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to have been crucified. For indeed we confess both the Lord of glory and his incarnate presence itself; for the incarnate presence has not been divided from the Godhead, with each hypostasis being reasonably understood, and the whole matter being united for us into one economy and one perfection. For Christ is proclaimed to us and believed to be passible, not having suffered in himself, nor because the one who suffered is one person and the Lord is another, nor because the Godhead suffered, but our Lord Jesus Christ suffered, with the Godhead remaining immutable and impassible, but suffering in the flesh and remaining impassible. For if Christ died for us and truly died, the Godhead did not die, but he died in the flesh, according to what is said, "being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit," and again, "Christ having suffered for us in the flesh." Wonderfully is it confessed to us that he suffered in truth 3.445 and was impassible in truth, the Godhead not suffering on account of being immutable and impassible and consubstantial with the Father, but the flesh suffering and the Godhead not being divided from the incarnate presence in the passion. For both the Godhead and the humanity were together, when on the cross Christ suffered in the flesh, but remained impassible in his Godhead, so that we might no longer have justification in the flesh alone, but in the Godhead, and so that salvation might come to us in both the Godhead and the flesh. For Christ is not a mere man for us, but the Word in person having become incarnate and God having become man in truth, since we do not have our hope in a man, but in the Godhead, and since we do not have a suffering God, but an impassible one, who did not accomplish our salvation apart from suffering, but in dying for us and offering himself to the Father as a sacrifice for our souls, "cleansing" us "in his blood," "having torn up the record that was against us and nailed it to the cross," as scripture everywhere teaches us. 33. And it will be possible for me to say many things concerning these matters for demonstration, should the need arise. For indeed we have spoken in other places, clarifying this contemplation concerning our certain salvation, that just as, if a garment happens to be dyed by the sprinkling of blood, it has not dyed the body of the one wearing it, but the dyeing of the garment is not reckoned to the garment, but to the man who wears it, so also the passion did not befall the Godhead, but occurred in the humanity, but it was not reckoned to the humanity alone, but, so that the saying "cursed is everyone who has his hope in a man" might not be fulfilled in the economy of salvation, it was also reckoned to the Godhead, though the Godhead did not suffer, so that the salvation of the passion might be reckoned in the Godhead for the holy church of God. But again, let no one, being a word-hunter, wish to reason for himself rather than understand the riddle of the likeness. For not every parable in scripture is taken in its entirety, like "Judah is a lion's whelp," on account of the animal being very strong and most kingly, but not on account of it being irrational and rapacious. So also in the case of the garment, it is not put on and taken off, but once for all according to what is said, "he put on majesty," and a second time, "he put on strength and girded 3.446 himself," the voice of the most holy apostle being fulfilled in this, that "he dies no more, death no longer has dominion over him." Therefore, this being the case, our brothers wish to bring forward to us for demonstration the saying, "but we have the mind of Christ." But according to their argument which is expressed on this contemplation, they bring us to the suspicion, that perhaps they have understood the mind of Christ as being something other. But if they do not reckon the Godhead to be outside the humanity, but that the economy is one, what then will the so-called mind of Christ be in addition? Is it perhaps that God the Word is by himself, not having a human mind, as they say, in the incarnate presence, but Christ has another mind besides his own
