On the True Faith, to the Empresses Pulcheria and Eudocia

Dedication: right faith in one Lord; not two sons; Word took ensouled body of Mary Theotokos§1

1So I approach and dedicate this discourse to you, most pious empresses. I have composed it concerning the right and blameless faith that is ours toward our Lord Jesus Christ. It especially befits you who are so holy and beloved of God to bind on, together with the highest boasts of the empire, the crown of love toward Christ.

That crown is already fitted to your renowned heads, and the God of all brightens you with unending glories. Yet so that you may shine still more — holding in mind the accurate and unadulterated knowledge of the mystery concerning Christ — I have put together this little treatise, showing through every thought that just as there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, so also there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things; and with them, of course, the Holy Spirit.

And having learned to think rightly, we will not put up with those who divide the one Christ and Son and Lord into two sons. For we do not say that the Son begotten before every age from the essence of God the Father is one, and that the one who in the last times came to be from a woman, came to be under the law, is another — but one and the same, both before the true coming-together and union with flesh and still after it.

For the Son from God the Father by nature, taking to himself an ensouled and intelligent body, has been begotten according to the flesh through the holy virgin and Theotokos Mary — not turned into flesh (far from it!), but rather taking it on, and not neglecting to be God.

Philippians kenosis: same one God and human; unchanged Word; economy needs human lowliness§2

2For even so he has remained Master of all. These things we have been taught by the saints.

Their words convey wise commands to us: we must hunt what most seems to belong to the holy writings, and scrutinize the truth in the divine doctrines, applying a fine mind to what is said about Christ, tearing down reasonings and every height raised against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to his obedience.

For it is firmly held and confessed by all that the Word from him by nature, existing in the form and equality of God the Father, “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming to be in the likeness of humans; and being found in fashion as a human he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”

So the mind that aims to discern well the force of what is written about him must somehow be filled with God-loving skill — so that the same one may be recognized as God and human together, and may have his being God without falsification. For the Word’s nature is unchangeable, and he does not refuse the measure of the emptying: the one who economically endured voluntary emptying for us does not blush at his own designs.

He must therefore be seen as distinguished in the dignities of the deity, and yet not wholly freed from our smallness because of the human — for the economy demands this. For if the Word, being God, has become flesh — that is, human…

Joel flesh; human sayings do not disturb; Christ Jesus means Word incarnate; 1 Cor headship§3

3…according to “I will pour out from my Spirit upon all flesh.” Let no one be disturbed even if God-breathed Scripture says something about him that befits a human; rather survey his above-world glory, from power and superiority that is God-befitting and highest.

What is most likely to weaken the mind of the simpler, I will try — as far as possible and as well as can be — to make clear, setting beside each saying the solution that suffices for explanation, God again directing our path into this. For he gives “a word to those who proclaim with much power,” as the inspired singer says.

In the discourse we made toward the holy virgins I set out at great length the readier sayings that have nothing hard to grasp; in the present work I have recalled the less clear. For your God-loving majesty needed to know both — these and those — so that through both what is sound for knowledge might settle, like a light, in your most pure minds. My aim in interpreting each is to be brief as I can; and the discourse on the emptying has been set first of all.

Know this nonetheless: whenever Christ Jesus is named to us, it befits us to understand the Word from God the Father as having become human and been enfleshed.

“For I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. The first human is of the earth, dusty” — that is, Adam — “the second is from heaven” — clearly Christ. But “just as we wore the image of the dusty,

Christ second Adam our head; Father head of the Word; he became poor being rich§4

4let us also wear the image of the heavenly,” as it is written. So the first head of our race — that is, beginning — was the one of earth and dust. But since Christ has been named second Adam, he has been set as head — that is, beginning — of those being remolded through him toward him into incorruption by sanctification in the Spirit.

So he is our beginning — that is, our head — insofar as he has appeared as human; yet as God by nature he himself has as head the Father in the heavens, for the Word, being God, has been begotten from him by nature. That “head” signifies “beginning” confirms, for minds that doubt, that the man became head of the woman: for she was taken from him.

So there is one Christ and Son and Lord, who as God by nature has the Father in the heavens as head, and who has become head for us because of kinship according to the flesh.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for our sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” See clearly here both the superiority of the divine and unmixed nature and the lowliness of the measures of humanity — and besides these the agreement of both into unity, the Only-begotten having lowered himself into this.

For no word could interpret the riches of the deity, while humanity is exceedingly poor, or rather all that it has is God-given and from above — and before all, even being itself: for it was called by God into existence, not existing before. But the rich…

Rich Word became poor; bought us from the curse; one flesh’s death enough§5

5Rich as God, he willingly became poor and became as we are, so that human nature, having come in Christ into the heights of divine superiority, might put away the shame of poverty. For God the Father raised us together in Christ and seated us together in the heavenly places, as it is written. But we would not have come into these things if the One who is rich as God had not clothed himself with the nature that is poor. A human who is poor by his own nature would not “become poor”; that befits more fittingly the One who is truly rich — that is, the Word from God the Father — when he became as we are. So there is one Christ and Son.

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” While the letter of the law declares cursed the one in transgression and sins, the One who did not know sin — that is, Christ — was brought under the curse, enduring an unjust sentence and suffering what befits those under a curse, so that the One worth all, dying for all, might loose the charges of everyone’s disobedience and buy what is under heaven with his own blood.

He would not have become worth all, if he were a mere human. But if he is understood as God become human and suffering in his own flesh, the whole creation is little beside him, and the death of one flesh suffices for the redemption of what is under heaven — for it was the Word sprung from God the Father’s own.

Made a little lower than angels; Jesus crowned through death; worshiped still§6

6“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

Having made [the body] his own, he suffered in it willingly, and through the passion he is crowned with the highest glories, as having abolished death through it and rendered corruption idle — since he himself is incorruption and life. So when Scripture names him Jesus and says he was made lower than the angels, we no longer understand a human piecemeal and separately, but the Only-begotten himself economically yielding preeminence to the holy angels, because in truth he who is lesser than their superiority has become human. The angels’ superiority is that they are outside flesh and stronger than dying — and the Son has come into these things through the voluntary emptying.

Yet the One made a little lower than angels, because of the measure of humanity, being in the superiority of deity, is worshiped by them, and is seated on thrones that they stand around forever glorifying, naming him Lord of their powers.

Shared blood and flesh; one Lord Jesus; death abolished in Christ§7

7“Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, he himself likewise shared in the same, so that through death he might abolish the one who has the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their life.”

By “children” here he clearly means us who are on the earth, according to what is sung in the Psalms as in God’s person: “I said: You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.” As far as what seems good to God and the gentleness in him by nature, we would all be children… but as David says we die as humans and fall as one of the rulers, dragging down our own mind by the passions of the flesh.

