On “Father”
In illud Pater
The Spirit vs the Letter§1
1In that passage: 'Father, if it is possible.' The discourse of our holy father Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium, against the heretics, concerning: 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me' (Matt 26:39). Again, like a lawful soldier, I take up the fight against the heretics, with Stephen, the commander of piety, leading the ranks. For just as Jesus was turning the enemies when Moses was praying, so also I, with the martyr cooperating, lay hold of the enemies of the truth. I say these things not daring through an abundance of words, but having trusted in the prayer of the martyr, I dare to speak these words. For I do not fear their bulk in words. I fear the obstacles of their bad-crafty deception. For we learned not to fear a fear that did not exist.
For they say that men fear Christ and are cowardly toward death, but we, through Christ, choose to die as many times as the days we live in the flesh, so that we may triumph the truth with a bare head. Therefore, as already having the winning vote, I advance against them. For Christ encourages me through the prophet, saying: 'Son of man, do not be afraid of their faces, because they will surround you on every side (Luke 9:58). For you dwell in the midst of scorpions.' For I do not fear scorpions that sting, for I do not walk with a bare foot—I have the sandals of the gospel of peace, so that even if I am caught, I may not be harmed. And, having put on the feet the preparation of the gospel of peace, he says. Therefore, let us strike with the sandals of peace the manifold head of the heretics, so that by advancing fearlessly against them, we may teach them how they stumble in fear and cowardice when they approach the nature of the Only-begotten. For those who think and speak all things critically and irrationally, not understanding 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass,' are voted down as being cowardly toward Christ, and they say Him lacking and lesser in relation to the Father...
To pray and to seek deliverance from the impending necessity. Since, therefore, they blaspheme the word of God with insolence and mock the letter to nullify the Spirit, jesting and subverting the economy of Christ, and covering their stings with the ferocity of speech and the gaiety of words, stripping the salvation of the pure ones, let us call upon the word of God, who is inexperienced in words, so that He himself, becoming the interpreter of His own words, may convict their folly and support our understanding.
Explain to us the meaning of the things said, Lord; unfold the leaf of the letter and show the fruit of the Spirit, so that we do not die by attending to the letter, but by running toward the Spirit we may enjoy life. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor 3:6). Teach us as infants, and discipline the heretics as fools; for you are the instructor of fools and the teacher of infants. Uncover for us, as for infants, the mass of grace and provide the milk of the Spirit. Let the pure milk of the evangelical teaching be poured out. But make the foolishness of the heretics manifest. For if they were not foolish, they would not have woven a dogma of blasphemy against the denial of your divinity. For he said in his heart, 'he says,' 'there is no God' (Ps 14:1). Strip away their pretext of impiety, so that the drama of their hypocrisy may be revealed. Show how they carry on their own accusation, so that they may cover the blasphemy of their own choice.
Say then, Lord, for what reason, having come to the passion, did you decline to suffer, and why did you fear the threat of the Jews, while guaranteeing those who do not fear those who kill the body? And if you fear death, why do you not decline death? For if in you lies the power to suffer and not to suffer, you say superfluously: 'If it is possible, let it pass from me' (Matt 26:39). For in you...
