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Against the Nestorians

A discourse against the Nestorians by the holy abba John of Damascus, the Chrysorrhoas.

1 To those who think like Nestorius, the argument must begin thus: Tell us, O you, whom did the holy virgin conceive, the Son of God by nature and God, or a man? And if they say: The Son of God by nature and God, they are orthodox. For of necessity they will also confess the holy virgin as Theotokos; for she who conceived God and bore this one incarnate, how is she not Theotokos? But if they say: A man, then let us reason with them as with heretics: Do you call the Son and Word of God the Father, the pre-eternal one, the Son of God by nature and God by nature and consubstantial with God the Father? Yes, they will say. Then we say: Do you call the Son of the virgin the Son of God by nature and God by nature? No, they will say. Then we shall say: Therefore you confess two sons of God, one by nature and one by grace, and you worship two sons, and according to you the Trinity has become a Tetrad. Tell us then: From where did you learn to preach two hypostases? Do you not hear the gospel plainly stating: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” and a little later: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us”? And from where do you speak of an indwelling of the Word of God after the conception of the ensouled flesh? Is it not written that “the angel, having come in to Mary, said: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. But she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And, behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of David his father, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I know not a man? And the angel answered and said to her: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born will be called the Son of God.” Behold, it is clearly demonstrated that, when Mary asked the manner of the conception, the angel did not say that you will first conceive, and then will be the indwelling of God, but that through the coming and operation of the Holy Spirit and the tabernacling of the Word of God will the conception be, so that first came the overshadowing of the power of the Highest, that is, the conception of the Word, and then the existence of the flesh subsisting in the Word himself; And that the Word himself became man, John the theologian cried out, saying: “And the Word was God, and the Word became flesh.” And he became so immutably and unchangeably; for the divine is unchangeable and unalterable. 2 The Word, therefore, became flesh not by changing his nature nor making the economy a mere appearance, but, being one hypostasis of the Godhead, he also became one hypostasis of the manhood, having from the unwedded virgin substantiated in his own hypostasis flesh ensouled with a rational and intellectual soul, and having become its hypostasis. For just as a sword made of iron is one of the hypostases of the nature of iron, and a burning fire is one of the hypostases of the nature of fire, and the sword, having approached the fire, was made red-hot and did not take the pre-existing hypostasis of the fire itself, but having taken from it a certain first-fruit of the nature of fire

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Contra Nestorianos

Τοῦ ὁσίου ἀββᾶ Ἰωάννου ∆αμασκηνοῦ τοῦ χρυσορρόα λόγος κατὰ Νεστοριανῶν.