How, then, have we shared in blood and flesh? The human soul, having a nature other than flesh, by composition with it in union has completed the one rational living being — the human. So also the Word of God, ineffably uniting himself to ensouled flesh — not soulless, as some say — shared blood and flesh like us, through birth from a woman. So there is one Lord Jesus Christ: the Word of God united the human to himself and even so remained what he was.

And if he himself has abolished death’s power as Life and God, what suffered death must be thought his own, so that as he himself rose he may be said to abolish corruption… “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” And since trampling death is beyond the measures of humanity as we understand it, we say that by union — that is, communion with flesh and blood — the Word of God became human as we are, and even so remained stronger than death: for God was in flesh.

Took Abraham’s seed; merciful high priest; one Lord both offerer and offering§8

8“For it is not angels he takes hold of, but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things toward God, to make propitiation for the people’s sins. For in that he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.”

We say the Word of God takes hold of Abraham’s seed: for he sprang from Judah according to the flesh, and was made like his brothers in every respect — at least in consenting to take the form of a slave and to come to be in the likeness of humans, as blessed Paul says. So he has been called Son of Man, and has become brother to those of Abraham’s seed… “so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest.” Merciful, because the letter of the law condemns sinners… yet Christ justifies by faith… Faithful, because he is lasting, continuous, and worthy of trust for what was promised.

“In that he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.” For he endured under temptation and endured the cross. Yet the Son has offered himself as a spotless victim to God the Father, so that through his own flesh he might help those who labor… “For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” So he himself has become high priest according to the human, though divinely he receives the sacrifices from all; himself the victim according to the flesh; himself the one who propitiates for our sins, according to the authority of the deity. So there is one Lord Jesus Christ.

Salvation from the Jews via Abraham’s seed; Word sent humanly§9

9…according to the Word’s nature alone. For how is salvation from the Jews? No one would say that he is from the Jews insofar as he is understood and exists as Word, but insofar as he has become brother to those in flesh and blood by taking hold of Abraham’s seed. So there is one Christ, even if he is said to be worshiped because of the human, though he is worshiped by all creation as God.

“A little while I am with you, and I go to the one who sent me.” Where is the Word of God not present, if he fills all things by the nature of the deity? How then is he sent by the Father? And how does he go to him? So he is sent in a human way, according to the manner and account of the sending, that he may proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind; yet he goes to the Father and God no longer in the same way, but as embodied, having gone up into heaven, that he may appear for us before the face of the Father, as it is written. And if “being sent” is also taken of the Word himself, let no one be harsh: for inspired Scripture is sometimes accustomed to use such voices too; and it does not drag the divine and supermundane nature under places and limits — for it knows that nature is bodiless and beyond boundaries and far from being thought of as in a place — but rather tries to make clear, by human voices, the things beyond our mind. Since the Savior himself also said he would send the Paraclete to us, though the Holy Spirit fills all things: “for the Spirit of the Lord,” it says, “has filled the inhabited world.”

Lift up the Son of Man; crucified humanly, lives as God; one Christ§10

10“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am.” Explaining to us the causes of the Jewish madness they practiced against Christ, the divine John says: “For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.” And he has somewhere brought them in saying impiously: “We are not stoning you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a human, make yourself God.” So they have made faith in him unacceptable, thinking him a bare human as such, and not knowing that the Word, being God, took hold of Abraham’s seed and shared blood and flesh likewise with us, yet did not depart from being God — for he is unchangeable by nature and forever himself.

“When therefore,” he says, “you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am.” For he was crucified in a human way, but came back to life in a divine way; and through the resurrection it is believed that he is both God and truly Son of God. And if he is believed by us not as having raised another, but rather as himself raised, then somehow every necessity of the economy requires that the body that suffered death be understood as his own, so that he himself may also be said to rise, though by nature immortal as God. For by announcing the death of one Christ and Son and confessing the resurrection we are justified through faith. So the same one, existing as one and only Christ Jesus, is said to die in a human way according to the flesh, and to have been raised in a divine way as Life.

Works of the Father; not two Christs; the child grew in wisdom§11

11The Jews once came to Christ saying: “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them: “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me.” What then do those who foolishly divide a duality of sons and split the one Lord Jesus Christ into two Christs say even about this? About whom were the Jews saying: “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly”? And who is the one saying: “The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me”? Whose own Father do we say God is? Of the one from a woman, thought of separately and particularly — or of the Only-begotten? Yet being able to accomplish the works of the deity would not fit a human nature — how could it? Far from it. But since Christ was fulfilling the works of the Father, he would not be understood as a bare human, but rather as God who has remained what he was in blood and flesh. For holding thus, he will work equally with his own Begetter, and none of those accustomed to think well would mock the account of the mystery.

“And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him,” and again: “Jesus advanced in stature and wisdom and grace with God and humans.” Saying that our Lord Jesus the Christ is one, and assigning to him both the human things and the God-befitting ones, we firmly affirm that receiving bodily growth, and also becoming strong as the body’s parts…

Growth and wisdom as kenosis measures; Word remains God§12

12…maturing little by little; and even seeming to be filled with wisdom is because the manifestation of the wisdom that was in him rises, as it were, in a way most fitting to the advance of the body’s age. And these things, as I said, would fit the economy with flesh and the measures of the lowering; but what fits the nature of the Word again is always to be perfect and to be wisdom. So what is somehow lowered as in emptying is his in a human way, and likewise the God-befitting things are his in a divine way. For the manner and account of the economy with flesh knows him to be both according to us and above us: excelling the measure of creation as God, and somehow all but lesser than himself insofar as he has appeared as human. For where was the humility he willingly endured, if he refused the human things? Yet the nature of the Word is not thought to be in those things; rather he appropriates them with his own flesh, just as also hunger and thirst and being said to grow weary from the journey.

So when you hear “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom,” receive the mystery as an account of the economy with flesh. That he was God in flesh the blessed evangelist himself will confirm, saying that “the grace of God was upon him.” For he is not said to have God’s grace as one who has grace from another god, but because the child had the grace that would befit God. For the Word both was and is God even when he has appeared in flesh, that is, as a human according to us. And if he is said to have grace, or to advance…

Father accepts the economy; the day unknown humanly, known as God§13

13…in favor with God and humans. There is nothing unfitting if the Father himself also accepted the economy, and if the Son himself appropriated what belongs to the flesh, because of what is both fitting and useful for the mystery.

