How two are one: flesh, spirit, God
Origen went on: The task is not to take a problem and skip past it and string words together, but to chew it, for the simpler people, as if it were meat, and to put the word into the hearers' ears little by little.
Many twos, then, are said in the scriptures to be one. Which scriptures? Adam is one person; the woman is another. Adam is other than the woman, and the woman other than the man. And it is said at once in the Making of the World that the two are one: For the two shall be into one flesh. So then it is possible at times for two to be one flesh.
But keep this for me: in the case of Adam and Eve it is not said that the two shall be into one spirit, nor that the two shall be into one soul, but the two shall be into one flesh.
The righteous man again, being other than Christ, is said by the apostle to be one toward Christ: For he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Is it not that the one is of a lesser, lower, inferior substance, and Christ of a more divine, more glorious, more blessed? Therefore they are no longer two?
For the man and the woman are no longer two but one flesh, and the righteous human being and Christ are one spirit. So our Savior and Lord, toward the Father and God of all, is not one flesh, nor one spirit, but what is above both flesh and spirit: one God.
For it was necessary that, in the case of human beings joined to one another, the name 'flesh' should be set; and in the case of a righteous human being joined to Christ, the name 'spirit'; and in the case of Christ being united to the Father, neither the name 'flesh' nor the name 'spirit' should be set, but what is more honorable than these: the name 'God.'
Greek
πρόβλημα παρέρχεσθαι καὶ εἴρειν, ἀλλὰ διαμασήσασθαι διὰ τοὺς ἀκεραιοτέρους ὡσπερεὶ τὰ κρέα καὶ κατὰ βραχὺ τὸν λόγον ἐντιθέναι ταῖς ἀκοαῖς τῶν ἀκουόντων. Πολλὰ τοίνυν δύο κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς λέγεται εἶναι ἕν. Ποίας γραφάς; Ἀδὰμ ἕτερος, ἡ γυνὴ ἑτέρα. Ἀδὰμ ἕτερος τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἑτέρα τοῦ ἀνδρός· καὶ εἴρηται εὐθέως ἐν τῇ Κοσμοποιΐᾳ ὅτι οἱ δύο ἕν εἰσιν· «Ἔσονται γὰρ οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν.». Οὐκοῦν ἔνεστίν ποτε δύο εἶναι μίαν σάρκα.
Ἀλλὰ τήρει μοι ὅτι ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ καὶ Εὔας οὐκ εἴρηται ὅτι ἔσονται οἱ δύο εἰς πνεῦμα ἕν, οὐδὲ ἔσονται οἱ δύο εἰς ψυχὴν μίαν, ἀλλ' «ἔσονται οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν». Ὁ δίκαιος πάλιν ἕτερος ὢν τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγεται ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι ἕν· «Ὁ γὰρ κολλώμενος τῷ Κυρίῳ ἓν πνεῦμά ἐστιν.».
Οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς μὲν οὐσίας ὑποδεεστέρας ἢ καταβεβηκυίας καὶ ἐλάττονος, Χριστὸς δὲ θειοτέρας καὶ ἐνδοξοτέρας καὶ μακαριωτέρας; Οὐκοῦν οὐκέτι εἰσὶν δύο; Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ γυνὴ «οὐκέτι εἰσὶν δύο ἀλλὰ σὰρξ μία», καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ δίκαιος καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς πνεῦμα ἕν· οὕτως ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ Κύριος πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα καὶ Θεὸν τῶν ὅλων ἐστὶν οὐ μία σάρξ, οὐχὶ ἓν πνεῦμα, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀνωτέρω καὶ σαρκὸς καὶ πνεύματος, εἷς Θεός.
Ἔδει γὰρ ἐπὶ μὲν ἀνθρώπων κολλωμένων ἀλλήλοις τὸ «σαρκὸς» ὄνομα κεῖσθαι, ἐπὶ δὲ δικαίου ἀνθρώπου κολλωμένου Χριστῷ τὸ «πνεῦμα» ὄνομα κεῖσθαι, ἐπὶ δὲ Χριστοῦ ἑνουμένου τῷ Πατρὶ οὐ τὸ «σάρξ», οὐ τὸ «πνεῦμα» ὄνομα