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“and the law said concerning him: a prophet from your brothers will the Lord raise up for you like me; hear him. But Moses was a man; therefore the one raised up from God, Christ 2.320, he says, was this one, but a man, since he was from them, just as Moses was a man.” And Theodotus, who has fallen into error, does not know in himself how again each word has its own security; for that the Lord raised him up from among brothers, is because he was born of Mary, as it says, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and shall bring forth a son”; and remaining a virgin “she shall conceive” not from the seed of a man, “and shall bring forth a son” clearly in the flesh, the offspring being born from a virgin, but “they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted God with us.” For he is God and man; God, begotten of the Father without beginning and without time, but man from Mary because of the incarnate presence. Then he says: “and the gospel itself said to Mary: the spirit of the Lord shall come upon you, and it did not say: the spirit of the Lord shall be in you.” Therefore, the foolish man, being contentious from all sides, falls away from the truth. For scripture, securing our life from all sides, in order to show the Trinity in every way and in every form co-existing with itself and co-operating, so that some may not say, as many also make evil excuses for themselves, alienating the Holy Spirit from Christ and the Father, for this reason the angel says to Mary, “The spirit of the Lord shall come upon you and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you,” then afterwards, “Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born shall be called the Son of God.” And it did not say only “that which shall be born,” but “Therefore also that which shall be born,” in order to show the God Logos from above both being in the womb and re-fashioning his own incarnation into himself and according to his own good pleasure; and on account of which he arranged his own incarna2.321tion for our salvation, it adds, “Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born shall be called the Son of God.” For if it had said “The Holy Spirit shall enter into you,” it would no longer have been to consider the Son of God to have come in the flesh, but the Holy Spirit to have come in the flesh. But that the Logos came from above, John, clarifying the angelic evangelical voice, says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Then after this, “And the Word was made flesh”; and it did not say “the Spirit was made flesh,” nor did it say “Christ a man was born.” For in every way the divine scripture, being secure, knows him as God and man: God from God come from above, and man born of Mary without the seed of a man. He who steps outside of these two truths does not belong to the truth. 4. Again the wretched Theodotus makes the excuse, saying, “that Jeremiah also said concerning him that he is a man, and who shall know him?” And he who has alienated himself from the truth does not know that, as I have said, each word has its own power of interpretation. For a man is in every case known by the many who know him; I mean by father and mother, and brothers and kinsmen, and tent-companions and neighbors, and citizens and servants. But here the scripture, relating the wonderful nature of his whole economy, said man on account of the incarnate presence, but with “who shall know him?” it signified concerning his incomprehensible divinity. For since “no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and he to whom he may reveal him,” therefore no one will know him, unless he himself reveals to him. And he reveals through the Holy Spirit to his servants his own and his Father's divinity and glory and his future eternal life and his mysteries and teaching and his true incarnate presence for our sake, that he is God from above and man from Mary. 2.322 5. Then Theodotus himself says again that “and Isaiah

