Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles 6
The time has come for us to return to the incarnation of our Lord and Savior and consider how he became man and lived among us. We must proceed according to our limited strength, drawing more from the contemplation of his works than from our own perception. We have observed his visible creation and, by faith, contemplated the invisible. Human frailty cannot see everything with the eye or grasp everything with reason; we are the weakest and most fragile of all rational animals, since beings in heaven or above the heavens are more excellent. It remains, then, for us to seek the mediator between all these creatures and God—the one Paul the apostle calls the "firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15). We see the testimony of Scripture concerning his majesty: he is the "image of the invisible God" and the "firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15); "in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him" (Colossians 1:16); "he is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17); he is the "head of all things" (Colossians 1:18), having only God the Father as his head, as it is written, "The head of Christ is God." We also know that "no one knows the Father except the Son, and no one knows the Son except the Father" (Matthew 11:27). Who can know wisdom except the one who begot it? Who can know truth except the Father of truth? Who could search out the nature of the Word, which is from God, except God alone, with whom the Word was (John 1:1-3)? We must hold it certain that this Word (or Reason) knows this wisdom and this truth—no one but the Father alone, of whom it is written, "I do not think the world itself could contain the books that would be written" (John 1:14), concerning the glory and majesty of the Son of God. It is impossible to commit to writing the things that pertain to the Savior's glory. Having considered these great things about the nature of the Son of God, we are struck with amazement: this supreme nature "emptied itself" and became man, living among men, as the grace poured on his lips testifies, as the heavenly Father bears witness, and as signs, prodigies, and miracles confirm. Before his bodily appearance, he sent prophets as forerunners and messengers; after his ascension, he sent holy apostles, filled with his divine power—unskilled, uneducated men from among tax collectors and fishermen—to circle the earth and gather a believing people from every nation (Matthew 28:19-20). But among all his miracles, one surpasses human amazement: that the Word of the Father, the very Wisdom of God in whom "all things visible and invisible were created" (Colossians 1:16), could be contained within the circumference of a man who appeared in Judea; that the Wisdom of God entered a woman's womb, was born a child, and cried like other infants; that he was troubled in death, saying, "My soul is sorrowful even to death"; and that he was led to the most shameful death, though he rose on the third day. We see in him things so human they seem no different from our common frailty, and things so divine they belong only to that first, ineffable divine nature. The human intellect is caught, overwhelmed, not knowing what to reject, what to hold, or where to turn. If it perceives God, it sees a mortal; if it thinks a man, it sees one who conquered death and returned from the dead with spoils. Therefore he must be contemplated with all fear and reverence, so that in one and the same person the truth of both natures is shown, so that nothing unworthy is found in that divine substance, and the deeds are not dismissed as illusions. To set this forth in human speech far exceeds our powers, our merit, our genius. I think it surpasses even the minds of the holy apostles; perhaps the explanation of this mystery exceeds all the heavenly creation. We speak not from rashness but because the order of our subject demands it, offering what faith holds rather than what reason proves—suspicions rather than firm assertions. The only-begotten Son of God, through whom "all things were made, visible and invisible" (Colossians 1:16), made all things and "loved what he made." As the "image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15), he invisibly gave a share of himself to all rational creatures, so that each might participate according to the love with which it clung to him. But free will produced variety: some souls clung with ardent love, others with a slender love. That soul which Jesus said "no one takes from me" clung to him from the beginning of creation, inseparably and indissolubly, as to Wisdom, Word, Truth, and true Light—receiving all things and yielding itself to his light and splendor—and became principally one spirit with him, as the apostle promises: "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:17). This soul, as mediator between God and flesh (for God's nature could not mix with body without a mediator), gave birth to the God-man; it was not against its nature to assume a body, nor was it against its rational nature to receive God, to whom it had already wholly given itself as to the Word of Wisdom. Because it was wholly in the Son of God, or wholly received the Son of God, it is called the power of the Son of God, Christ, and the Wisdom of God. Again, the Son of God, "through whom all things were created" (Colossians 1:16), is called Jesus Christ; and the Son of Man, who is "coming in the glory of the Father with the holy angels" (Matthew 16:27). Throughout Scripture the divine nature is called by human words and the human nature by divine titles. More than anything else, the words apply here: "The two shall become one flesh, and they shall no longer be two, but one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). The Word of God is more truly one with the soul in the flesh than a man with his wife. And to be "one spirit" with God befits the human soul that has so joined itself to God in love that it is said to be one spirit by merit. What is the merit of love, if it does not make an inseparable unity with God—so that there is no confusion of persons, but a sharing of virtues—as the prophet says: "You have loved justice and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions" (Psalm 45:7, Hebrews 1:9). The merit of love is anointed with the "oil of gladness": the soul with the Word of God becomes Christ. To be anointed with the "oil of gladness" is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. "Beyond your companions" shows that this is not the Spirit's grace as given to prophets, but the substantial fullness of the Word of God dwelling in him, as the apostle says: "In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9). Therefore it says not only "You loved justice" but adds "and hated iniquity." To hate iniquity means what Scripture says of him: "He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth" (1 Peter 2:22); "He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). The Lord himself says, "Which of you convicts me of sin?" (John 8:46), and again, "The prince of this world comes, and he has nothing in me" (John 14:30). All this shows there was no sin in him.
