Monks Who Say God Has Human Form
Letter of Saint Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, to Calosyrius, Bishop of Arsinoë, against those who say that the divine has human form.
Some people who had come from the mountain of Calamon were asked by me about the monks there: how they live, and what manner of life they lead.
They told me that many excel in ascetic discipline and earnestly wish to achieve the life that befits monks.
But there are some, they said, who go about and, out of ignorance, trouble those who wish to live in quiet; and they assured me that these people go on to spread talk of this kind.
For they said: “Since divine Scripture says that man was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), one must believe that the divine is human in appearance, that is, of human form.”
This is utterly senseless, and it can bring those who choose to think so under charges of the utmost impiety.
For it is agreed that man is in the image of God, but the likeness is not bodily; for God is without body.
And the Savior himself teaches this when he says, “God is spirit” (John 4:24).
So if he is spirit, he is not embodied, nor is he in bodily form.
Greek
ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΛΛΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΑΛΕΞΑΝ∆ΡΕΙΑΣ πρὸς Καλοσίριον ἐπίσκοπον Ἀρσενοΐτην κατὰ τῶν λεγόντων ἀνθρωπόμορφον εἶναι τὸ θεῖον. ἈΦΙΚΟΜΕΝΟΙ τινες ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ Καλαμῶνος, ἠρωτῶντο παρ' ἐμοῦ περὶ τῶν αὐτόθι μοναστῶν, τίνα τρόπον διατελοῦσιν, ἢ καὶ ὁποίαν ἔχουσι τοῦ βίου τὴν διαγωγήν. οἱ δὲ ἔφασκον εὐδοκιμεῖν μὲν ἐν ἀσκήσει πολλοὺς, καὶ σφόδρα βούλεσθαι τὸν μοναχοῖς πρέποντα κατορθῶσαι βίον· εἶναι δέ τινας τοὺς περιιόντας καὶ θορυβοῦντας ἐξ ἀμαθίας τοὺς ἐθέλοντας ἠρεμεῖν, εἶτα λογοποιεῖν αὐτοὺς διεβεβαιοῦντο τοιαῦτά τινα· ἔφασκον γάρ Ἐπειδὴ κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἡ θεία λέγει γραφὴ, χρὴ πιστεύειν ὅτι ἢ ἀνθρωποειδὲς ἤγουν ἀνθρωπόμορφόν ἐστι τὸ θεῖον· ὅπερ ἐστὶ παντελῶς ἀσύνετον, καὶ τοῖς τῆς ἐσχάτης δυσσεβείας 604 ἐγκλήμασιν ὑπενεγκεῖν δυνάμενον τοὺς οὕτω φρονεῖν ἑλομένους. ἔστι μὲν γὰρ ὁμολογουμένως κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἡ δὲ ὁμοιότης οὐ σωματική· ὁ γὰρ Θεός ἐστιν ἀσώματος. καὶ τοῦτο διδάξει λέγων αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτήρ "Πνεῦμα "ὁ Θεός." οὐκοῦν οὐκ ἐνσώματος, εἰ πνεῦμά ἐστιν, οὐδὲ ἐν εἴδει σωματικῷ.