Twelve Chapters on the Faith
Duodecim capita de fide
The created body of Christ shown by his passion and resurrection§1
Gregory opens his treatise by anathematizing anyone who says Christ's body is uncreated, then argues that the risen Christ's wounds and touchable body prove it was created.
1If anyone says that the body of Christ is uncreated, and does not confess that the uncreated God the Word himself displayed his incarnation from created humanity and became man as it is written, let him be anathema. For how can a body be called uncreated? What is uncreated is also incapable of suffering, and can be neither wounded nor touched. But Christ, rising from the dead, showed the disciples the marks of the nails and the wound made by the lance, and his body able to be touched, and he entered through closed doors. He did this to display both the works of his divinity and the reality of his body: although he was otherwise God, he was recognized as man; and although he was truly man, God was nevertheless demonstrated from his own works.
Latin · §1
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The flesh is not consubstantial with the divinity§2
Gregory continues his treatise with a second anathema, against saying Christ's flesh is consubstantial with the divinity.
2If anyone says that the flesh of Christ is consubstantial with the divinity, and does not confess that he himself was in the form of God and was God before the ages, and that he emptied himself and took the form of a servant, as it is written, let him be anathema. For how can flesh that exists after time be called consubstantial with the sempiternal divinity? What is consubstantial is what is the same in nature and in sempiternity, without change.
Latin · §2
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Christ is not a man taken up like one of the prophets§3
Gregory condemns the view that Christ took up a complete man as one more prophet, and answers from Paul's contrast of the first Adam from the earth and the second Adam from heaven.
3If anyone says that a perfect man was taken up by Christ like one of the prophets, and does not confess that he himself became man by incarnation from the Virgin, was born in Bethlehem and brought up in Nazareth, showed growth in age (Luke 2:52) and completed the course of time, was baptized in the Jordan and received from the Father this testimony, “This is my beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17), as it is written, let him be anathema.
For how can it be said that a perfect man was taken up by the Lord like one of the prophets, when the Lord himself became man through incarnation from the Virgin? That is why it is written, “The first man was from the earth, earthly” (1 Corinthians 15:47). But after the one who had been formed from the earth went back into the earth, the one who became the second man ascended into the heavens. And it is said that there is a first Adam and a last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). Just as it is acknowledged that the second comes from the first as far as the flesh is concerned, which is why Christ is both man and Son of Man, so it is also testified that the second is the Savior of the first, for whose sake he even came down from heaven. And since the Word came down from heaven and, having become man, ascended into the heavens, for this reason the second Adam is also said to be from heaven (1 Corinthians 15:47).
Latin · §3
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Christ was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin, not of a man's seed§4
Gregory condemns the view that Christ was conceived from a man's seed, and answers from the angel's words to Mary and to Joseph.
4If anyone says that Christ was begotten of the Virgin from the seed of a man, as all other men are born, and does not confess that he was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of holy Mary the Virgin, and became man from the seed of David (Romans 1:3), as it is written, let him be anathema.
How can it be said that Christ was begotten of the Virgin from the seed of a man, when the holy Gospel and the angel himself testify that the Virgin Mary said, “How will this happen to me, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34) That is why the one who brought the news to Mary said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy one who is born of you will be called Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:35). And to Joseph he says, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what has been begotten in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and they will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20–21).
Latin · §4
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The Son before the ages and the Son of the last times are one§5
Gregory condemns splitting the Son before the ages from the one who appeared in the last times, and answers from Christ's own sayings in John.
5If anyone says, “The Son of God before the ages is someone other than the one who appeared in the last times,” and does not confess that the one before the ages and the one who appeared in the last times are one and the same, as it is written, let him be anathema.
How can it be said that the Son of God before the ages is someone other than the one in the last times, when the Lord himself says, “Before Abraham came to be, I am” (John 8:58), and, “I came forth from the Father, and I am coming; and again I am going to my Father” (John 16:28)?
Latin · §5
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The Word who cannot suffer suffered in his own flesh§6
Gregory condemns making the one who suffered someone other than the one who cannot suffer: the same Word suffered in his own flesh without change.
6If anyone says, “The one who suffered is someone other than the one who did not suffer,” and does not confess that the same Word of God, impassible and unchangeable, suffered in his own flesh without change, as it is written, let him be anathema.
How can it be said that the one who suffered is someone other than the one who did not suffer, when the Lord himself says, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be killed, and on the third day rise from the dead” (Luke 9:22); and this, “When you see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Father” (Mark 14:62); and, “When the Son of Man comes in the glory of his Father” (Mark 8:38)?
Latin · §6
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Christ is the Savior, not one who was saved§7
Gregory condemns saying that Christ was saved, since he is the Savior and the life of the world.
7If anyone says that Christ was saved, and does not confess that he is the Savior of the world (John 4:42) and the light of the world (John 8:12), as it is written, let him be anathema.
How can anyone say that Christ was saved, when the Lord himself says, “I am the life” (John 11:25); and, “I came that they may have life” (John 10:10); and, “Whoever believes in me will not see death, but will see eternal life” (John 8:51; John 6:47)?
Latin · §7
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Christ is not divided into a perfect man and God the Word§8
Gregory condemns dividing Christ into a perfect man and God the Word, since the one Word made man gave himself for us.
8If anyone says that Christ is a perfect man separately, and God the Word separately, and does not confess one Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6), as it is written, let him be anathema.
How can anyone say that Christ is a perfect man separately and God the Word separately, when the Lord himself says, “Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth that I heard from the Father?” (John 7:19; John 8:40) For God the Word, made man for our sake, did not give a man for us, but handed himself over for us. That is why he says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). But he was speaking of the temple of his body (John 2:21).
