σχέσεώς ἐστι δηλωτικός· πᾶν δέ ποσόν ἑτερότητι φυσικῇ θεωρούμενον, διαφοράν πάντως ἐπιδέχεται· διαφοράν δέ λέγουσιν ἐπί Χριστοῦ φυσικήν μετά τήν ἕνωσιν καί οἱ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ μαχόμενοι· καί τό ποσόν τῶν διαφερόντων, οὗ χωρίς ἀμήχανον εἶναι διαφοράν μετά τοῦ δηλοῦντος αὐτό ἀριθμοῦ· οὗ χωρίς ποσόν καθ᾿ ὅλου γνωσθῆναι