Fragments 1 That no name greater than Jesus has arisen among those named on earth, the Gospel testifies, where "the angel" said to Mary, "Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High"; and it is also clear from the prophecy of Zechariah, which prophesied long ago concerning this name, for he says, "The Lord showed me Jesus the high priest, standing before the face of the angel of the Lord, and the devil stood at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to the devil: May the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you." For when did he rebuke him? When he joined the man beloved by him to his own Word. "He who has chosen," he says, "Jerusalem," clearly this one of ours, concerning which the Apostle says, "But our Jerusalem is above; for this one is in bondage with her children." For at that time, having come into that great Jerusalem, that is, into our church, he rebuked the devil according to the prophecy, saying, "Get behind me, Satan, for you are a stumbling block to me." This, therefore, is the high priest, whose type the Jesus of that time preserved. For it was not possible for that one to be called a high priest, although he was glorious in all things, since Moses was not named great (for Moses was not yet great, because he both heard 'servant of God' and was named 'a god to Pharaoh' by God himself). But if anyone should think that Jesus was called great on this account, because he himself was deemed worthy to lead the people into the holy land and performed many other wondrous things, let him know through this as well, that the greatness spoken of in the case of Jesus did not differ so much in the typical matter, but in the one who was about to lead his own people a little later into this great Jerusalem. 2 Therefore, the apostle says that he is not only the firstborn of the "new creation," but also the firstborn "from the dead," for no other reason, it seems to me, than so that through the firstborn "of the dead," it might be possible to know how he is also called "firstborn of all creation." For our Lord Jesus Christ was not the first to rise from the dead; but the one raised through Elisha the prophet rose before, and Lazarus rose before his resurrection, and at the time of the passion "many bodies of those who had fallen asleep" were raised. 3 But now let us examine a certain saying of those written by Asterius; for this man said: For the Father is one, who begot from himself the only-begotten Word and firstborn of all creation. Joining both, he has written only-begotten and firstborn, although there is much opposition in these names, as is easy for even the very slow-witted to know. For it is clear that the only-begotten, if he were truly only-begotten, can no longer be firstborn, and the firstborn, insofar as he is firstborn, cannot be only-begotten. 4 Therefore if he himself is "firstborn of all creation," and "in him all things were created," it is fitting for us to know that the apostle is now making mention of his economy according to the flesh. 5 Therefore, he was named "firstborn of all creation" on account of his birth according to the flesh, not on account of the first creation, as they suppose.20 6 Therefore, this most holy Word was not named "firstborn of all creation" before the incarnation (for how is it possible for the one who always is to be the firstborn of anything?), but the divine scriptures name this one "firstborn of all creation," the first "new man," in whom God willed "to sum up all things." 7 You hear how it happens that not only these things, but also the pre-existing things "both in the heavens and on the earth were created in him" according to the new creation. 8 And let not Asterius think this to be incredible, if his body, being newer, was able to attain such antiquity; but let him consider, that even if especially

