ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΥ ΝΥΣΣΗΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΚΑΤΑΣΚΕΥΗΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΥ. Τῷ ἀδελφῷ δούλῳ Θεοῦ Πέτρῳ Γρηγόριος ἐπίσκοπος Νύσσης.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΠΡΩΤΟΝ. Ἐν ᾧ τίς ἐστι μερικὴ περὶ τοῦ κόσμου φυσιολογία, καί τις ἁβροτέρα διήγησις περὶ τῶν προγεγονότων τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου γενέσεως.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Βʹ. Διὰ τί μετὰ τὴν κτίσιν τελευταῖος ὁ ἄνθρωπος.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Γʹ. Ὅτι τιμιωτέρα πάσης τῆς φαινομένης κτίσεως ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσις.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Δʹ. Ὅτι διὰ πάντων ἐπισημαίνει τὴν ἀρχικὴν ἐξουσίαν ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευή.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Εʹ. Ὅτι ὁμοίωμα τῆς θείας βασιλείας ὁ ἄνθρωπος.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ϛʹ. Ἐξέτασις τῆς τοῦ νοῦ πρὸς τὴν φύσιν συγγενείας, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἐκ παρόδου τὸ τῶν Ἀνομοίων διελέγχεται δόγμα.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ζʹ. Διὰ τί γυμνὸς τῶν ἐκ φύσεως ὅπλων τε καὶ προκαλυμμάτων ὁ ἄνθρωπος.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ηʹ. Διὰ τί ὄρθιον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ σχῆμα, καὶ ὅτι διὰ τὸν λόγον αἱ χεῖρες: ἐν ᾧ τις καὶ περὶ διαφορᾶς ψυχῶν φιλοσοφία.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Θʹ. Ὅτι ὀργανικὸν κατεσκευάσθη τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ σχῆμα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ λόγου χρείαν.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ιʹ. Ὅτι διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ὁ νοῦς ἐνεργεῖ.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΑʹ. Ὅτι ἀθεώρητος ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσις.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΒʹ. Ἐξέτασις, ἐν τίνι τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν νομιστέον, ἐν ᾧ καὶ περὶ δακρύων καὶ περὶ γέλωτος φυσιολογία, καὶ θεώρημά τι φυσικὸν περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ. ΙΓʹ. Περὶ ὕπνου, καὶ χάσμης, καὶ ὀνείρων, αἰτιολογία.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΔʹ. Ὅτι οὐκ ἐν μέρει τοῦ σώματος ὁ νοῦς. Ἐν ᾧ καὶ διάκρισις τῶν τε σωματικῶν καὶ ψυχικῶν κινημάτων.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΕʹ. Ὅτι κυρίως ψυχὴ, ἡ λογικὴ καὶ ἔστι καὶ λέγεται: αἱ δ' ἄλλαι ὁμωνύμως κατονομάζονται. Ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὸ, διὰ παντὸς τοῦ σώματος διήκειν τὴν το

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙϚʹ. Θεωρία τοῦ θείου ῥητοῦ εἰπόντος, «Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν.» Ἐν ᾧ ἐξετάζεται, τίς ὁ τῆς εἰκόνος λόγος, καὶ

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΖʹ. Τί χρὴ λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς ἐπαποροῦντας, εἰ μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἡ παιδοποιΐα, πῶς ἂν ἐγένοντο αἱ ψυχαὶ, εἰ ἀναμάρτητοι διέμειναν οἱ ἐξ ἀρχῆς

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΗʹ. Ὅτι τὰ ἄλογα ἐν ἡμῖν πάθη ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὴν ἄλογον φύσιν συγγενείας τὰς ἀφορμὰς ἔχει.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΘʹ. Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας, πάλιν ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει εἶναι τῶν ἐλπιζομένων ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν, διὰ τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ γεγράφθαι

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Κʹ. Τίς ἡ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ ζωὴ, καὶ τί τὸ ἀπηγορευμένον ξύλον.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΑʹ. Ὅτι ἡ ἀνάστασις οὐ τοσοῦτον ἐκ τοῦ κηρύγματος τοῦ Γραφικοῦ, ὅσον ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀνάγκης τῶν πραγμάτων ἀκολούθως ἐλπίζεται.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΒʹ. Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας, εἰ καλόν τι καὶ ἀγαθὸν ἡ ἀνάστασις, τί οὐχὶ ἤδη γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ χρόνων τισὶ περιόδοις ἐλπίζεται.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΓʹ. Ὅτι ὁ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς τοῦ κόσμου συστάσεως ὁμολογῶν, ἀναγκαίως καὶ περὶ τοῦ τέλους συνθήσεται.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΔʹ. Ἀντίῤῥησις πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας, συναΐδιον εἶναι τῷ Θεῷ τὴν ὕλην.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΕʹ. Πῶς ἄν τις καὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν προσαχθείη πιστεῦσαι τῇ Γραφῇ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως διδασκούσῃ.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚϚʹ.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΖʹ. Ὅτι δυνατόν ἐστιν, εἰς τὰ τοῦ παντὸς στοιχεῖα τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου σώματος ἀναλυθέντος, πάλιν ἐκ τοῦ κοινοῦ ἑκάστῳ τὸ ἴδιον ἀποσωθῆναι.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΗʹ. Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας προϋφεστάναι τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν σωμάτων, ἢ τὸ ἔμπαλιν πρὸ τῶν ψυχῶν διαπεπλᾶσθαι τὰ σώματα. Ἐν ᾧ τις καὶ ἀνατροπὴ τῆς κατ

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΘʹ. Κατασκευὴ τοῦ μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ψυχῇ τε καὶ σώματι τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ὑπάρξεως εἶναι.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Λʹ. Θεωρία τις ἰατρικωτέρα περὶ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν κατασκευῆς δι' ὀλίγων.