“But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of the heavens, nor the Son, but only the Father.” You have learned to confess one Christ, the Word of God made flesh — that is, become human. How then did he not know the day of the consummation? We say that for the creation not to know the mysteries in God is neither unusual nor otherwise unfitting: “For who has known the mind of the Lord?” according to what is written. And if the Son is said to have been made a little lower than angels — clearly insofar as he became human, though he is beyond all creation in a divine way — what wonder if he is also said, together with the angels, not to know the mystery in God, though he is the Father’s wisdom and power? Then how would the Father’s wisdom not know what is hidden in him? And if the Spirit is said to “search all things, even the depths of God,” and the Spirit is Christ’s, how would he himself not know what his Spirit knows exactly? So even if he is said not to know in a human way, yet he knows in a divine way. And so, asking “Where have you laid Lazarus?” as if it were possible for him not to know according to the human, he worked in a divine way, raising him from the dead. Therefore, assigning the human things to the economy with flesh, let us also keep piously for the Word born from God who has come to be according to us the things that befit God.

Forsaken cry; Word needs no help; ‘I am’ drops the arresters§14

14“And Jesus cried with a loud voice: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” So then — do we say that even the Word from God the Father himself needed help from above? And yet how is this not altogether silly? For he co-rules all things with God the Father, and he established the heavens by his own spirit, and he is named — and truly is — Lord of the powers. Or did he grow weak before the Jews’ plots, and was the hand of those crucifying him unmatched against him? Yet the prophet Isaiah says: “If all the nations were counted as a drop from a bucket and as a turn of a scale, and will be counted as spittle — to whom have you likened the Lord, and to what likeness have you likened him?” Know that the servants of the Jews’ synagogue were present with the cohort of soldiers, and the traitor leading; and when they sought to seize him he met them saying: “Whom do you seek?” And they said to this: “Jesus the Nazarene.” Then the Savior to them: “I am.” And they went back and fell to the ground. Then how would he have grown weak — he who by the voice alone exposed the weakness of those plotting? What then does he mean by saying: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We say that when the first father Adam trampled the command given him and disregarded the divine laws, human nature was somehow forsaken by God, and for this became also cursed and held by death. And since he reconstitutes what has suffered into incorruption, the Only-begotten of God came…

Abandonment ends in shared blood and flesh; Philippians kenosis§15

15…the Word, and he took hold of Abraham’s seed and was made like the brothers. After that ancient curse and the corruption that came in, the abandonment that human nature endured at the beginning had to end. So as being one of those forsaken — insofar as he himself likewise shared blood and flesh with us — he says “Why have you forsaken me?” which was the act of one clearly undoing the abandonment that happened to us, and as it were entreating the Father over himself, and calling into favor what concerns us as concerning himself first. For Christ has become for us both beginning and sponsor of every good; so that even if something is said to be received in a human way from the Father, he procured this for our nature, himself being full and altogether in need of nothing as God.

“Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be seized, but emptied himself, taking a slave’s form, becoming in the likeness of humans; and being found in shape as a human he humbled himself, becoming obedient as far as death — death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and granted him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” See clearly: he says the God Word who is in the form and equality of God the Father did not count being equal to God a thing to be seized, but was emptied…

Against two Christs on kenosis; the Full takes a slave’s form§16

16…rather, voluntarily taking a slave’s form and becoming in the likeness of humans. And he adds that he humbled himself, becoming obedient as far as death — death on a cross. So if the one and only Christ and Lord is to be divided into two Christs and sons according to what some think — the Word of God honored the human from a woman with equality of his own dignities and joined him to himself by the mode of authority and by the shared name of sonship, as being another son particularly beside him — who then is the one who emptied himself? Or in what way has he been emptied? For if, as they say, the human thought of particularly from a woman is said to have suffered this, how or in what way has he been emptied? And how did the one who has come to be in equality with the God Word — according to the mode of worth or authority, having this conjunction with him — descend into humility? But if emptying is said of the God Word himself, again thought of particularly and as a son in part, how has he been emptied by honoring another, as those people say, and clothing him with his own dignities? And in what way has the one who gives the height of his own glory to the one joined been humbled? For if they should say that by glorifying another he himself undergoes the humility — that is, the emptying — they seem to think nothing absurd in saying that by insulting he is also exalted.

A necessary and true account almost forces us to think that it is the Full that is emptied, and that what is not by nature a slave — but is beyond the measures of slavery — would come to be in a slave’s form; and that what does not have this according to nature before it comes to be also comes to be in the likeness of humans; and that the High is humbled…

Emptied as man, still exalted; receives as man what he is as God§17

17…we believe that the Word of God came to be in these things in a human way by his own will for us, yet remained in a divine way in the heights of his own superiority. In this way he is also said to be highly exalted by receiving the name above every name, to be worshiped by all, and to be named Lord to the glory of God the Father. For though he exists in the Father’s superiority and in unspeakable heights, when he lowered himself into emptying and is said to have been humbled by taking a slave’s form, he also went up again into his own wealth, having outrun the poverty of the nature united to him — clearly the human. In this way he is said to receive in a human way what always and inalienably exists in him — that is, to be God and Lord of all. And if it is the Father’s glory to have his own Son as Lord of all, how is it not true to say that even when he has taken the slave’s form the freedom and the surpassing dignity of lordship and authority over all are again kept for him?

“Giving thanks to the Father who made us fit for the share of the lot of the saints in light, who rescued us from the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have the redemption, the forgiveness of sins; who is the image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation, because in him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him, and he is before all things, and all things hold together in him, and he is the head of the body…

Firstborn from the dead in his own body; dies humanly as immortal God§18

18…of the church, who is beginning, firstborn from the dead, that he might become first in all things; because in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.” He calls the Son naturally begotten from him — that is, the God Word — the image of the invisible God, and also that through him all things were brought to birth, whether visible or invisible, in heaven and on earth, and that he himself is before all things: “for in the beginning was the Word,” and he is the maker of the ages, having existence older than all time. But he says that the one who is such by his own nature has been given by the Father as head of the church’s body, and that he himself is the firstborn from the dead. Then how is the God Word who always exists, in whom all things hold together, said to become firstborn from the dead and firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, unless the body taken by him is truly his own? When it has suffered death, he himself would be understood to suffer — the event having a not-implausible account in him, for what is his own has suffered. In this way he is understood as firstborn from the dead, though by nature immortal and life itself. So when, having lowered himself into emptying, he has been given as head of the church’s body, then the one who as God does not know how to suffer death is also said to die in a human way for us.

One Christ, not two; fullness dwells bodily in the Word’s flesh§19

19But when the blessed Paul says that all the fullness dwelt in him, some might perhaps say: See — he clearly knows another Christ particularly, the human from a woman, in whom the Son of God dwelt as another beside him — that is, all the fullness of the deity bodily.