Greek · §1
In illud: Pater si possibile est Τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀμφιλοχίου ἐπισκόπου Ἰκονίου λόγος κατὰ αἱρετικῶν εἰς τό· Πάτερ εἰ δυνατόν ἐστιν παρελθέτω ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο. Πάλιν ὡς στρατιώτης ἔννομος τὴν πρὸς τοὺς αἱρετικοὺς ἀναδέχομαι μάχην, ταξιαρχοῦντος Στεφάνου τοῦ στρατηγοῦ τῆς εὐσεβείας. Ὥσπερ γὰρ Μωϋσέως προσευχομένου Ἰησοῦς ἐτροποῦτο τοὺς πολεμίους, οὕτω κἀγὼ τοῦ μάρτυρος συνεργοῦντος τοὺς ἐχθροὺς χειροῦμαι τῆς ἀληθείας. Ταῦτα λέγω οὐ περιουσίᾳ λόγων θαρρῶν, ἀλλὰ τῇ προσευχῇ τοῦ μάρτυρος πεποιθώς· διὸ καὶ θαρρῶν ἐφάπτομαι τῶν λόγων. Οὐ δειλιῶ γὰρ αὐτῶν τὸν ἐν λόγοις ὄγκον. Ἀφοβοῦμαι τῆς κακοτέχνου ἀπάτης τὰ προβλήμα τα. Ἔμαθον γὰρ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι φόβον οὗ οὐκ ἦν φόβος. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ Χριστὸν φοβεῖσθαι καὶ δειλιᾶν τὸν θάνατον λέγουσιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ διὰ Χριστὸν ὅσας ἐν σαρκὶ ζῶμεν ἡμέρας, τοσαυτάκις ἀποθανεῖν αἱρούμεθα, ἵνα γυμνῇ τῇ κεφαλῇ θριαμβεύσωμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ὅθεν ὡς ἤδη τὴν νικῶσαν ψῆφον ἔχων χωρῶ κατ' αὐτῶν. Χρισ τὸς γάρ με διὰ τοῦ προφήτου παραθαρρύνει λέγων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώ που, μὴ φοβηθῇς ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν, διότι παροιστρήσουσιν ἐπὶ σὲ κύκλῳ. Ἐν μέσῳ γὰρ σκορπίων σὺ κατοικεῖς. Σκορπίους γὰρ νύττοντας οὐ φοβοῦμαι. Οὐ γὰρ γυμνῷ ποδὶ βαδίζω· ἔχω γὰρ τὰ ὑποδήματα τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς εἰρήνης, ἵνα κἂν δηχθῶ μὴ βλαβῶ. Καὶ ὑποδησάμενοι, φησίν, τοὺς πόδας ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς εἰρήνης. Φέρε οὖν τοῖς ὑποδήμασι τῆς εἰρήνης τὴν πολύμορφον τῶν αἱρετικῶν πατήσωμεν κεφαλήν, ἵνα δι' ὧν ἀφόβως κατ' αὐτῶν χωροῦμεν, διδάξωμεν αὐτοὺς ὡς μεγάλα σφάλλονται φόβον καὶ δειλίαν τῇ ἐπὶ τοῦ μονογενοῦς προσάπτοντες φύσει. Οἱ γὰρ πάντα ἀκρίτως καὶ ἀλογίστως νοοῦντες καὶ λαλοῦντες καὶ τὸ Πάτερ εἰ δυνατὸν παρελθάτω τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο μὴ συνιέντες δειλίαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ καταψηφίζονται καὶ ἐνδεῆ αὐτὸν καὶ ἐλάττονα λέγουσιν τῷ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα προσεύχεσθαι καὶ ζητεῖν τῆς ἐπικειμένης ἀνάγκης τὴν λύτρωσιν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐφ' ὕβρει τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ διαβάλλουσι λόγον καὶ ἐπ' ἀθετήσει τοῦ πνεύματος τὸ γράμμα περιᾴδουσιν κωμῳδοῦντες καὶ διασύροντες τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ οἰκονομίαν, καὶ δεινότητι φράσεως καὶ εὐφραδίᾳ ῥη μάτων τὰ ἰοβόλα αὐτῶν ἐπικαλύπτουσι δήγματα, τῶν ἀκεραιο τέρων ἀποσυλῶντες τὴν σωτηρίαν, δεῦρο ὡς λόγων ἄπειροι αὐτὸν τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπικαλεσόμεθα λόγον, ἵνα αὐτὸς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ λόγων ἑρμηνεὺς γενόμενος ἐκείνων μὲν στηλιτεύσῃ τὴν ἄνοιαν, ἡμῶν δὲ στηρίξῃ τὴν διάνοιαν. Φράσον ἡμῖν τῶν εἰρημένων τὴν ἔννοιαν, δέσποτα, ἀνάπτυξον τὴν φυλλίδα τοῦ γράμματος καὶ δεῖξον τὸν καρπὸν τοῦ πνεύμα τος, ἵνα μὴ τῷ γράμματι προσέχοντες ἀποθάνωμεν, ἀλλ' ἵνα τῷ πνεύματι προσδραμόντες τῆς ζωῆς ἀπολαύσωμεν. Τὸ γὰρ γράμμα ἀποκτείνει, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζωοποιεῖ. Ἡμᾶς δίδαξον ὡς νήπιον, τοὺς δὲ αἱρετικοὺς παίδευσον ὡς ἄφρονας· παιδευτὴς γὰρ εἶ ἀφρόνων καὶ διδάσκαλος νηπίων. Ἡμῖν ὡς νηπίοις τὸν μαζὸν τῆς χάριτος γύμνωσον καὶ τὴν θηλὴν τοῦ πνεύματος ἐπιδούς. Τὸ καθαρὸν τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας ἐπιχεθῇ γάλα. Τῶν δὲ αἱρετικῶν τὴν ἀφροσύνην δήλην ποίησον. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἦσαν ἄφρονες, οὐκ ἂν ἐπ' ἀναιρέσει σου τῆς θεότητος βλασφημίας ὕφαναν δόγμα. Εἶπεν γὰρ ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἄφρων, φησίν, οὐκ ἔστι θεός. Γύμνωσον αὐτῶν τὸ πρόσχημα τῆς ἀσεβείας, ἵνα φανῇ τὸ δρᾶμα τῆς ὑποκρίσεως. ∆εῖξον ὡς διὰ τοῦτο τὴν σὴν προσηγορίαν περιφέρουσι, 1 ἵνα τῆς οἰκείας προαιρέσεως τὴν βλασφημίαν ἐπικαλύψωσιν. Εἰπὲ οὖν, δέσποτα, τίνος ἕνεκεν ἐπὶ τὸ πάθος ἐλθὼν παραιτῇ τὸ παθεῖν, διὰ τί δὲ φοβῇ τὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀπειλήν, ὁ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀποκτέννοντας τὸ σῶμα παρεγγυώμενος. Ὅλως δὲ εἰ φοβῇ τὸν θάνατον, τί οὐ παραιτῇ τὸν θάνατον; Εἰ γὰρ ἐν σοὶ κεῖται τὸ παθεῖν καὶ τὸ μὴ παθεῖν, περιττῶς λέγεις τό· Εἰ δυνατὸν παρελ θάτω. Ἐν σοὶ γάρ
The Reality of Resurrection and the Defeat of Death§2
2the passion
Were the events concerning Lazarus not a phantom? Were the events concerning the daughter of Jairus not a dream? Were the events concerning the widow's son not a shadow? But the things that happened were truth. How then can he who has despoiled death fear death? How can he who raises the dead with authority pray and be cowardly toward death, fearing to fall? For even if you fall, he will set you free. For he who raises others much more raises his own body.
Therefore, explain the meaning to me, Lord, or cease this speech and do not exhaust my soul, or make my reasoning stumble. For if you are the one who knew all things before their coming into being, how do you now be ignorant whether it is possible or impossible for the cup to pass? For if you are ignorant, Paul lies when he says that nothing is hidden from your sight, but all things are naked and laid bare to your eyesbrews 4:13). But if you know, why do you say, 'Is it possible?' For when one is ignorant, it is a question, and when one is not knowing, it is a decision. Therefore, explain to us, Lord, the meaning of the things said. For now Eunomius rejoices, now Arius is delighted, snatching the word for the hypothesis of blasphemy. But they rejoice in vain. For it is not for the ungodly to rejoice, says the Lord (Psalm 2:4). I do not fear death, as they say; I do not decline the passion, as they think.
For if he did not wish to grant life through death to the race of humans, being a passionless Word, he would not have entered into suffering flesh. Since he saw the race of humans held by deception and not by necessity, by the seduction of demons and not by force, he descended into your body, so that having constructed the opposites from the opposites through every deception, he might set the human free. Because the tyrant thought greatly that, finding sin and bringing death through sin, he had made the citizen of Paradise, Adam—the appointed master of the inhabited world—a slave, a robber, and a thief; because of this, he set the earth apart as a king, having the flesh as a stronghold, so that, by decapitating the tyrant's insolence, he might undo the deception with deception, muster righteousness against sin, and touch life through death. Therefore, not fearing death, I am not cowardly; for the matter is not unintentional, but the deed is self-chosen. For I am the good shepherd who...