Latin · §8
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Christ is not changeable or alterable§9
Gregory condemns calling Christ changeable, and answers from Malachi and from the Psalm that Peter applies to Christ in Acts.
9If anyone says that Christ is changeable or alterable, and does not confess that he is unchangeable in spirit and corruptible in flesh, let him be anathema.
How can anyone say that Christ is changeable or variable, when the Lord himself says, “I am, and I do not change” (Malachi 3:6)? And again, “His soul was not left in the underworld, nor did his flesh see corruption” (Acts 2:31; Psalm 16:10).
Latin · §9
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Christ took the whole of our humanity, not a part§10
Gregory condemns the view that Christ took only part of a man, since he lays down his soul and gives his flesh and blood.
10If anyone says that Christ took up only a part of man, and does not confess that he was like us in all things, except for sin (Hebrews 4:15), let him be anathema.
How can anyone say that Christ took up only a part of man, when the Lord himself says, “I lay down my soul for my sheep, so that I may take it again” (John 10:15; John 10:17)? And, “My flesh is truly food, and my blood is truly drink” (John 6:55); and, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:54).
Latin · §10
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Christ's body was not without soul or mind§11
Gregory condemns the view that Christ's body had no soul or mind, and shows that his distress, grief and fear belong to a human soul.
11If anyone says that the body of Christ is soulless or without mind, and does not confess that he is a perfect man, in all things one and the same, let him be anathema.
How can anyone say that the body of Christ is without soul or mind? For distress, grief and fear belong neither to flesh without a soul, nor to a soul without understanding, nor to the unchangeable divinity. Nor are they the show of an empty appearance, nor the failure of a human weakness that gives way. Rather, the Word was displaying in himself the passions of our nature, taking up the part that was given over to suffering. As it is written, “He himself took up our weaknesses and bore our ailments” (Isaiah 53:4; Matthew 8:17). For distress, grief and fear are ailments of the soul; but weariness, sleep and the wounding of the body are weaknesses of the flesh.
Latin · §11
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Christ came truly in the flesh, not in appearance only§12
Gregory condemns the view that Christ appeared only in seeming, retells the true events of his life in the flesh, and closes the work with praise of the Trinity and a warning against quarrels over words.
12If anyone says that Christ appeared to the world only in seeming and pretense, and does not confess that he came in the flesh (1 John 4:2), let him be anathema.
How can anyone say that Christ appeared to the world in seeming and pretense? I mean Christ, born in Bethlehem; brought to be circumcised in the flesh (Luke 2:21); carried by Simeon (Luke 2:28); brought up by his parents until his twelfth year and obedient to them (Luke 2:42; Luke 2:51); baptized in the Jordan, nailed to the cross, and raised from the dead? Therefore, when it is said, “He was troubled in spirit” (John 13:21), “He was grieved in soul” (Matthew 26:38), “He was wounded in body,” he claims the names of these sufferings in keeping with the make-up of our nature, to show that he was born a man in the world and lived among men in our likeness, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
For he was born in Bethlehem according to the flesh, as befitted God, while the heavenly angels recognized their Lord and praised God wrapped in swaddling cloths in the manger (Luke 2:7), saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will” (Luke 2:14). He was brought up in Nazareth. Sitting in the midst of the teachers, he showed himself to be God and moved them to wonder at his wisdom, which went beyond the age of his body, as the Gospel account relates (Luke 2:46–47). He was baptized in the Jordan (Matthew 3:13–16), not to receive sanctification, but to bestow on others a share in sanctification. He was tempted in the desert (Matthew 4:1), not as one subject to temptation, but setting our temptations against the challenge of the tempter, to show the tempter to be futile.
That is why he says, “Take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He did not put forward a divine struggle, but showed his own flesh victorious over suffering, death and corruption, so that through the very flesh by which sin entered into the world, and through sin death reigned in all men (Romans 5:12–14), through that same flesh, in its likeness, sin might be condemned in the flesh (Romans 8:3); the ruler of sin, the tempter, might be overcome; death might be undone, so that it would not reign; corruption might vanish in the burial of the body; the first fruits of the resurrection might be shown; the beginning of righteousness might be set to work in the world through faith; the kingdom of heaven might be proclaimed to men; and communion between God and men might be entered into.
For this grace let us glorify the Father, who gave his only-begotten Son (John 3:16) for the life of the world (John 6:51). Let us glorify the Holy Spirit, who works in us and gives us life, and grants the gifts of grace for entering into communion with God. And let us not pry with curiosity and dry words into the teaching of the Gospel, bandying about endless questions (1 Timothy 1:4) and battles of words (1 Timothy 6:4), and making rough the plain, easy and straight word about the faith. Rather, let us do the work of faith, love peace, put concord first, keep unity and fellowship, and cultivate love, by which God is appeased.
It is not for us to know the times or seasons which the Father has set in his own authority (Acts 1:7); but we must believe that there will be an end of this present time, and the manifestation of the age to come, the revelation of the judgment, the coming of the Son of God, the repayment of works, and the possession of the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. In the same way, it is not for us to know how the Son of God became man. For this mystery is great, as it is written: “Who will declare his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth” (Isaiah 53:8).
But we must believe that the Son of God became man according to the Scriptures; that he was seen on earth and lived among men (Baruch 3:38), as the Scriptures teach, in our likeness, without sin; that he died for us and rose from the dead, as it is written (1 Corinthians 15:3–4); and that he was taken up into the heavens and sits at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19), from where he will come to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1), as Scripture teaches. Otherwise, while we contend with one another in words, some may blaspheme the teaching of the faith, and what was said may come to pass: “Because of you my name is continually blasphemed among the Gentiles” (Isaiah 52:5).
Latin · §12
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