To such things we say that the Spirit-bearing apostle does not know two Christs, but proclaims one, just as also one Father: “for for us,” he says, “there is one God the Father, from whom are all things and we for him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and we through him.” Come then, let us examine by setting the force of what has been said to the test. He says that the image of the invisible God — the one through whom and in whom are all things, the Son before the ages, the constitution of all — has been given to the church as head, and also that he has become firstborn from the dead. And since he is immortal by nature, there is somehow every necessity to say that the Word from God the Father has been brought together with the humanity according to us into an economic and true union, and that in this way one Christ is shown to us, the same one being God and human together. In whom then did all the fullness of the deity dwell bodily? To think this was done particularly and alone in the Word’s nature is altogether silly — for that is equal to saying that the Only-begotten dwelt in himself. But believing that the Word became flesh — not by change or alteration, but rather that he tabernacled among us and made his own temple the body truly united to him, having a rational soul — it is right to say that the divine Paul, signifying to us the dwelling — that is, the true union — in the Word’s holy flesh, says that all the fullness of the deity dwelt in him, not by participation or relatively or as in a gift of grace, but bodily, that is, essentially…

Dual speech-forms; obedience of the sinless Son from woman§20

20…as if one might also say that a human’s spirit dwells in him, not being another beside him. And over one person a double-faced form of speech is often brought in for us, and in no way does it wrong the truth. For example, if inspired Scripture should say about God: “He who forms a human’s spirit within him,” yet how is it not clear to all that the spirit formed within him would not be understood as another beside the human? And the blessed David says somewhere: “At night I conversed with my heart, and I stirred my spirit.” Then who was the one conversing with his own heart and probing his own spirit? Therefore one must not over-scrutinize the forms of the words, but rather look to the natures of the things themselves, and being well guided from them go to the truth itself.

On Christ’s obedience. “So then, as through one trespass it came to all humans for condemnation, so also through one righteous act it came to all humans for justification of life; for just as through the one human’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” So since human nature was condemned by the sentence of death through the first-formed one’s disobedience, it had to rise again toward its original blamelessness by making a full showing of obedience. But this was already much and far beyond humanity’s measures — for no one is clean from sins… So the God and Father, summing up all things in Christ… “sent forth his Son, born from a woman,” so that taking a body like ours and making it his own, he might be found as a human on earth not knowing sin, and thus having become wholly obedient to God the Father, justify human nature in himself and free it from death’s bonds…

Many justified by the obedient Only-begotten made human; servant yet God§21

21So when the holy writing says that many have been justified through one person’s obedience, we do not say that a bare human, one of those like us, was taken for this, but rather that the Only-begotten has become human and has become obedient to the Father for us. “He did no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth,” as it is written.

“For I say that Christ has become a servant of circumcision for God’s truth, to confirm the promises of the fathers, and that the nations might glorify God for mercy.” The divine Paul says the promises given to the fathers belong to the Jews. And the blessed prophets also cried out beforehand about Christ, that he himself will be the expectation of the nations. So our Lord Jesus the Christ, agreeing with the Father’s nods, became a servant to the circumcision — that is, to the Jews — to confirm what was promised in the fathers; for it had been said that “the righteous will live from faith”; but for those from the nations a spiritual and life-giving blessing, so that they too, being shown mercy through faith, might glorify God. Yet even if he became a servant in a human way, still he is proclaimed as God both to those from circumcision and also to those from the nations. For they have been called into life not as to one bare human among us, but as to God, having believed in Christ; and confessing that the Word from God exists not outside flesh — that is, humanity — they worship him as having been enfleshed and become human. For the word of faith that we proclaim the blessed Paul makes clear saying: “that if you confess with your mouth…

Raised in his own body; every thought captive to Christ’s obedience§22

22…Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Then how would he be said to have been raised from the dead — though by nature immortal as God — unless one first receives the accounts about the becoming-human, and is disposed that he made his own the body that is apt to die, and endured death in it in a human way, but came back to life in a divine way as incorruption and life?

“For the weapons of our campaign are not fleshly, but powerful with God for the tearing down of strongholds, tearing down reasonings and every height raised against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive into the obedience of Christ.” The saints’ war is not thick and bodily, but rather lean and mental. For they are accustomed to succeed not by moving fleshly weapons… but fitted with the weapons of the truth, rising up spiritually… against those who want to mis-mark it and twist the straightness of the divine doctrines… So the saints’ weapons are not fleshly, but rather powerful with God. For they tear down reasonings that carry us off into outlandish thoughts… and if someone should lift a horn high among those who habitually speak injustice against God, they all but strike him down with thoughts toward straightness, turning him to the right path and setting him into the words of the truth.

Emptied unto death yet remains God; Jesus named as apostle-priest§23

23So a work of truly holy-fitting skill, and pleasing to God, would be to bring under the accounts of the economy what seems set against Christ’s glory. For the Word, being God and in the form and equality of the Father, lowered himself into emptying and became obedient as far as death. So every thought must be turned cleverly, and as it were taken captive into his obedience; for if something even of the human things is said, the smallness in humanity would in no way wrong the Word’s nature, if he is believed to have become human for us also, and nowhere to have cast off being God — but, along with remaining God, to have taken on the human, and to have become obedient as far as death according to the flesh.

“Therefore, holy brothers, sharers of a heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus, being faithful to the one who made him, as also Moses was in his whole house. For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as the one who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the one who built all things is God. And Moses was faithful as a servant in his house, but Christ as a son over his house, whose house we are.” Jesus has become apostle and high priest of our confession from God the Father — that is, the Word from God having appeared as human. For then he was also named Jesus through the angel’s voice. And both the name and the fact of priesthood and of apostleship are quite small for the Word’s nature; yet for the measures of humanity they would not be unfitting; for as he himself says somewhere…

Serves as man, receives as God; descends without leaving deity§24

24the Son says: “he did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” For to be served by creation would fit him very reasonably, as God and Master and having under his feet everything that is made; but to serve is human — yet, as far as it touches the accounts of the economy with flesh, not unfitting for the one who wholly lowered himself toward human things. And see how he priests in a human way and has been set as mediator of God and humans — for every priest mediates — yet he does not bring the mode of the sacrifice still in a slave-like way as one of our priests, himself having no share in it, but works it for himself, and through himself and in himself to the Father. For he consecrates our confession — that is, the faith… So even if he is said to priest in a human way, yet he himself receives the sacrifice in a divine way, being the same one together God and human. And he is also called faithful because he can always save those who approach God through him… And being somehow compared to Moses’ service according to the human, one may learn how great a superiority he has in that he is God… that the one is faithful as a household-servant in the house, but the other as Master over his house; and that Emmanuel is builder and maker of the house, whose house we are. And the difference of maker toward what is made is beyond compare, and of the Master by nature toward what is truly slave…

“Because I have come down from heaven not so that I may do my will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of all that he has given me, but raise it on the last day.” He says that he himself has come down from heaven and been sent from God the Father — though he fills all things — showing, I think… that the Word, being God, has come down economically into humanity for us; and nowhere releasing being God by nature, but rather taking on what he was not… and giving for a short time to death the body united to him and his own, so that he may lose none of what was given him, but rather save it and raise it on the last day. So when he says he does the Father’s will and not altogether his own, he exposes the Jews’ madness… Therefore he says such things economically.