Latin
Tempus est his decursis repetere nos de incarnatione domini et salvatoris nostri, quomodo vel homo factus est vel inter homines conversatus est. Pro viribus igitur nostris perexiguis considerata ex operum suorum magis quam ex nostri sensus contemplatione divina natura, intuitisque nihilominus creaturis eius visibilibus, fide quoque invisibilibus contemplatis, quia non omnia vel oculis videre potest humana fragilitas vel ratione conplecti, pro eo quod omnium rationabilium infirmius et fragilius animal nos sumus homines (praestantiora enim sunt ea, quae vel in caelo vel super caelos habentur): superest ut harum omnium creaturarum et dei medium, id est -mediatoremquaeramus, quem Paulus apostolus “primogenitum omnis creaturaepronuntiat. Videntes quoque nos ea, quae de eius maiestate in seripturis sanctis referuntur, et intuentes quod “imago invisibilis deie et “primogenitus omnis creaturae” dicatur, et quod “in ipso creata sunt omnia visibilia et invisibilia, sive throni sive dominationes sive principatus sive potestates, omnia per ipsum et in ipso creata sunt, et ipse est ante omnes, et omnia illi constant”, qui est “caput omnium”, solus habens “capute deum patrem, sicut seriptum est: “Caput autem Christi deus”; pervidentes etiam quod scriptum est quoniam “nemo novit patrem nisi filius, neque filium quis novit nisi pater” (quis enim potest nosse quae sib “sapientia- nisl qui genuit eam? aut quis ad liquidum quae sit ‘veritas’ novit nisi veritatis pater? quis certe universam -“verbi” sul naturam atque ipsius “dei- quae ex deo est investigare potuit nisi solus deus, -apud quem erat verbum-?): pro certo habere debemus quod hoc verbum (sive ratio dicenda est) hane sapientiam, hane veritatem nullus alius “nisi solus pater novit, de quo seriptum est: “Ne ipsum quidem mundum capere arbitror libros qui scriberentur”, de gloria scilicet et maiestate filu dei. Inpossibile namque est litteris committere ea, quae ad salvatoris gloriam pertinent. His igitur tantis ac talibus de natura filü dei consideratis, cum summa ammiratione obstupescimus quod eminens omnium ista natura ‘exinaniens’ se de statu maiestatis suae homo factus sit et inter homines conversatus sit, sicut gratia labiis eius infusa- testatur, et sicut ei testimonium reddit pater caelestis, et ut signis quoque et prodigus variisque ab eo gestis virtutibus confirmatur. Qui etiam ante praesentiam suam hane, quam ostendit in corpore, praecursores et nuntios adventus sui misit prophetas; post ascensionem vero suam in caelos sanctos apostolos divinitatis suae virtute repletos homines vel ex publicanis vel ex piseatoribus imperitos et indoctos ceircumire fecit orbem terrarum, ut ex omni gente atque ex omnibus populis piorum plebem in se credentium congregarent. 2. Verum ex omnibus de eo miraculis et magnificis illud. penitus ammirationem humanae mentis excedit, nec invenit mortalis intellegentiae fragilitas, quomodo sentire vel intellegere possit quod tanta illa potentia divinae maiestatis, ipsum illud patris verbum atque ipsa sapientia dei, in qua “creata sunt omnia visibilia et invisibilia, intra eireumseriptionem eius hominis, qui apparuit in Iudaea, fuisse credenda sit, sed et ingressa esse dei sapientia vulvam feminae et nasci parvulus et vagitum emittere ad similitudinem plorantium parvulorum; tum deinde quod et in morte conturbari refertur, ut ipse etiam profitetur dicens: “Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem”; et ad ultimum quod usque ad eam quae inter homines indignissima habetur adductus est mortem, licet post tertiam surrexerit diem. Cum ergo quaedam in eo ita videamus humana, ut nihil a communi mortalium fragihtate distare videantur, quaedam ita divina, quae nulli alii nisi illi primae et ineffabili naturae conveniant deitatis, haeret humani intellectus angustia et tantae ammirationis stupore pereulsa, quo declinet, quid teneat, quo se convertat, ignorat. Si deum sentiat, mortalem videt; si hominem putet, devicto "mortis regno cum spoliüs redeuntem a mortuis cernit. Propter quod cum omni metu et reverentia contemplandum est, ut in uno eodemque ita utriusque naturae veritas demonstretur, ut neque aliquid indignum et indecens in divina illa et ineffabili substantia sentiatur, neque rursum quae gesta sunt falsis inlusa imaginibus aestimentur. Quae quidem in aures humanas proferre et sermonibus explicare, longe vires vel meriti nostri vel ingenii ac sermonis excedit. Arbitror autem quia etiam sanctorum apostolorum supergrediatur mensuram; quin immo fortassis etiam totius creaturae caelestium virtutum eminentior est saeramenti istius explanatio. De quo nos non temeritate aliqua, sed quoniam ordo loci poposcit, ea magis quae fides nostra continet, quam quae humanae rationis adsertio vindicare solet, quam paucissimis proferemus, suspiciones potius nostras quam manifestas aliquas adfirmationes in medium proferentes. 