Dial.1 rem CLOSEOUT: Father and Son names mark begetting, not interchangeable ranks
Truth — that is, Christ — does not lie when he says to the Father, All that is mine is yours, and yours mine, and I am glorified in them. If “Father” and “Son” were only titles of rank like other shared honors, what would stop us from erasing the difference and calling both Fathers and Sons, crowned alike? Hermias finds that wholly unbelievable: the Father remains Father; the Son remains Son and is not thought Father.
A: most true. So fatherhood’s name on the Father is not a mere badge of dignity, nor sonship’s name on the Son, as when both are called life or light; each name is proper and shows how each is. To refuse pouring the names into one another, and to ask a stable seat for each, keeps each one’s being unaltered: the Father is Father and not Son, because he has begotten; the Son is Son and not Father, because he has been begotten. Strip the names in thought and call each simply God or life or king — the distinction goes dark. Only by thinking “he has begotten” is the Father truly marked; only by being thought begotten is the Son. That closes Dialogue 1’s rem path. DIALOGUE 1 CLOSEOUT.
Greek
τά τε εἰς δόξαν καὶ ὑπεροχήν. ∆ιαψεύσεται δὲ οὐδαμῶς ἡ ἀλήθεια, τουτέστι Χριστός, πρὸς τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς Πατέρα λέγων ὅτι "Πάντα τὰ ἐμὰ σά ἐστι, καὶ τὰ σὰ ἐμά, καὶ δεδόξασμαι ἐν αὐτοῖς." Εἴπερ οὖν ἐν ἀξιώματος νόμῳ, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ λοιπά, προσεῖναί φαμεν τῷ μὲν Πατρὶ τὸ Πατήρ, τῷ δὲ Υἱῷ τὸ Υἱός, τί τὸ ἐμποδών, εἰπέ μοι, καὶ τί τὸ ἀπεῖργον ἐκ μέσου ποιεῖσθαι τοῖν ὀνομάτοιν τὴν διαφοράν, ἄμφω τε Πατέρας καὶ Υἱοὺς ἀποκαλεῖν, κοινὰ καὶ ἐν ἴσῃ τάξει 416 λαχόντας τὰ γέρα, καὶ ταῖς τῶν ἀξιωμάτων ὑπεροχαῖς ἰσομέτρως κατεστεμμένους; {Β.} Καὶ μὴν τοῦτό γέ ἐστι παντελῶς ἀπίθανον εἰπεῖν ἢ νοεῖν. Εἴη γὰρ ἂν οὐχ ἑτέρως ἔχων ὁ Πατὴρ ἢ ὅπερ ἐστί, τουτέστι Πατήρ· καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ὁμοίως· μένει γὰρ Υἱός, καὶ οὐκ ἂν νοοῖτο Πατήρ. {Α.} Ὀρθότατά γε καὶ ἀληθῶς, ὦ Ἑρμεία. Συναινέσεις οὖν ἄρα καὶ συναθλήσεις τῷ λόγῳ, παραδεικνύντι σαφῶς ὡς οὐκ ἀξιώματος ἔσται σημαντικὸν τῷ Πατρὶ τὸ τῆς πατρότητος ὄνομα–δεῖν γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ ὧδε λέγειν, προ τετιμηκότας τοῦ πρέποντος τὴν ἀναγκαίαν τοῦ πράγματος δήλωσιν–, οὔτε μὴν τῷ Υἱῷ ἡ τῆς υἱότητος κλῆσις, καθάπερ ἦν ἐπ' ἀμφοῖν λεγόμενα, τὸ ζωή, τὸ φῶς καὶ τὰ τούτοις συντεταγμένα· ἀλλ' ἴδιον ἑκατέρῳ τοὔνομα, τὸ ὅπως ἂν ἔχοι παραδηλοῦν. {Β.} Καὶ μάλα. {Α.} Τὸ γὰρ ἀποσείεσθαι τρόπον τινὰ τὴν ἀνάχυσιν τῶν ὀνομάτων τὴν δύναμιν, μόνιμον δὲ ὥσπερ ἐξαιτεῖν ἐφ' ἑαυτῇ τὴν ἕδραν, ἀπαραποίητον ἑκατέρῳ τὸ εἶναι τοιῶσδε προσ νέμει. Πατὴρ γὰρ ὁ Πατήρ, καὶ οὐχ Υἱός, ὅτι γεγέννηκεν· Υἱὸς δὲ αὖ πάλιν ὁ Υἱός, καὶ οὐ Πατήρ, ὅτι γεγέννηται. Φέρε γάρ, εἰ δοκεῖ, βραχὺ τοῦ Πατρός, ὡς ἐν ἐννοίαις καὶ λόγῳ, τὸ Πατὴρ ἀποστήσαντες, καὶ μὴν καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸ Υἱός, ἐννοῶμεν, ὦ τᾶν, τὸ ὅπως ἂν ἡμῖν ἀν
About this text
Cyril of Alexandria, Dialogue 1 on the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity (Greek). Complete on this page: prologue + opening + rem CLOSEOUT.
English follows PG 75 Greek (CPG 5216). Durand SC French and modern English syncs were not used as wording. Dialogue 1 CLOSEOUT.
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 75 — De sancta et consubstantiali Trinitate dialogi (Greek · Dialogue 1 prologue + opening)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.