Raises his temple first; receives believers as man; reigns as God§25

25…He says that those who have believed in him have been given to him by the Father, so that he may not lose them but raise them on the last day. How then did he raise them, if not clearly through his own resurrection from the dead? For having made alive his own temple even before the others, and having shaken death’s power through the death of his own flesh, he became a way for human nature toward resurrection and toward being able at last to overpower corruption. So what is proper to the God-Word who came down from heaven is that through which he became firstborn from the dead — so that what was given him may also follow the raised one toward life, no longer being lost through the first-formed man’s transgression, but rather being saved through Christ’s obedience.

And he says again that those who put forward faith toward him have been given to him — as having become human. For all the Father’s things are hard-and-fast his own; but since, as I said, he shared blood and flesh, and then we have believed in him as God, in this way the name of “gift” is brought in. For the one who was King even before flesh has also reigned over us with flesh. And so, as one brought into the beginning of needing to reign when he became as we are, “The Lord,” he says, “said to me: You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” So he receives his own things in a human way, though he always rules over all as God.

Perfected through sufferings; refuse two Christs; ‘through whom’ also of Father§26

26On Christ having been sanctified and the priesthood understood concerning him. “For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the pioneer of their salvation through sufferings. For both the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one; for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying: I will announce your name to my brothers; in the midst of the church I will sing hymns to you.”

Some of the more ignorant, accustomed also to divide the one Lord Jesus Christ into two Christs and into two sons, think that the human from woman — thought on his own and apart from the Word who is from God the Father — is said to be perfected through sufferings, and that he himself is called the pioneer of our salvation, and that he has been perfected by the God-Word himself, given over to suffer as another individually. For they say that “for whom are all things and through whom are all things” fits him most of all, because the blessed evangelist also says: “All things came to be through him, and without him not one thing came to be.” So it was fitting, they say, for the Word — for whom and through whom are all things — in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect through sufferings the pioneer of their salvation, that is, a bare human through the holy virgin. That their account is full of thunderstruck folly I will try to show equally even now. First, “through whom” is also set upon the Father himself. And so the blessed Paul says: “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son,” and again: “and if a son, also an heir through God.”

Father perfects the enfleshed Son; Only-begotten’s aim to suffer in own flesh§27

27So since God-breathed Scripture is indifferent about the wording of the phrase and also accepts it of the Father, nothing still pushes us to turn “through whom” onto the Son’s person as if by necessity. And since this is true, why not rather leave his person aside for the moment, and then, following the aim of the holy writings and keeping the account that fits the Only-begotten’s economy with flesh, say that the Father perfected through sufferings the Son who became human? “For he endured a cross, despising shame,” surely in the good pleasure of God and Father — so that he might also show us bold who have chosen to follow in his tracks, persuaded by “Do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul.”

So the Only-begotten’s aim has been to suffer in his own flesh for us. And what sort of reason this has, the inspired Paul will teach, saying: “Since the children have shared blood and flesh, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might abolish the one who has the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their life.”

Life-giving Word wears death-bound nature; perfected humanly, perfects us divinely§28

28So since it was unreachable for human nature to abolish death — for it had been held under him, as he was bringing it down into that ancient curse — of necessity the life-giving Word of God clothed himself with the death-held nature, that is, the one according to us, or the human, so that death, leaping upon his flesh like some untamed beast, might cease its tyranny against us, being abolished by God. So he himself is the one being perfected in flesh for us in a human way, yet perfecting us in a divine way by abolishing death’s power.

For incorruption was lacking to human nature, even as it somehow came to be at the beginnings. “For God did not make death, nor does he delight in the destruction of the living; for he created all things to be, and the generations of the world are saving, and there is in them no drug of ruin nor a kingdom of Hades on the earth; but by the devil’s envy death entered into the world.” Having perfected us thus, he was saying to the Father and God in the heavens: “I glorified you on the earth, having perfected the work that you have given me to do.” For it is truly glory to God and Father to abolish death through his own offspring. So the perfecting is his through sufferings, but for us what has happened is an addition of what was lacking; for the things in Christ are a new creation. And that he does not say a bare human — with the Word excluded — has been perfected for us, but rather the Only-begotten appearing in human form, the inspired Paul will confirm again, adding: “For both the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified…”

From one as sanctifier-God and as brother by flesh§29

29“…all from one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying: I will announce your name to my brothers.” Who the sanctifier is, and who those sanctified would be, and how all are from one — or from whom — is wholly worth seeing. So the Son sanctifies, being holy by nature as God; and we have been sanctified from him through the Spirit. How then are “all from one,” as from maker and craftsman, so that from this we also have a necessary brotherhood toward one another? For from made toward made, insofar as they are made things, there is a kind of natural brotherhood — and yet by nature the Son is unbegotten and is not brother to the creation, in that he is God by nature. How then are all from one — both the sanctifier and those sanctified? So the account of the economy with flesh is necessary for clarifying what lies before us. For when he has become as we are, then he himself is also said to be from one with us, and has been named brother to the creatures, as having human kinship toward us. In this way, and very reasonably, he is not ashamed to name us brothers — not enduring, as it seems to me, to be named brother to those who came to be through him unless he has become as they are — yet without releasing what he was. For then he will also hymn with us without blame — he whom the seraphim hymn and the whole creation worships.