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«καὶ ὁ νόμος περὶ αὐτοῦ ἔφη· προφήτην ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑμῶν ἐγερεῖ ὑμῖν κύριος ὡς ἐμέ· αὐτοῦ ἀκούσατε. Μωυσῆς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἦν· ὁ οὖν ἐκ θεοῦ ἐγειρόμενος Χριστὸς 2.320 οὗτος, φησίν, ἦν, ἀλλὰ ἄνθρωπος, ἐπειδὴ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἦν, ὡς καὶ ὁ Μωυσῆς ἄνθρωπος ἦν». καὶ οὐκ οἶδεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ ὁ ἐν παραπτώματι γεγονὼς Θεόδοτος πῶς πάλιν ἑκάστη λέξις ἔχει τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἀσφάλειαν· ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἀδελφῶν αὐτὸν ἤγειρεν ὁ κύριος, διὰ τὸ ἐκ Μαρίας αὐτὸν γεγεννῆσθαι, ὡς λέγει «ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει, καὶ τέξεται υἱόν»· καὶ παρθένος μένουσα «ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει» οὐκ ἐκ σπέρματος ἀνδρός, «καὶ τέξεται υἱόν» δῆλον ἐν σαρκὶ τὸ γέννημα τὸ ἀπὸ παρθένου γεννώμενον, ἀλλά «καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, ὃ ἑρμηνεύεται θεὸς μεθ' ἡμῶν». ἔστιν γὰρ θεὸς καὶ ἄνθρωπος· θεὸς μὲν ἀπὸ πατρὸς γεγεννημένος ἀνάρχως καὶ ἀχρόνως, ἄνθρωπος δὲ ἀπὸ Μαρίας διὰ τὴν ἔνσαρκον παρουσίαν. Εἶτά φησι· «καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἔφη τῇ Μαρίᾳ· πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σέ, καὶ οὐκ εἶπε· πνεῦμα κυρίου γενήσεται ἐν σοί». διὸ ἐκ πανταχόθεν φιλονεικῶν ὁ ἀνόητος ἄνθρωπος ἐκπίπτει τῆς ἀληθείας. ἀσφαλιζομένη γὰρ ἡ γραφὴ πανταχόθεν τὴν ἡμετέραν ζωήν, ἵνα τὴν τριάδα δείξῃ πάντῃ τε καὶ ἐν παντὶ εἴδει συνοῦσαν ἑαυτῇ καὶ συνεργοῦσαν, ἵνα μή τινες εἴπωσιν ὡς καὶ πολλοὶ προφασίζονται ἑαυτοῖς κακά, ἀλλοτριοῦντες τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τοῦ πατρός, τούτου ἕνεκεν ὁ ἄγγελος λέγει τῇ Μαριάμ «πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σὲ καὶ ἐπισκιάσει σοι δύναμις ὑψίστου», εἶτα μετέπειτα «διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον ἅγιον κληθήσεται υἱὸς θεοῦ». καὶ οὐκ εἶπε μόνον «τὸ γεννώμενον», ἀλλά «διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον», ἵνα δείξῃ τὸν ἄνωθεν θεὸν Λόγον καὶ ἐν μήτρᾳ γενόμενον καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀναπλασάμενον τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐνανθρώπησιν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ εὐδοκίαν· καὶ δι' ἣν ᾠκονόμησεν ἑαυτοῦ ἐνανθρώ2.321 πησιν εἰς ἡμῶν σωτηρίαν προστίθησι «διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον ἅγιον κληθήσεται υἱὸς θεοῦ». εἰ γὰρ εἶπε «πνεῦμα ἅγιον εἰσελεύσεται εἰς σέ», οὐκέτι υἱὸν θεοῦ ἦν ἡγεῖσθαι ἐν σαρκὶ παραγεγονότα, ἀλλὰ πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐν σαρκὶ παραγεγονέναι. ὅτι δὲ ἄνωθέν ἐστιν ἐλθὼν ὁ Λόγος, ὁ Ἰωάννης σαφηνίσας τὴν τοῦ ἀγγέλου εὐαγγελικὴν φωνὴν λέγει «ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος. πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν». εἶτα μετὰ ταῦτα «καὶ ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο»· καὶ οὐκ εἶπε «τὸ πνεῦμα σὰρξ ἐγένετο», οὐδὲ εἶπε «Χριστὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐγεννήθη». πάντῃ γὰρ ἀσφαλιζομένη ἡ θεία γραφὴ θεὸν καὶ ἄνθρωπον αὐτὸν ἐπίσταται· θεὸν ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἄνωθεν ἥκοντα, ἄνθρωπον δὲ ἀπὸ Μαρίας ἄνευ σπέρματος ἀνδρὸς γεγεννημένον. τῶν δύο τούτων ἀληθινῶν ὁ ἐκτὸς βαίνων οὐχ ὑπάρχει τῆς ἀληθείας. 4. Προφασίζεται πάλιν ὁ τάλας Θεόδοτος λέγων «ὅτι καὶ ὁ Ἱερεμίας περὶ αὐτοῦ ἔφη ὅτι ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν, καὶ τίς γνώσεται αὐτόν;» καὶ οὐκ οἶδεν ὁ ἑαυτὸν τῆς ἀληθείας ἀποξενώσας ὅτι, ὡς ἔφην, ἑκάστη λέξις ἔχει τὴν ἑαυτῆς δύναμιν τῆς ἑρμηνείας. ὁ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ὢν πάντως ὑπὸ πολλῶν γινώσκεται τῶν αὐτὸν γινωσκόντων· φημὶ δὲ πατρὸς καὶ μητρός, ἀδελφῶν τε καὶ συγγενῶν, συσκήνων τε καὶ γειτόνων, πολιτῶν τε καὶ οἰκετῶν. ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἡ γραφὴ τὸ θαυμαστὸν διηγουμένη τῆς ὅλης αὐτοῦ πραγματείας ἄνθρωπον μὲν ἔφη διὰ τὴν ἔνσαρκον παρουσίαν, τῷ δέ «τίς γνώσεται αὐτόν» ἐσήμανε περὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ θεότητος τῆς ἀκαταλήπτου. ἐπειδὴ γάρ «οὐδεὶς οἶδε τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατὴρ καὶ τὸν πατέρα οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν ἀποκαλύψῃ», οὐδεὶς οὖν γνώσεται αὐτόν, ἐὰν μὴ αὐτὸς αὐτῷ ἀποκαλύψῃ. ἀποκαλύπτει δὲ διὰ ἁγίου πνεύματος τοῖς αὐτοῦ δούλοις τὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν τοῦ αὐτοῦ πατρὸς θεότητα καὶ δόξαν καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ ζωὴν αἰώνιον τὴν μέλλουσαν καὶ τὰ αὐτοῦ μυστήρια καὶ διδασκαλίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ δι' ἡμᾶς ἔνσαρκον ἀληθῆ παρουσίαν, ὅτι θεὸς ἄνωθεν καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἀπὸ Μαρίας. 2.322 5. Εἶτα ὁ αὐτός φησι πάλιν Θεόδοτος ὅτι «καὶ Ἠσαΐας