1 Πρὸς τοὺς Νεστορίου ὁμόφρονας οὕτως ἀρκτέον τοῦ λόγου· Εἴπατε ἡμῖν, ὦ οὗτοι, τίνα συνέλαβεν ἡ ἁγία παρθένος, τὸν φύσει υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεὸν ἢ ἄνθρωπον; Κἂν μὲν εἴπωσι· Τὸν φύσει υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεόν, ὀρθόδοξοί εἰσιν. Ἐξ ἀνάγκης γὰρ καὶ θεοτόκον τὴν ἁγίαν παρθένον ὁμολογήσουσιν· ἡ γὰρ θεὸν συλλαβοῦσα καὶ τοῦτον σεσαρκωμένον γεννήσασα πῶς οὐ θεοτόκος; Εἰ δὲ εἴπωσιν· Ἄνθρωπον, τότε ὡς αἱρετικοῖς οὕτω διαλεξώμεθα· Τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς υἱὸν καὶ λόγον τὸν προαιώνιον, φύσει υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ φύσει θεὸν λέγετε καὶ ὁμοούσιον τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί; Ναί, φήσουσιν. Εἶτά φαμεν· Τὸν τῆς παρθένου υἱὸν φύσει υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ φύσει θεὸν λέγετε; Οὔ, ἐροῦσιν. Τότε φήσομεν· Οὐκοῦν δύο υἱοὺς ὁμολογεῖτε τοῦ θεοῦ, ἕνα κατὰ φύσιν καὶ ἕνα κατὰ χάριν, καὶ δύο υἱοῖς προσκυνεῖτε, καὶ γέγονε καθ' ὑμᾶς τετρὰς ἡ τριάς. Εἴπατε οὖν ἡμῖν· Πόθεν δύο τὰς ὑποστάσεις κηρύττειν ἐμάθετε; Οὐκ ἀκούετε τοῦ εὐαγγελίου διαρρήδην φάσκοντος· «Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος», καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· «Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο, καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν»; Πόθεν δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὴν τῆς ἐμψύχου σαρκὸς σύλληψιν, τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου ἐνοίκησιν λέγετε; Οὐ γέγραπται, ὅτι «εἰσελθὼν πρὸς τὴν Μαριὰμ ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπε· Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ κύριος μετὰ σοῦ. Ἡ δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ λόγῳ διεταράχθη καὶ διελογίζετο, ποταπὸς εἴη ὁ ἀσπασμὸς οὗτος. Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ ἄγγελος· Μὴ φοβοῦ, Μαριάμ· εὗρες γὰρ χάριν παρὰ τῷ θεῷ. Καὶ ἰδοὺ συλλήψῃ ἐν γαστρὶ καὶ τέξῃ υἱὸν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. Οὗτος ἔσται μέγας καὶ υἱὸς ὑψίστου κληθήσεται, καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ κύριος ὁ θεὸς τὸν θρόνον ∆αυὶδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ βασιλεύσει ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰακὼβ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος. Εἶπε δὲ Μαριὰμ πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον. Πῶς ἔσται μοι τοῦτο, ἐπεὶ ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω; Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῇ· Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σέ, καὶ δύναμις ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι· διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον ἅγιον κληθήσεται υἱὸς θεοῦ.» Ἰδοὺ σαφῶς ἀποδέδεικται, ὡς τῆς Μαρίας ζητούσης τὸν τῆς συλλήψεως τρόπον οὐκ εἶπεν ὁ ἄγγελος, ὅτι συλλήψῃ πρῶτον, καὶ τότε ἔσται τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ἐνοίκησις, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς ἐπιφοιτήσεως καὶ ἐνεργείας τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος καὶ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου σκηνώσεως ἔσται ἡ σύλληψις, ὥστε πρῶτον γενέσθαι τὴν τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ ὑψίστου ἐπισκίασιν ἤτοι τοῦ λόγου τὴν σύλληψιν καὶ τότε τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς ὕπαρξιν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ λόγῳ ὑφισταμένης· Ὅτι δὲ αὐτὸς ὁ λόγος ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος, Ἰωάννης ὁ θεολόγος κέκραγε λέγων· «Καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο.» Ἐγένετο δὲ ἀμεταβλήτως καὶ ἀτρέπτως· ἄτρεπτον γὰρ τὸ θεῖον καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον. 2 Ὁ λόγος τοίνυν σὰρξ ἐγένετο οὐ τραπεὶς τὴν φύσιν οὐδὲ φαντάσας τὴν οἰκονομίαν, ἀλλ' ὑπόστασις ὢν μία τῶν τῆς θεότητος ὑποστάσεων ἐγένετο καὶ μία τῶν τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ὑποστάσεων ἐκ τῆς ἀπειρογάμου παρθένου σάρκα ἐψυχωμένην ψυχῇ λογικῇ τε καὶ νοερᾷ ἐν τῇ αὑτοῦ ὑποστάσει ὑποστήσας καὶ χρηματίσας αὐτῇ ὑπόστασις. Ὥσπερ γάρ ἐστι μάχαιρα ἐκ σιδήρου κατεσκευασμένη μία τῶν ὑποστάσεων τῆς τοῦ σιδήρου φύσεως καὶ ἔστι πῦρ ἅπτον μία τῶν ὑποστάσεων τῆς τοῦ πυρὸς φύσεως καὶ προσελθοῦσα ἡ μάχαιρα τῷ πυρὶ ἐπυρακτώθη καὶ οὐκ αὐτὴν τὴν προϋποστᾶσαν τοῦ πυρὸς ὑπόστασιν ἔλαβεν, ἀλλ' ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀπαρχήν τινα τῆς τοῦ πυρὸς φύσεως λαβοῦσα