1 Timothy mystery: God the Word in flesh, not dignity-only junction§30

30“And confessedly great is the mystery of piety: who was manifested in flesh, justified in spirit, seen by angels, preached among nations, believed in the world, taken up in glory.” If the Word, being God, is said to have become human — and certainly not releasing being God, but remaining always in what he was — then the mystery of piety is confessedly great. But if Christ is thought a common human, joined to God only by equality of dignity or authority — for some of the more ignorant have thought such things — how has he been manifested in flesh? And yet how is it not clear to all that every human both is in flesh and would not be seen by anyone otherwise? And in what way does it say he has also been seen by the holy angels? Or do angels not also see us ourselves? What then is strange in Christ…? And how was he also preached to nations…? For if the disciples proclaimed him as one of those like us, a human simply… we have been held by human-worship and have worshiped the creation… But if, having been raised from the dead, he was saying to the holy apostles: “Going, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and then we have believed in him… then Christ is not a human honored by a bare conjunction toward God the Word, but rather by a coming-together toward the human according to an economic union — one Son and Lord. For then the mystery of piety is great; for the Word, being God, has been manifested in flesh.

No sin; Spirit own to the Word; receives as firstfruits, baptizes as God§31

31And he was justified in spirit; for our Lord Jesus Christ did not do sin. And he was also seen by angels, who, not ignorant of his human birth, were saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among humans.” And he was also preached among nations, and that he is in truth Son of God and Father and has appeared in flesh is believed by those in the world.

“And John testified saying: I have watched the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him… this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit… this is the Son of God.” Saying Emmanuel is one, and not enduring those who split into two Christs — what then shall we say, the Holy Spirit having flown down on him from heaven? Shall we suspect that the Word from God the Father has needed to share in the Holy Spirit? And yet how is it not utterly shameful truly to think thus? For the Spirit is his own, just as it is also the Father’s… So it is impious even only to suspect that the Word from God the Father himself has needed participation in the Spirit. How then did the Spirit fly down on him? For he receives in a human way… For he receives not rather for himself, but for us… having descended on him as on a firstfruit of the second race, so that it may settle and rest again in us… Yet even if he receives in a human way for us, see him giving in a divine way: “for on whomever you see the Spirit descending… this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.” And this is a divine operation; for our Lord Jesus Christ puts the Father’s Spirit into those baptized as his own Spirit.

Not the man alone needing Spirit; same one receives and gives§32

32But if they say that the human from woman, taken apart and privately — or by himself alone — has needed a share in the Spirit, how is he himself the one who baptizes in it? And yet it fits the highest nature alone also to be able to show those approaching it as having shared in the Spirit. But if the same one receives and gives, it is clear that this is according to the accounts of the economy with flesh, and insofar as he is by nature and truly God: he receives in a human way — not rather for himself, but for human nature — procuring it through himself and in himself first; and he gives in a divine way from his own nature, putting it into those worthy to receive.

So as often as Christ may be said to be sanctified, or to receive the Spirit, it befits to understand in this very manner. For it is better to be pious by turning the mind of the holy writings skillfully toward what is blameless, than to go against the rocks, unholily fortifying against Christ’s glory what has been said rightly.

Post-baptism temptation type; Word himself high priest and lamb§33

33He lives and conducts himself blamelessly. So he was turning into the desert—that is, making his sojourns—not bodily; for without drink and the food necessary to bodies, as in the Spirit’s power above our nature, he was enduring toward the fast. But mark this—for the force of the thought is most useful: he was not tempted before the holy baptism, nor was he led by the Spirit into the desert then, setting the matter as a type for us. For it is impossible for those not yet baptized either to bear manfully Satan’s hard assault or to be led spiritually; the fitting time for such bright and admirable achievements is after the holy baptism. For thus strengthened by sharing in the Holy Spirit and sealed with the grace from above unto spiritual vigor, we shall be unconsumed by Satan and shall live as in the Spirit’s power.

“Having therefore a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold the confession; for we do not have a high priest unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one tempted in all things according to likeness, without sin.” And since there is confessedly one Son of God and Father—clearly Christ Jesus—who can sympathize with our weaknesses and has been tempted in all things according to likeness without sin, who then would our great high priest be? Is it not the Word who became as we are and suffered in flesh for us? For then he was styled our high priest—not as bringing forward a foreign and strange alien victim, as is customary with others, but being himself the lamb, the most fragrant sacrifice. For even if the Word of God had not yet become human, he already knew human weakness as Creator; but he had not yet been called into the very experience of our weaknesses. But since he was clothing himself with our flesh, he has been tempted in all things—not, we say, as having been ignorant, but because, with God-befitting knowledge already underlying, it also happened that he learned it through experience.

Passes heavens as God and flesh; priestly call fits assumed humanity§34

34Tempted—from where? For he was merciful by nature and is as God; but since, along with being what he is, he also became as we are, these things are also said of him in a human way. And it says he passed through the heavens both bodily and in a God-befitting way. For he went up, as the all-wise Paul says somewhere, “now to appear before the face of God for us,” yet he also passes through the heavens in another manner, the blessed angels being worsted and going behind his glory. For he is, he is, as God above every rule and authority and lordship and every name that is named, whether in this age or in the one to come. For he sits with his own Father as Son even if he became as we are economically.

“And no one takes the honor for himself, but being called by God, just as Aaron also was. So also Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest, but the one who spoke to him: You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” The one who let himself down into emptying awaits the Father’s call that carries him into priesthood—the call most customary and fitting not rather to his own nature, but to the nature that is as we are, that is the human, into which, since he has come inside it, he endures what belongs to it. So he has been called as Aaron also was, yet not in an equal manner. For the one was anointed toward priestly service and was a household slave, but this one is called as Son and ministers to the Father according to the order of Melchizedek. “Who in the days of his flesh, having offered petitions and entreaties with a strong cry and tears to the one able to save him from death, and having been heard from reverence, although being Son, learned obedience from what he suffered, and having been perfected became to all who obey him cause of eternal salvation.”

Only-begotten’s human suffering as pattern; we cry in him§35

35To those justified by faith: “Become imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ,” and the inspired Peter: “For what credit is it if, sinning and being struck, you endure? But if, doing good and suffering, you endure, this is grace with God; because Christ also died for you, leaving you a pattern so that you might follow his tracks.” So the Only-begotten, having likeness toward us, became an aim: to suffer humanly, and to teach those known to him in what manner one must meet the assaults of trials, and what sort those persecuted for piety toward God ought to be.

He rather persuades us to strain toward prayers and to make unceasing entreaty toward God; he teaches these things, having brought petitions and entreaties in the days of his flesh to the one able to save him from death. For he was approaching with a strong cry and entreaty as one who had become as we are, yet he was heard as Son by nature and truly, not disregarded: “For I,” he says, “knew that you always hear me.” For so that he might also prepare our prayers to become acceptable, he himself again begins the matter. Therefore we were in him, as in a second firstfruit of the race—we who pray with a strong cry and not without tears, and entreat that death’s power be abolished.