III. That the nature of man is more precious than all the visible creation9    The title in the Bodleian Latin ms. is:—“That God created man with great deliberation.”

1. But it is right that we should not leave this point without consideration, that while the world, great as it is, and its parts, are laid as an elemental foundation for the formation of the universe, the creation is, so to say, made offhand by the Divine power, existing at once on His command, while counsel precedes the making of man; and that which is to be is foreshown by the Maker in verbal description, and of what kind it is fitting that it should be, and to what archetype it is fitting that it should bear a likeness, and for what it shall be made, and what its operation shall be when it is made, and of what it shall be the ruler,—all these things the saying examines beforehand, so that he has a rank assigned him before his genesis, and possesses rule over the things that are before his coming into being; for it says, “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of the heaven, and the cattle, and all the earth10    Gen. i. 26, not exactly from the LXX..”

2. O marvellous! a sun is made, and no counsel precedes; a heaven likewise; and to these no single thing in creation is equal. So great a wonder is formed by a word alone, and the saying indicates neither when, nor how, nor any such detail. So too in all particular cases, the æther, the stars, the intermediate air, the sea, the earth, the animals, the plants,—all are brought into being with a word, while only to the making of man does the Maker of all draw near with circumspection, so as to prepare beforehand for him material for his formation, and to liken his form to an archetypal beauty, and, setting before him a mark for which he is to come into being, to make for him a nature appropriate and allied to the operations, and suitable for the object in hand.

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Γʹ. Ὅτι τιμιωτέρα πάσης τῆς φαινομένης κτίσεως ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσις.

Ἄξιον δὲ μηδὲ τοῦτο παριδεῖν ἀθεώρητον, ὅτι τοῦ τηλικούτου κόσμου καὶ τῶν κατ' αὐτὸν μερῶν στοιχειωδῶς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ παντὸς σύστασιν ὑποβληθέντων, ἀποσχεδιάζεταί πως ἡ κτίσις ὑπὸ τῆς θείας δυνάμεως ὁμοῦ τῷ προστάγματι ὑφισταμένη. Τῆς δὲ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευῆς βουλὴ προηγεῖται, καὶ προτυποῦται παρὰ τοῦ τεχνιτεύοντος διὰ τῆς τοῦ λόγου γραφῆς τὸ ἐσόμενον, καὶ οἷον εἶναι προσήκει, καὶ πρὸς ποῖον ἀρχέτυπον τὴν ὁμοιότητα φέρειν, καὶ ἐπὶ τίνι γενήσεται, καὶ τί ἐνεργήσει γενόμενον καὶ τίνων ἡγεμονεύσει: πάντα προδιασκοπεῖται ὁ λόγος, ὡς πρεσβυτέραν αὐτὸν τῆς γενέσεως τὴν ἀξίαν λαχεῖν, πρὶν παρελθεῖν εἰς τὸ εἶναι τὴν τῶν ὄντων ἡγεμονίαν κτησάμενον. «Εἶπε» γὰρ, φησὶν, «ὁ Θεὸς, Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν, καὶ ὁμοίωσιν, καὶ ἀρχέτωσαν τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ τῶν θηρίων τῆς γῆς, καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν, καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς.» Ὢ τοῦ θαύματος: ἥλιος κατασκευάζεται, καὶ οὐδεμία προηγεῖται βουλή: οὐρανὸς ὡσαύτως, ὧν οὐδέν τι τῶν κατὰ τὴν κτίσιν ἴσον ἐστὶ, ῥήματι μόνῳ τὸ τοιοῦτον θαῦμα συνίσταται, οὔτε ὅθεν, οὔτε ὅπως, οὔτε ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον παρασημηναμένου τοῦ λόγου. Οὕτω καὶ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον πάντα, αἰθὴρ, ἀστέρες, ὁ διὰ μέσου ἀὴρ, θάλαττα, γῆ, ζῶα, φυτὰ, πάντα λόγῳ πρὸς γένεσιν ἄγεται. Μόνῃ δὲ τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευῇ περιεσκεμμένως πρόσεισιν ὁ τοῦ παντὸς ποιητὴς, ὡς καὶ ὕλην αὐτῷ τῆς συστάσεως προετοιμάσαι, καὶ ἀρχετύπῳ τινὶ κάλλει τὴν μορφὴν ὁμοιῶσαι, καὶ προθέντα τὸν σκοπὸν, οὗ χάριν γενήσεται, κατάλληλον αὐτῷ καὶ οἰκείαν ταῖς ἐνεργείαις δημιουργῆσαι τὴν φύσιν, ἐπιτηδείως πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον ἔχουσαν.