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ἐσταυρῶσθαι. καὶ γὰρ καὶ κύριον δόξης ὁμολογοῦμεν καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ἔνσαρκον παρουσίαν· οὐ γὰρ διῄρηται ἀπὸ τῆς θεότητος ἡ ἔνσαρκος παρουσία, τῆς ἑκάστης ὑποθέσεως εὐλόγως νοουμένης καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ τῆς πάσης πραγματείας εἰς μίαν οἰκονομίαν καὶ μίαν τελειότητα ἡμῖν συνηνωμένης. παθητὸς γὰρ ἡμῖν κηρύττεται Χριστὸς καὶ πιστεύεται, οὐ καθ' ἑαυτὸν παθών, οὐδὲ ὅτι ἄλλος ἐστὶν ὁ πεπονθὼς καὶ ἄλλος ὁ κύριος, οὐδὲ ὅτι ἡ θεότης πέπονθεν, ἀλλὰ πέπονθε μὲν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, τῆς θεότητος ἀτρέπτου μενούσης τε καὶ ἀπαθοῦς, πασχούσης δὲ ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ καὶ ἀπαθοῦς μενούσης. εἰ γὰρ ἀπέθανε Χριστὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ ὄντως ἀπέθανεν, οὐχ ἡ θεότης ἀπέθανεν, ἀλλὰ ἀπέθανεν ἐν σαρκί, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον «θανατωθεὶς σαρκί, ζωοποιηθεὶς δὲ τῷ πνεύματι», καὶ πάλιν «Χριστοῦ παθόντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκί». θαυμαστῶς ἡμῖν ὡμολόγηται πεπονθὼς ἐν ἀληθείᾳ 3.445 καὶ ἀπαθὴς ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, τῆς θεότητος μὴ παθούσης διὰ τὸ ἄτρεπτον καὶ ἀπαθὲς καὶ ὁμοούσιον τῷ πατρί, παθούσης δὲ τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ οὐ μερισθείσης τῆς θεότητος ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνσάρκου παρουσίας ἐν τῷ πάθει. συνῆν γὰρ καὶ ἡ θεότης καὶ ἡ ἐνανθρώπησις, ὅτε ἐπὶ τῷ σταυρῷ ἔπασχε μὲν Χριστὸς σαρκί, ἀπαθὴς δὲ ἔμεινε θεότητι, ἵνα τὴν δικαίωσιν μηκέτι ἐν σαρκὶ μόνον ἔχωμεν, ἀλλὰ ἐν τῇ θεότητι, καὶ ἵνα ἐν τῇ θεότητι καὶ ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ κατ' ἀμφοῖν ἡμῖν σωτηρία γένηται. οὐ γὰρ ψιλὸς ἡμῖν ἄνθρωπος ὁ Χριστός, ἀλλὰ λόγος ἐνυπόστατος ἔνσαρκος γενόμενος καὶ θεὸς ἄνθρωπος γεγονὼς ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, ἡμῶν μὴ ἐχόντων τὴν ἐλπίδα ἐπ' ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ θεότητι, καὶ ἡμῶν μὴ ἐχόντων θεὸν πάσχοντα, ἀλλ' ἀπαθῆ, ἐκτὸς δὲ πάθους τὴν σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν μὴ πεποιηκότα, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀποθανεῖν καὶ ἑαυτὸν προσενέγκαι τῷ πατρὶ θυσίαν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν, «ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ καθαρίσας» ἡμᾶς, «σχίσας τὸ καθ' ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον καὶ προσηλώσας αὐτὸ τῷ σταυρῷ», καθὼς πάντη ἡ γραφὴ διδάσκει ἡμᾶς. 33. Καὶ ἔσται μοι περὶ τούτων, εἰ χρεία γένοιτο, εἰς παράστασιν εἰπεῖν πολλά. καὶ γὰρ ἐν ἄλλοις εἰρήκαμεν, τὴν θεωρίαν ταύτην σαφηνίζοντες περὶ τῆς ἡμῶν βεβαίας σωτηρίας, ὅτι ὡς, ἂν ἐκ ῥαντισμοῦ αἵματος τυγχάνῃ βαφὴ ἐν ἱματίῳ, τὸ μὲν σῶμα οὐκ ἔβαψε τοῦ φοροῦντος, ἡ δὲ βαφὴ τοῦ ἱματίου οὐκ εἰς τὸ ἱμάτιον λελόγισται, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν φοροῦντα, οὕτω καὶ τὸ πάθος τῇ θεότητι μὲν οὐκ ἐνέσκηψεν, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ἐνανθρωπήσει ἐγένετο, οὐκ ἐλογίσθη δὲ τῇ ἐνανθρωπήσει μόνῃ, ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ πληρωθῇ ἐν τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ τῆς σωτηρίας τὸ «ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὃς ἔχει τὴν ἐλπίδα ἐπ' ἄνθρωπον», ἀλλ' ἐλογίσθη καὶ εἰς τὴν θεότητα, τῆς θεότητος μὴ πασχούσης, ἵνα ἐν τῇ θεότητι λογισθῇ τῇ ἁγίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ πάθους ἡ σωτηρία. ἀλλὰ πάλιν μὴ λεξίθηρ ὤν τις ἑαυτὸν θελήσῃ μᾶλλον συλλογίσασθαι ἤπερ τὸ αἴνιγμα τοῦ ὁμοιώματος. οὐ γὰρ πᾶσα παραβολὴ ἐν τῇ γραφῇ ὅλη λαμβάνεται, ὡς τὸ «σκύμνος λέοντος Ἰούδα», διὰ τὸ ἰσχυρότερον τοῦ ζῴου καὶ βασιλικώτατον, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ διὰ τὸ ἄλογον καὶ ἁρπακτικόν. οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἱματίου, οὐκ ἐνδυομένου καὶ ἐκδυομένου, ἀλλ' ἅπαξ κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον «εὐπρέπειαν ἐνεδύσατο», τὸ δὲ δεύτερον «ἐνεδύσατο δύναμιν καὶ διεζώ3.446 σατο», πληρουμένης ἐπὶ τούτῳ τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου ἀποστόλου τῆς φωνῆς, τὸ «οὐκέτι ἀποθνήσκει, θάνατος αὐτοῦ οὐκέτι κυριεύει». Τοίνυν τούτων οὕτως ἐχόντων βούλονται οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἡμῶν εἰς παράστασιν ἡμῖν φέρειν τὸ «ἡμεῖς δὲ νοῦν Χριστοῦ ἔχομεν». κατὰ δὲ τὸν λόγον αὐτῶν τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ θεωρίᾳ ταύτῃ φραζόμενον εἰς ὑπόνοιαν ἡμᾶς φέρουσι, μὴ τάχα νενοήκασιν ὡς τοῦ νοῦ ἑτέρου ὄντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. εἰ δὲ οὐ λογίζονται ἐκτὸς εἶναι τὴν θεότητα τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως, ἀλλὰ μίαν εἶναι τὴν οἰκονομίαν, τί ἄρα ἔσται περισσότερον νοῦς Χριστοῦ ὁ λεγόμενος; μὴ ἄρα καθ' ἑαυτὸν ὁ θεὸς λόγος ἐστί, μὴ ἔχων νοῦν ἀνθρώπινον, ὥς φασιν, ἐν τῇ ἐνσάρκῳ παρουσίᾳ, νοῦν δὲ ἕτερον ἔχει Χριστὸς παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