Obedience learned in flesh-days; united Word suffers impassibly§36

36“For from what things he suffered,” it says, “he learned obedience.” It is like saying: He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death of a cross; yet he did not remain humble, for he was highly exalted, receiving the name above every name. And the shape of the wording is human, yet the type of the matter is best for us. So then it is a type and pattern for us that Emmanuel, being tempted, prays with a strong cry and tears—not before the incarnation, but in the days of his flesh, when this was also allowed without blame, nothing wronging the glory of the deity, the economy with flesh rather permitting this very act. For in what manner was Life frightened at death?

But if there should be some who dare to say that the one from the holy virgin is a human privately, who offered petitions and entreaties with a strong cry and tears to the one able to save him from death, they have chosen to think things that clash with the holy writings. For the Word of God is all-powerful and better than death and beyond sufferings and wholly without share in human-befitting cowardice; yet, having nature thus, he has suffered for us. Therefore Christ is neither a bare human nor a fleshless Word, but rather, united to the humanity that is as we are, he would suffer impassibly in his own flesh the human things. So those things have become a pattern for us humanly, so that we might follow after his tracks.

One offering of own body; weak in flesh, beyond weakness as God§37

37“For this he did once for all, having offered himself; for the law appoints humans as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the oath-swearing after the law appoints a Son perfected forever.” With one offering—clearly that through his own body—our Lord Jesus Christ has perfected those being sanctified forever; for he has brought himself forward for them as a fragrance of aroma to God and Father. About him the inspired Paul says that he was crucified from weakness. How then is the same one believed to be better than weakness, and as Son perfected, yet is also crucified from weakness? So it follows to think that he was weak fleshly, having endured a cross, yet is as God beyond being weak. “For the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

And the one who exists better than sin as God has offered himself, and has become our high priest—said humanly to minister, yet priesting to the Father his own body. So in a God-befitting way he does not admit suffering sin, because he was not of a created nature. So he is an all-perfect Son, and the fruit of his own nature is blamelessness.

Right-hand seat and ministry; redemption by his own blood§38

38“Now the main point on what is being said: we have such a high priest who sat at the right of the throne of majesty in the heavens, a minister of the holies and of the true tent which the Lord pitched and not a human.” Having come there he brings forward to God and Father those who believe in him, sanctified through the Spirit: “for no one comes to the Father except through me.” And that although he is said to minister he is not less than the Father, it shows further clearly by his being seated on the divine thrones and sitting at the right of the one who begot him. But if someone should say, calumniating the truth, that yes a human has sat privately at the Father’s right, joined to the Word only by equality of dignity, he no longer says the highest throne belongs to the holy Trinity in an only-begotten way, but already some fourth, recent and created god is inserted among us.

“But Christ, having arrived as high priest of the coming goods, through the greater and more perfect tent, not handmade… and through his own blood entered once for all into the holies, having found eternal redemption.” How then would the one at the Father’s right as God be said to have his own blood, unless we have believed that the Son from God the Father by nature has also been styled son of man, and giving his own blood as exchange for the life of all, found for the world this redemption unto the age?

Appears for us not naked Word but in our form§39

39“For Christ did not enter into handmade holies, antitypes of the true ones, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us.” And he appears now for us before God’s face—in what manner? Was he not always apparent even before the incarnation? Therefore he appears in a new way: no longer a naked and fleshless Word, as indeed he also was in the beginning, but in the form and nature that is as we are. For we say that thus he has now appeared for us and, as it were, led human nature into the sight of God and Father, although it had come into aversion through the transgression in Adam. So then he presents us in the Father’s eyes, as in himself and first, insofar as he has appeared as human, so that he might bring us near to the Father.

Crucified Lord of glory; glory received humanly, held divinely§40

40The blessed Paul says somewhere about the rulers of this age: “For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” So he knows that the one crucified is Lord of glory. How then does the Lord of glory receive glory from the Father? Or is it clear that the wording has again been made economically for him? For he receives humanly, yet even so is Lord of glory divinely; and the wealth of his divine nature would be seen by us in the advantages beyond creation, while the measure of our poverty is in being said to receive what he received even though, being rich, he became poor for us.

“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” The Son receives again as human, yet the Father does not again place himself outside having all things under himself. “God was in Christ reconciling a world to himself.” For the Son has become our mediator by becoming incarnate. “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, so that your Son may also glorify you.” It is necessary that the Son be glorified by the Father and witnessed also through the resurrection from the dead, that he is both consubstantial with him and life-giving and better than death.

Authority received in emptying; exalted Word returns to own seat§41

41The Father himself, as having a Son resembling him in every respect and equal in glory and equal in working. And the Son has shown this, having abolished death and having raised from the dead his own temple. Yet he receives authority over all again as we do and humanly, although he reigns over the wholes divinely. And the Father distributes to those given to the Son the eternal life—and this is himself; for he said: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Therefore even if he should be said to receive glory from the Father, and authority and kingship over all, the receiving is to be referred to the measures of the emptying; yet one must know that he is also lord of glory as God and co-throned with the Father, and in no way short of the superiority and glory of the one who begot him, as far as concerns the nature of the deity.

“Therefore, having been exalted by the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you see and hear. For David did not go up into the heavens; yet he himself says: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right until I put your enemies as a footstool of your feet.” In these we may behold the whole mystery of the Only-begotten’s becoming human. For existing in the form and equality of the Father, the God-Word from him—the all-powerful right hand and all-working hand—is said to have been emptied because of the human, yet is exalted again not into a foreign dignity and not by crossing into what had not long belonged to him, but into what he was; and the Word, having appeared, is for this reason also co-seated with God and Father.

One deity raises; Son raises his own body with the Father§42

42On Christ being said to have been raised from the dead in the Father’s power. The inspired Paul writes concerning Abraham: “It was not written for him alone that faith was reckoned to him unto righteousness, but also for us to whom it is going to be reckoned, who believe upon the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over because of our trespasses and was raised because of our justification.” There is one nature of deity, yet it is worshiped in three hypostases by us and by the spirits above. And since the deity is one, every work most fitting to it alone would reasonably be a work of the whole. For all things are done by God and Father through Son in Spirit.

So even if the Father should somewhere be said to make alive, he will altogether work it through the Son in the Holy Spirit; and even if the Son works life in those needing life, it is not apart from the consubstantial Father, for he has in himself the one who begot him. Therefore the Father is said to have raised Christ from the dead, yet we will not find the Son idle about the resurrection of his own body. Indeed he said to the Jews: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it.” And observe that when blessed Paul says faith will also be reckoned to us who have believed upon the one who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, the faith is not toward the Father alone.