Greek · §2
ἐστιν ἢ καταδέξασθαι ἢ παραιτήσασθαι τὸ πάθος. Εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἐν σοὶ κεῖται, εἰκότως δειλιᾷς ὡς ἄκων καὶ παρὰ γνώμην ἐπὶ τὸ πάθος ἑλκόμενος. Εἰ δὲ ἄκων τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν θάνατον ἀναδέχῃ, πῶς λέγεις· Ἐξουσίαν ἔχω θεῖναι τὴν ψυχήν μου καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔχω πάλιν τοῦ λαβεῖν αὐτήν, πῶς δὲ πάλιν ἐν ἑτέρῳ χωρίῳ παίζων τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὴν ἀπειλὴν ἔλεγες· Λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν; Ὁ τοίνυν πολλαχῶς πολλάκις πρὸ τοῦ θανάτου τὸν θάνατον προτυπώσας καὶ πρὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ τὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ τρόπαιον διαγράψας, ὁ εἰπὼν ὅτι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδοθῆναι καὶ σταυρωθῆναι καὶ ταφῆναι καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστῆναι, τί ἐλθὼν νῦν ὑπὸ τὸν σταυρὸν τὸν θάνατον παραιτῇ; Εἰ γὰρ δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδοθῆ ναι, πῶς λέγεις· Εἰ δυνατὸν παρελθάτω τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο; Ὅλως δὲ εἰ τὸ μὴ παθεῖν ἐβούλου, τί τὸ παθητὸν ἐνεδύου σῶμα; Εἰ δὲ σῶμα παθητὸν φορέσας ἐπὶ τὸ πάθος ἔρχῃ, τί λυπῇ καὶ δυσχεραί νεις; Πῶς δὲ ὅτε τὸν θάνατον διέγραφες, ὅτε τὸ πάθος ἱστόρεις, ὅτε τὸν σταυρὸν προετύπους, πρὸς Πέτρον ἠγανάκτεις λέγοντα· Ἵλεώς σοι, κύριε, οὐ μὴ ἔσται σοι τοῦτο καὶ οὕτως ἠγανάκτεις ὡς λέγειν· Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, σατανᾶ, σκάνδαλόν μου εἶ, ὅτι οὐ φρονεῖς τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων; Εἰ οὖν ἀνθρώπινόν ἐστιν φρόνημα, τὸ τὸν θάνατον παραιτεῖσθαι, τίνος ἕνεκεν νῦν ἐπιζη τεῖς ὃ πάλαι διεκώλυες; Πῶς δὲ νῦν ἐκκλῖναι τὸν θάνατον εὔχῃ, ὁ πάλαι τῷ μαθητῇ ἐπιτιμῶν διὰ τὸ δειλιᾶν τοῦ θανάτου τὴν προσβολήν; Οὐ σὺ εἶ ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν προ αναφωνούμενος; Οὐ περὶ σοῦ Ὠσηὲ ὁ προφήτης ἔλεγεν· Τάδε λέγει κύριος· Ἐκ χειρὸς ᾅδου ῥύσομαι αὐτούς, ἵνα εἴπωσιν· Ποῦ ἡ νίκη σου, θάνατε, ποῦ τὸ κέντρον σου, ᾅδη; Εἰ οὖν σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ ᾅδου ῥυόμενος, πῶς δειλιᾷς τὸν θάνατον; Εἰ δὲ σὺ τὸν θάνατον δειλιᾷς, δι' οὗ τὸν θάνατον νικᾶν ἐλπίζομεν, ματαία ἡμῶν ἡ ἐλπίς, ἀνόνητος ἡ προσδοκία. Ὅλως δὲ εἰ σὺ τὸν θάνατον φοβῇ, ἐν τίνι ἕξομεν λοιπὸν τὰς τῆς ζωῆς ἐλπίδας, πῶς δὲ λέγεις· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις; Ζωὴ γὰρ θάνατον οὐ φοβεῖται, ἀνάστασις πάθος οὐ δειλιᾷ. Ἀλλὰ σὺ εἶ ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις. Τί μου οὖν φοβεῖς τὴν ψυχήν, τί μου τοὺς τόνους τῆς διανοίας ἐκλύεις δειλίας προ φέρων ῥήματα; Μὴ φάσμα ἦν τὰ κατὰ τὸν Λάζαρον; Μὴ ὄναρ ἦν τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰαείρου θυγατέρα; Μὴ σκιὰ ἦν τὰ κατὰ τὸν υἱὸν τῆς