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SOLUTION. But they are completely foolish who have somehow supposed that Christ 598 himself was able to sin, because he came in a form like ours according to the economy and took the form of a servant and associated with men on earth. For if he departed from being what he was, if he has changed from being God to being only as we are, let them seek in him the faults of human weakness. But if he wore human nature for this reason, that he might show it, which had become weak in Adam, to be most powerful in himself and superior to sin, why do they idly inquire into what they cannot find? How have they forgotten him saying, "The ruler of this world is coming, and he will find nothing in me." For the inventor of sin accuses all flesh; but in Christ the meddling of that one's malevolence was ineffective, for absolutely nothing was found in him. And indeed he said to the Jews, "Which of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?" Just as, therefore, we were condemned in Adam through disobedience and the transgression of the divine commandment, so in Christ we have been justified through his being completely without fault and his total and blameless obedience. And the boast of human nature has come to be in this. Indeed, the curse has been shut up, and the mouth of sin has been stopped, and with it the power of death has been abolished, 599 having withered away as with its own root. For if sin became for us the cause of all evils, the justification in Christ will be the abolition of what has happened, entering in through obedience, and being completely blameless. So even if, as they say, he wore Adam, yet he was not like that one, the earthly one from the dust, but as the heavenly one he was incomparably better than the earthly one. And one might see human nature in him crowned with the praises of sinlessness, with the God-inspired scripture testifying of him, that "he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth."

To those who say, If angels are also in the image of God. SOLUTION. But in interpreting "in the image of God" with respect to man, we do not say that the form of the body is transformed toward him. For the divine is bodiless, immaterial, and intangible, and beyond quantity and circumscription, form and shape. But in applying the divine likeness to man, we say that according to the quality of his character, or ways, and according to the spiritual form, which is revealed through the beauty of the virtues, we say that he is made in the likeness of his creator. For the divine is in everything beautiful, and it is the very source and root and origin of all virtue, and from there good things come to us also. If, therefore, we are formed toward God according to the form derived from virtues, 600 and this is also present in the holy angels and incomparably more than in us; it is not impossible to conceive that all rational creation is formed toward God through holiness and righteousness and through all virtue. For if the divine and supramundane beauty is fitting for us on earth, how much more so for the rational powers above, in whom God rests? For on account of this the divine scriptures also name heaven his throne. To those who say, How, being bodiless, did the demons have intercourse with women?

SOLUTION. But since they say that some people ask, How, being bodiless, have the evil demons had intercourse with women, and they bore giants to them; it is necessary also

9

ΕΠΙΛΥΣΙΣ. Ἀσύνετοι δὲ παντελῶς οἱ καὶ αὐτὸν πλημμελῆσαι τὸν 598 Χριστὸν δύνασθαι οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ὑποτοπήσαντες, διὰ τὸ ἐν εἴδει γενέσθαι τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκονομικῶς καὶ μορφὴν δούλου λαβεῖν καὶ συναναστραφῆναι τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνθρώποις. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀπέστη τοῦ εἶναι ὃ ἦν, εἰ μεταπεφοίτηκεν ἐκ τοῦ εἶναι Θεὸς εἰς τὸ καθ' ἡμᾶς εἶναι μόνον, ζητείτωσαν ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀσθενείας τὰ ἐγκλήματα. εἰ δὲ πεφόρεκε διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν, ἵν' ὡς ἐν Ἀδὰμ ἀσθενήσασαν ἐν αὐτῷ δείξῃ δυνατωτάτην καὶ ἁμαρτίας κρείττονα, τί περιεργάζονται μάτην ὃ εὑρεῖν οὐ δύνανται; πῶς δὲ ἐπελάθοντο λέγοντος αὐτοῦ "Ἔρχεται ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου "τούτου, καὶ ἐν ἐμοὶ εὑρήσει οὐδέν." κατηγορεῖ μὲν γὰρ ὁ τῆς ἁμαρτίας εὑρετὴς πάσης σαρκός· ἀλλ' ἦν ἄπρακτος ἐν Χριστῷ τῆς ἐκείνου σκαιότητος ἡ περιεργία, ηὕρηται γὰρ ὅλως οὐδὲν ἐν αὐτῷ. καὶ γοῦν ἔφη πρὸς Ἰουδαίους "Τίς "ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐλέγχει με περὶ ἁμαρτίας; εἰ ἀλήθειαν λέγω, "διὰ τί ὑμεῖς οὐ πιστεύετέ μοι;" ὥσπερ τοίνυν κατεκρίθημεν ἐν Ἀδὰμ διὰ τὴν παρακοὴν καὶ τῆς θείας ἐντολῆς τὴν παράβασιν, οὕτως ἐν Χριστῷ δεδικαιώμεθα διὰ τὸ ἀπλημμελὲς ὁλοτρόπως καὶ τὴν εἰς ἅπαν καὶ ἀμώμητον ὑπακοήν. καὶ τὸ καύχημα τῆς ἀνθρωπείας φύσεως ἐν τούτῳ γέγονε. πέφρακται γοῦν ἡ ἀρὰ, καὶ τὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐμπέφρακται στόμα, καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ τὸ τοῦ θανάτου κατηργήθη κράτος, 599 ὥσπερ οἰκείᾳ ῥίζῃ συναπομαρανθέν. εἰ γὰρ πρόξενος ἡμῖν ἁπάντων τῶν κακῶν ἡ ἁμαρτία γέγονεν, ἀναίρεσις ἔσται τῶν συμβεβηκότων ἡ ἐν Χριστῷ δικαίωσις, δι' ὑπακοῆς εἰσβαίνουσα, καὶ τὸ ἀνυπαίτιον ἔχουσα παντελῶς. ὥστε καὶ εἰ πεφόρεκεν ὡς φασὶ τὸν Ἀδὰμ, ἀλλ' οὐ κατ' ἐκεῖνον ἦν, τὸν ἐκ γῆς χοϊκὸν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐπουράνιος ἀσυγκρίτως ἀμείνων τοῦ χοϊκοῦ. καὶ τοῖς τῆς ἀναμαρτησίας ἐπαίνοις τὴν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν στεφανουμένην ἐν αὐτῷ θεωρήσαι τις ἂν, ἐπιμαρτυρούσης αὐτῷ τῆς θεοπνεύστου γραφῆς, ὅτι "ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ "ἐποίησεν οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ."

Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας Εἰ καὶ ἄγγελοι κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ. ΕΠΙΛΥΣΙΣ. Τὸ δέ Κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ διερμηνεύοντες ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, οὐ τὴν τοῦ σώματος εἰδέαν μεταμορφοῦσθαι πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλέγομεν. ἀσώματον γὰρ ἄϋλόν τε καὶ ἀναφὲς τὸ θεῖον, καὶ ποσότητος ἐπέκεινα καὶ περιγραφῆς, εἴδους τε καὶ σχήματος. ἐφαρμόζοντες δὲ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τὸν θεῖον ἐξεικονισμὸν, ἐλέγομεν ὅτι κατὰ τὴν τῶν ἠθῶν ἤτοι τῶν τρόπων ποιότητα, καὶ κατ' εἶδος τὸ πνευματικὸν, ὃ διὰ τῆς τῶν ἀρετῶν εὐειδίας ἐκφαίνεται, πεποιῆσθαί φαμεν καθ' ὁμοίωσιν αὐτοῦ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ. ἐν παντὶ γὰρ καλῷ τὸ θεῖον, καὶ ἁπάσης ἀρετῆς αὐτοπηγὴ καὶ ῥίζα γαὶ γένεσις, ἥκει δὲ καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐκεῖθεν τὰ ἀγαθά. εἰ τοίνυν κατά γε τὴν ἐξ ἀρετῶν εἰδέαν 600 διαμορφούμεθα πρὸς Θεὸν, ἔνεστι δὲ τοῦτο καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀγγέλοις καὶ ἀσυγκρίτως ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς· οὐκ ἀμήχανον ἐννοεῖν ὅτι καὶ πᾶσα κτίσις λογικὴ δι' ἁγιασμοῦ καὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ διὰ πάσης ἀρετῆς μορφοῦται πρὸς Θεόν. εἰ γὰρ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐμπρέπει τὸ θεῖόν τε καὶ ὑπερκόσμιον κάλλος, πῶς οὐ μᾶλλον ταῖς ἄνω δυνάμεσι λογικαῖς, αἷς ἐπαναπαύεται ὁ Θεός; διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ θρόνον αὐτοῦ τὸν οὐρανὸν ὀνομάζουσιν αἱ θεῖαι γραφαί. Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας Πῶς ἀσώματοι ὄντες οἱ δαίμονες ἐμίχθησαν γυναιξίν;

ΕΠΙΛΥΣΙΣ. Ἐπειδὴ δέ φασί τινας λέγειν Πῶς ἀσώματοι ὄντες οἱ πονηροὶ δαίμονες κεκοινωνήκασι γυναιξὶν, αἱ δὲ ἐγέννων αὐτοῖς τοὺς γίγαντας· ἀναγκαῖον καὶ