Baptism into one death; Word suffered willingly in flesh§43

43“Or do you not know that as many as we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the Father’s glory, so we also might walk in newness of life.” Our Lord Jesus Christ, having spoiled Hades and released the multitude of spirits shut in those recesses, lived again on the third day. Then he said to the holy disciples: “Going, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” So we are baptized, just as into one name of the Father, so also into one name of the Son and into his death and into the Holy Spirit.

Therefore let those who divide the one Christ and Son into two sons—and say a human was joined to God by dignity-equality alone, the natures being divided—teach into whose death we were baptized. If privately into that of the God-Word, we will clearly accuse the undefiled nature of corruption; but if they should say it is that of the one from woman thought privately and by parts and by himself, how do they not say openly that he would altogether be ranked with the Father and the Holy Spirit? So it is necessary to think that the Word of God, having become as we are, suffered willingly in flesh. For we have been baptized into his death.

Spirit of the risen one; same Christ weak in flesh, strong as God§44

44And again concerning the holy apostles: “And coming opposite Mysia they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them.” When therefore the Spirit is also his own—the Spirit of the one raised—although God and Father makes us alive in the Spirit, how can one doubt that the resurrection was done with respect to the human, yet the matter was worked together with his own Father by the God-Word from him by nature, whose own also is the life-giving Spirit?

“Since you seek proof of Christ who speaks in me, who toward you is not weak but is powerful in you. For he was also crucified from weakness, but he lives from God’s power.” Some of those who had believed in our Lord Jesus Christ were scandalized, perhaps carried by words from certain people toward thoughts like these: If he was truly God and Son by nature of the God who is able in all things, how did he not escape the killers’ plots? And how, having endured the most dishonorable death on wood, would he not reasonably be thought to have been weak as we are? Toward such things the inspired Paul says: For if you should wish to test rightly who and how great is the one who speaks in me, having considered your own case you will find a sufficient grasp. For he was not weak in you, but rather showed you most powerful through his own Spirit.

Rational soul against Apollinaris; life-giving flesh of the one sent§45

45And again “he began to be grieved and distressed,” and to say, “My soul is deeply grieved unto death,” and again, “And crying out with a great voice Jesus said: Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Those defeated by Apollinaris’s opinion, who choose to think his thoughts and insist that the temple united to the Word is both soulless and mindless—what then would they say, when the holy evangelists have written such things for us about Christ the Savior of us all? For the divine and highest nature of the Word would reasonably be wholly unreceptive of panic and grief and the causes of cowardice; it will refuse altogether to be in those states at any time, and will not endure our passions at all. And again a body that is soulless and mindless would not admit grief, nor would it conceive any of the gloomy things, nor foresee in advance the fear of what is expected to happen. But a rational soul, examining with the mind both what is already present and also what will follow, would suffer such things, as I suppose seems good to all. How then does Emmanuel say, “Now my soul has been troubled”? And how did he begin to be grieved and distressed?

Christ entrusts his own spirit to the Father, and he renewed this way for us. For we will not walk into Hades—how could we?—but we will rather follow him also in this, and by entrusting our own souls to the faithful Creator we are in good hopes; for Christ will raise all.

“Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who eats me will live because of me.” I would gladly ask those who split the one into two Christs: who then is the one sent from God and Father, living because of him, and for that reason life-giving? If it is the Word from him bare and by himself, how is he eaten by us so that we may live through him? For the divine is bodiless by nature. But if they say the one sent is only a human by himself, how then is he life-giving?

Word sent in human form; own body life-giving; one Son receives life§46

46When therefore we all live because of the Father, how is only one human’s body life-giving for that reason, and why do the bodies of others not have the same energy, if indeed all, as I said, both are and live because of the Father? What then do we say to this? The Word of God, having appeared in human form, has been named apostle; for he was sent to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind. And he lives because of the Father, for he has been begotten from the living Father. For the Son sprung from God and Father who is living and life had to be life by nature in every way. And since he made his own the body taken from the holy virgin, he showed it life-giving, and very reasonably; for it is the body of the life that generates life in all things. Therefore the one Son and Christ and Lord must not be divided into two sons; if indeed he is the same—life as from life and from the living Father, and life-giving also in his own body.

And together with judging he also receives the life, although he is judge as God. And what the manner of the receiving would be, he himself will teach, saying: “Because he is Son of Man.” For it is not proper to a human to be able to have the life from himself; but since the body united to him has become own to the living Word, for this reason also, very reasonably, as having its life-giving energy, he is said to receive the life; and he himself again appropriates the matter, whose own the receiving body has also become.

Faith the Son of Man seeks; true God become son of man§47

47“When the Son of Man comes, will he find the faith on the earth?” Come then, testing again the sense of what was said, let us look round at this: what faith will our Lord Jesus Christ seek on the earth when he returns from the heavens? For if he wants to be believed by us that he is not God nor truly Son, but rather a human with nothing beyond what is ours, who would doubt that he will find that sort of judgment—that is, faith and opinion—not among us, but among Greeks and Jews? For idolaters and those who worship the creature rather than the Creator, when they hear of the cross he endured for us and also of the death, laugh, the wretches; and if someone should name him God, they jump up at once, defining the matter as human-worship. And those from the circumcision were attacking Christ, saying clearly: “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy, because you, being a human, make yourself God.” When therefore he does not seek the faith that is among those led astray, but rather that among us who are accustomed to think rightly, there is every necessity, having nodded toward the truth, to confess that the one who has also become Son of Man for us is God by nature.

He has not come to be outside judging because of the identity of essence; and the one who received is Son of Man. How then is it clear to all that the Word is God because of the ineffable generation from God the Father, and that the same one is also Son of Man because he has been united to flesh and has endured generation from a woman as we do? So when he says to the Jews, “Why do you seek to kill me, a human who has spoken the truth to you?” and again, “No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man,” and when he says about himself, “For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father with the holy angels,”

One Lord Jesus Christ; no two sons after the union; closing doxology§48

48And in short, as often as he is named “human” in the God-breathed Scripture, we do not say he is a human privately and by himself as a part, cutting away from him the Word from God the Father. We believe rather that he is also true God, and that he has also become Son of Man for us economically while remaining God, and that there is one Lord Jesus Christ. And it is very impious to split him into two sons and two Christs after the inseparable union, which is both beyond and above every mind and word.

And it would perhaps not be very hard for those who wish to examine all the things written about Christ and to set out a comparison of more thoughts. But we know what is written: “Give occasion to a wise man and he will be wiser.” For the God of all will guide your God-loving minds through the Holy Spirit unto being able to think rightly; for finding thus in you also the faith unswerving and unprofaned, Christ will crown you richly with the goods from above and will show you all-blessed. For all our hope is in Christ, through whom and with whom be the glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit unto the ages of the ages, amen.