Fragmenta 1 Ὅτι οὐδὲν ὄνομα μεῖζον Ἰησοῦ τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὀνομασθέντων γέγονεν, μαρτυρεῖ μὲν τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, ἔνθα "ὁ ἄγγελος" τῇ Μαριὰμ "μὴ φοβοῦ" ἔφη "εὗρες γὰρ χάριν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ἰδοὺ συλλήψῃ ἐν γαστρὶ καὶ τέξῃ υἱόν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. οὗτος ἔσται μέγας, καὶ υἱὸς ὑψίστου κληθήσεται"· δῆλον δέ ἐστιν καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Ζαχαρίου προφητείας, πάλαι περὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος τούτου προφητευσάσης, "ἔδειξεν" γάρ "μοι" φησὶν "κύριος Ἰησοῦν τὸν ἱερέα τὸν μέγαν, ἑστῶτα πρὸ προσώπου ἀγγέλου κυρίου, καὶ ὁ διάβολος εἱστήκει ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀντικεῖσθαι αὐτῷ. καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς τὸν διάβολον· ἐπιτιμήσαι κύριος ἐν σοὶ ὁ ἐκλεξάμενος τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ". πότε γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐπετίμησεν; ὅτε τὸν ἀγαπηθέντα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἄνθρωπον τῷ ἑαυτοῦ συνῆψεν λόγῳ. "ὁ ἐκλεξάμενος" φησὶν "τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ", δηλονότι ταύτην τὴν ἡμετέραν, περὶ ἧς ὁ ἀπόστολος λέγει "ἡ δὲ ἡμετέρα Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἄνω ἐστίν· αὕτη γὰρ δουλεύει μετὰ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς". τηνικαῦτα γὰρ ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ αὐτῇ Ἱερουσαλήμ, τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ, γενόμενος ἐπετίμησεν τῷ διαβόλῳ κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν εἰπὼν "ἄπελθε ὀπίσω μου, σατανᾶ, ὅτι σκάνδαλον εἶ ἐμοί". οὗτος τοίνυν ἐστὶν ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ μέγας, οὗ τύπον ἔσῳζεν ὁ τηνικαῦτα Ἰησοῦς. οὐ γὰρ ἦν δυνατὸν ἐκεῖνον μέγαν κληθῆναι ἱερέα, καίτοι ἔνδοξον ἐν πᾶσιν γεγονότα, Μωσέως μὴ ὀνομασθέντος μεγάλου (οὔπω γὰρ μέγας ἦν Μωσῆς, ὅτι καὶ θεράπων ἤκουσεν θεοῦ καὶ θεὸς τοῦ Φαραὼ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ὠνομάσθη). εἰ δέ τις κατὰ τοῦτο μέγαν εἰρῆσθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν νομίζοι, ὅτι αὐτὸς ἠξιώθη εἰσαγαγεῖν τὸν λαὸν εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν γῆν καὶ ἕτερα πολλὰ θαυμαστὰ ἐποίησεν, γνώτω καὶ διὰ τούτου, ὅτι οὐ τῷ τυπικῷ τοσοῦτον διέφερεν πράγματι τὸ λεχθὲν μέγεθος ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἀλλὰ τῷ μικρὸν ὕστερον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λαὸν εἰς τὴν μεγάλην ταύτην Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰσαγαγεῖν μέλλοντι. 2 οὐ μόνον τοίνυν τῆς "καινῆς κτίσεως" πρωτότοκον αὐτὸν ὁ ἀπόστολος εἶναι φησίν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρωτότοκον "ἐκ νεκρῶν", δι' οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, ἀλλ' ἵνα διὰ τοῦ πρωτοτόκου "τῶν νεκρῶν", ὅπως καὶ "πρωτότοκος ἁπάσης κτίσεως" εἴρηται, γνωσθῆναι δυνηθῇ. οὐ γὰρ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνέστη πρῶτος ὁ δεσπότης ἡμῶν Ἱησοῦς Χριστός· ἀλλ' ὁ δι' Ἐλισσαίου τοῦ προφήτου ἀναστὰς ἀνέστη πρότερος, καὶ Λάζαρος δὲ πρὸ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀναστάσεως ἀνέστη, καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ πάθους "πολλὰ σώματα τῶν κεκοιμημένων" ἀνέστησαν. 3 νυνὶ δὲ ἐξετάσωμεν ἕν τι ῥητὸν τῶν ὑπὸ Ἀστερίου γραφέντων· ἔφη γὰρ οὗτος· ἄλλος μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὁ πατήρ, ὁ γεννήσας ἐξ αὑτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ λόγον καὶ πρωτότοκον πάσης κτίσεως. ἀμφότερα συνάψας γέγραφεν μονογενῆ καὶ πρωτότοκον, πολλῆς ἐναντιότητος ἐν τοῖς ὀνόμασιν οὔσης τούτοις, ὡς ἔστιν ῥᾴδιον καὶ τοῖς σφόδρα δυσμαθέσιν γνῶναι. δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι ὁ μονογενής, εἰ ὄντως μονογενὴς εἴη, οὐκέτι πρωτότοκος εἶναι δύναται, καὶ ὁ πρωτότοκος ᾗ πρωτότοκος οὐ δύναται μονογενὴς εἶναι. 4 οὐκοῦν εἰ "πρωτότοκος" μέν ἐστιν "ἁπάσης κτίσεως" αὐτός, "ἐν αὐτῷ" δὲ "ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα", προσήκει εἰδέναι ἡμᾶς, ὅτι περὶ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα οἰκονομίας αὐτοῦ ὁ ἀπόστολος νυνὶ μέμνηται. 5 "πρωτότοκος" οὖν "ἁπάσης κτίσεως" διὰ τὴν κατὰ σάρκα γένεσιν ὠνομάσθη, οὐ διὰ τὴν πρώτην, ὡς αὐτοὶ οἴονται, κτίσιν20. 6 οὐ τοίνυν οὗτος ὁ ἁγιώτατος λόγος πρὸ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως "πρωτότοκος ἁπάσης κτίσεως" ὠνόμαστο (πῶς γὰρ δυνατὸν τὸν ἀεὶ ὄντα πρωτότοκον εἶναί τινος;), ἀλλὰ τὸν πρῶτον "καινὸν ἄνθρωπον", εἰς ὃν "τὰ πάντα ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι" ἐβουλήθη ὁ θεός, τοῦτον αἱ θεῖαι γραφαὶ "πρωτότοκον πάσης" ὀνομάζουσιν "κτίσεως". 7 ἀκούεις ὅπως οὐ μόνον ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ προϋπάρχοντα "ἔν τε οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐν αὐτῷ" κατὰ τὴν καινὴν κτίσιν "ἐκτίσθαι" συμβαίνει. 8 καὶ μὴ τοῦτο ἀπίθανον εἶναι νομιζέτω Ἀστέριος, εἰ νεώτερον ὂν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα τοσαύτης τυχεῖν ἀρχαιότητος ἐδυνήθη· ἀλλ' ἐννοείτω, ὅτι εἰ καὶ μάλιστα