3. lgitur unigenitus filius dei, per quem ‘omnia facta esse visibilia et invisibilia- in superioribus sermo disputationis edocuit, secundum seripturae sententiam et fecit omnia et “quae fecit diligit. Nam cum ‘invisibilis dei’ ipse sit -imago- invisibilis, participationem sui universis rationabilibus creaturis invisibiliter praebuit ita, ut tantum ex eo unusquisque participi sumeret, quanto erga eum dilectionis inhaesisset adfectu. Verum cum pro liberi arbitri facultate varietas unumquemque ae diversitas habuisset animorum, ut alius ardentiore, alius tenuiore et exiliore erga auctorem suum amore teneretur, illa anima, de qua dixit lesus quia “nemo aufert a me animam meam”, ab initio creaturae et deinceps inseparabiliter ei atque indissociabihter inhaerens, utpote sapientiae et verbo dei et veritati ac luci verae, et tota totum recipiens atque in eius lucem splendoremque ipsa cedens, facta est cum ipso principaliter unus spiritus, sicut et apostolus his, qui eam imitari deberent, promittit, quia “qui se iungit domino, unus spiritus este. Hac ergo substantia animae inter deum carnemque mediante (mon enim possibile erat dei naturam corpori sine mediatore misceri) nascitur, ut diximus, deus-homo, illa substantia media existente, cui utique contra naturam non erat corpus assumere. Sed neque rursum anima illa, utpote substantia rationabilis, contra naturam habuit capere deum, in quem, ui superius diximus, velut (m) verbum sapienti tatem tota iam cesserai. Unde et mero pro eo quod vel tota esset in fiho dei vel totum in se caperet f dei. eiiam ipsa cum ea quam assumserat carne dei filius dei virtus, Christus et dei sapiemiis ap- B pellatur; rursum dei filius, ‘per quem ommia creata sunt4 lesus Christus et; fius hominmis nomunatur. Nam et filius dei mortuus esse dieiur, pro ea seilicet natura, quae mortem wiique reeipere poterx et filus hominis appellatur, qui ‘venturus im dei patris gloria eum sanctis angelis- praedicatur. Et hae de per ommem seripturam -10 tam divina natura humanis vocabulis appellatur, quam humana natur divinae nuncupaiionis insignibus decoratur. Magis de hoe quam de ullo alio diei potest quod seriptum esi quia “erunt: ambo im earme una, et iam non sunt duo, sed earo una”. Magis enim verbum dei eum anima in carne una- esse, quam vir eum uxore putandus est. Sed et -unus spiritus- esse cum deo cui eonvenit quam hum animae. quae se ita deo per dilectionem iunxit, uf eo unus Spiritus merrio dieatur? Quod autem dilectionis en meri siisckn ndn "ete: ei inseparabilem cum deo fecerit unitatem, iia ut mom forítura fuent aui eum personae aeceptione animae eius assumptüio, sed virtutum — suarum ei merito delata, audi ad eam prophetam dicentem: “Dilexisti - iuslitüiam et; odisii iniquitatem; propterea unxit te deus, deus tuus oleo laetitiae prae participibus tuis”. Dilectionis igitur merito unguitur ‘oleo laetitiae, id est anima cum verbo dei Christus efficitur. -Unginamque ‘oleo laetitiae- non aliud intellegitur quam spiritu sancto repleri. Quod autem “prae participibus- dixit, indicat quia non gratia spiritus sicut prophetis ei data est, sed ipsius verbi dei in ea substantialis inerat “plenitudo”, sicut et apostolus dixit: “In quo inhabitat omnis plenitudo deitatis corporahter”. Denique propter hoe non solum dixit: “Dilexisti iustitiam”, sed addidit “et odisti iniquitatem”. ‘Odisse- enim ‘iniquitatem- illud est, quod scriptura dicit de eo quia “peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore eius”, et quod ait: “Temptatus per omnia pro similitudine absque peccato”. Sed et ipse dominus dicit: “Quis vestrum me arguit de peccato?” Et iterum ipse dicit de se: “Eece venit mundi huius princeps et in me non invenit quidquam”. Quae omnia nullum in eo peccati sensum indicant extitisse.