χήρας; Ἀλλὰ ἀλήθεια ἦν τὰ γεγενημένα. Πῶς οὖν ὁ τὸν θάνατον σκυλεύσας θάνατον φοβῇ, πῶς δὲ ὁ τοὺς νεκροὺς ὀδωδότας μετ' ἐξουσίας ἐγείρων εὔχῃ καὶ δειλιᾷς τῷ θανάτῳ μὴ περιπε σεῖν; Τί δὲ ὅλως τὸ περιπεσεῖν φοβῇ; Κἂν γὰρ περιπέσῃς, ἐλευθερώσῃ. Ὁ γὰρ ἑτέρους ἀνιστῶν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἐγείρει σῶμα. Ἢ φράσον οὖν μοι τὴν ἔννοιαν, δέσποτα, ἢ παῦσαι τοῦ ῥήματος καὶ μὴ διέλῃς μου τὴν ψυχήν, ἢ ὀκλᾶσαι ποιήσῃς τὸν λογισμόν. Εἰ γὰρ σὺ εἶ ὁ πάντα εἰδὼς πρὶν γενέσεως αὐτῶν, πῶς νῦν ἀγνοεῖς πότερον δυνατόν ἐστιν ἢ ἀδύνατον παρελθεῖν τὸ ποτήριον; Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀγνοεῖς, ψεύδεται Παῦλος λέγων ὅτι Οὐκ ἔστι κτίσις ἀφανὴς ἐνώπιόν σου, πάντα δὲ γυμνὰ καὶ τετραχηλισμένα τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ. Εἰ δὲ γινώσκεις, πῶς λέγεις· Εἰ δυνατόν; Ἀγνοοῦντός ἐστι πεῦσις καὶ οὐκ εἰδότος ἀπόφασις. Φράσον οὖν ἡμῖν, δέσποτα, τῶν εἰρημένων τὴν ἔννοιαν. Νῦν γὰρ Εὐνόμιος χαίρει, νῦν Ἄρειος εὐφραίνεται εἰς ὑπόθεσιν βλασφημίας τὸν λόγον ἁρπάζοντες. Ἀλλὰ μάτην χαίρονται. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστι χαίρειν τοῖς ἀσεβέσι, λέγει κύριος. Οὐ φοβοῦμαι γὰρ τὸν θάνατον, ὥς φασιν· οὐ παραιτοῦμαι τὸ πάθος, ὡς νομίζουσιν. 2 Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἤθελον διὰ θανάτου ζωὴν χαρίσασθαι τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὐκ ἄν, λόγος ὢν ἀπαθής, παθητὴν ὑπεισῆλθον σάρκα. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἶδον τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπάτῃ καὶ οὐκ ἀνάγκῃ, γοητείᾳ δαιμόνων καὶ οὐ βίᾳ κρατούμενον, ὑπῆλθον τὸ ὑμέτερον σῶμα, ἵνα ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων τὰ ἐναντία κατασκευάσας διὰ πάσης ἐξαπάτης ἐλευθερώσω τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ μέγα ἐφρόνει ὁ τύραννος, ὅτι τὴν ἁμαρ τίαν εὑρὼν καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸν θάνατον εἰσαγαγὼν τὸν Ἀδὰμ τὸν τοῦ παραδείσου πολίτην, τὸν χειροτονητὸν τῆς οἰκου μένης δεσπότην, δοῦλον καὶ λῃστὴν καὶ γηπόνον ἐποίησεν, διὰ τοῦτο ἐπεχωρίασα τῇ γῇ ὡς βασιλεὺς τὴν σάρκα ὡς ἁλουργίδα ἔχων, ἵνα τοῦ τυράννου ἀποκείρας τὸ θράσος τῇ μὲν ἀπάτῃ τὴν ἀπάτην λύσω, τῇ δὲ ἁμαρτίᾳ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐπιστρατεύσω, τῷ δὲ θανάτῳ τὴν ζωὴν ἐπαφήσω. Οὐ φοβούμενος οὖν τὸν θάνατον δειλιῶ· οὐ γὰρ ἀκούσιον τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἀλλ' αὐτοπροαίρετον τὸ κατόρθωμα. Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς ὁ τὴν
The Master of Nature and the Incarnation§3
3He voluntarily offers his own soul for the sheep. Just as, existing in the form of God, he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave, not compelled by any necessity, so also he willingly undergoes death, not held by force, but coming to the passion of his own accord.
For what did he suffer, Master? For the salvation of mankind, he says. And I state the manner. Because the race of men was subjected to the decree of death through Adam, who was formed from a virgin earth, and I am the one casting out the decree of death, it was impossible for the punishment to be lifted from man unless I myself recalled my own decree; therefore, having taken the form of a man in likeness to Adam from a virgin womb, I undergo death, so that as God I might loose the decree and as man I might receive death on behalf of men.
I do this so that I might free man not by authority, but by sympathy. For if God had been the one who succeeded through a man sinning, the succeeding would not have been great. But now, because of this, I have become man, and for the sake of the one who abolished the law, I fulfilled the law, so that the race of men might spring forth from the intimacy of the one who succeeded.
Therefore also now, in the person of Adam, I receive the decree of death, so that he might receive through me the grace of the resurrection. Adam, having sinned, brought in death; I, having succeeded, brought in the resurrection. And because death reigned from Adam until Moses, and reigned because the body holds the accomplice of sin at hand, therefore I took up that same body which seems to be the instrument of sin, so that, having abolished sin, I might prove man free from sin.
Otherwise, because men were living an evil life, entangled in sin, since their life was more akin to death, therefore I choose the good death over the evil life and undergo death, so that those participating in the good death might enjoy the true life; and they enjoy it through baptism. For as many as are baptized are baptized into my death, so that just as I was raised from the dead, so also they might walk in a newness of life. And let no one wavering say that darkness does not work light, nor blackness produce whiteness, how then death...
How is it the life? For the matter is clearly beyond nature. But do not seek a natural order in me. For I am the master of nature, who at times allows nature to act according to its nature, and at times guides it beyond nature. For when I wish to manage something wondrously, then even nature, having denied its own order, does that which my guiding spirit directs.
And this is clear from the observed arrangement; I say something like this: the sun and the moon are fire according to nature, but the crystallized solid, which I called heaven, is water. If therefore you seek a natural course, how is the fire kept by the water, or how is the crystallized solid not dissolved and flowed away by the heat of the fire? And so that I may not occupy your soul regarding the observed arrangement, I persuade you, having manipulated the economy through it, that it is not right to seek a course in the paradoxical wonders of nature.
For calculate that, being God, I condescended to a human body. This indeed is first against nature. For tell me, how could the human body, which is divided by a hair, contain the uncontainable, the immeasurable, the one being everywhere, the one encompassing the whole inhabited world, the one measuring the heaven with a spark, the earth with a dragon, and the sea with a cup? For that he contained is clear, since even the full essence of deity dwelt in the flesh bodily (Colossians 2:9). But as for 'how', he says. For I know what I manage, but you are not able to hear; for the knowledge of the secret things surpasses mortal hearing, such that even if at times I wish to interpret something through a multitude of mercies, I interpret it not as nature is, but as you are able to learn; for this reason also, suppressing the blindness of those who will seem wise, I was saying: He who thinks he knows something, has not yet known anything, as it is necessary to know.
Since you have heard that being the Word I have become flesh (John 1:14), but you are ignorant of the 'how'. For how was I in the flesh, as a body in a body or as a soul in a body? Surely I suffered with the suffering body, but I did not suffer. For the nature of God does not fall into passion. Just as I have become flesh without ceasing to be God, so also I underwent passion without falling into passion. I was born through economy, I died for the salvation of men; rather, I died because of this, because I was born. Do not therefore seek in me either the order of birth or...
Greek · §3
ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων αὐθαιρέτως προιέμενος. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσα μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν μηδενὸς ἀναγκά σαντος, οὕτω καὶ ἑκοντὶ τὸν θάνατον ὑπομένω οὐ βίᾳ κρατούμε νος, ἀλλ' αὐθαιρέτως ἐπὶ τὸ πάθος ἐρχόμενος. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ ἔπαθες, δέσποτα; ∆ιὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίαν, φησίν. Καὶ λέγω τὸν τρόπον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀποφάσει θανάτου τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὑπεβλήθη διὰ τὸν ἐκ παρθενικῆς γῆς πλασθέντα Ἀδάμ, ἐγὼ δὲ ἤμην ὁ τὴν ἀπόφασιν τοῦ θανάτου ἐκβαλών, ἀδύνατον δὲ ἦν τῆς τιμωρίας ἀνεθῆναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, εἰ μὴ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀνεκαλεσάμην ἀπόφασιν, διὰ τοῦτο ἐκ παρθενικῆς γαστρὸς καθ' ὁμοιότητα τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἀνθρώπου μορφὴν λαβὼν ὑπομένω θάνατον, ἵνα καὶ ὡς θεὸς λύσω τὴν ἀπόφασιν καὶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων καταδέξωμαι τὸν θάνατον. Τοῦτο δὲ ποιῶ, ἵνα μὴ αὐθεντίᾳ, ἀλλὰ συμπαθείᾳ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐλευθερώσω. Εἰ γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ἁμαρτήσαντος θεὸς ἦν ὁ κατορθώσας, οὐ μέγα ἦν τὸ κατορθούμενον. Νῦν δὲ διὰ τοῦτο ἄνθρωπος γέγονα καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ καταλύσαντος τὸν νόμον τὸν νόμον ἐπλήρωσα, ἵνα τῇ οἰκειότητι τοῦ κατορθώσαντος ἐνα βρύνηται τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ γένος. Ὅθεν καὶ νῦν εἰς πρόσωπον τοῦ Ἀδὰμ δέχομαι τὴν ἀπόφασιν τοῦ θανάτου, ἵνα ἐκεῖνος δι' ἐμοῦ λάβῃ τὴν χάριν τῆς ἀναστάσεως. Πταίσας ὁ Ἀδὰμ συνεισήνεγκε τὸν θάνατον, κατορθώσας ἐγὼ ἀντεισήγαγον τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Μωϋσέως, ἐβασί λευσεν δὲ ἐκ τοῦ τὸ σῶμα ὑποχείριον ἔχειν τὸ συνεργὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίας, διὰ τοῦτο ἀνέλαβον τὸ αὐτὸ σῶμα τὸ δοκοῦν ὄργανον εἶναι τῆς ἁμαρτίας, <ἵνα> καταργήσας τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐλεύθερον ἁμαρτίας ἀποδείξω τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ἄλλως δὲ ἐπειδὴ ζωὴν κακὴν ἔζων οἱ ἄνθρωποι συμπεπλεγμένοι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ὡς εἶναι αὐτῶν τὴν ζωὴν θανάτου χείρονα, διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἀγαθὸν θάνατον τῆς κακῆς ζωῆς προκρίνας ὑπομένω θάνατον, ἵνα οἱ τῷ καλῷ θανάτῳ κοινωνήσαντες τῆς ἀληθοῦς ζωῆς ἀπολαύσωσιν· ἀπολαύσωσιν δὲ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος· Ὅσοι γὰρ βαπτίζονται, εἰς τὸν θάνατόν μου βαπτίζονται, ἵνα ὥσπερ ἠγέρθην ἐγὼ ἐκ νεκρῶν, οὕτως καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς περιπατήσωσιν. Καὶ μηδεὶς ἀμφιβάλλων λεγέτω ὅτι τὸ σκότος οὐκ ἐργάζεται φῶς οὔτε τὸ μέλαν ἀποτελεῖ λευκότητα, πῶς ὁ θάνατος ἐγέννη σεν ζωήν; Ὅτι γὰρ ὑπὲρ φύσιν τὸ πρᾶγμα, δῆλον. Ἀλλ' ἐπ' ἐμοῦ μὴ ζήτει φύσεως τάξιν. Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ὁ δεσπότης τῆς φύσεως, ὁ ποτὲ μὲν τὴν φύσιν κατὰ φύσιν φέρεσθαι συγχωρῶν, ποτὲ δὲ αὐτὴν ὑπὲρ φύσιν ἡνιοχῶν. Ὅταν γάρ τι ἐξαίσιον οἰκονομῆσαι θέλω, τότε καὶ ἡ φύσις τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἀρνησαμένη τάξιν ἐκεῖνα πράττει, ἅπερ ἂν τὸ ἐμὸν παρακελεύηται νεῦμα. Καὶ τοῦτο δῆλον ἐκ τῆς ὁρωμένης διακοσμήσεως, οἷόν τι λέγω· ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ἡ σελήνη πῦρ εἰσιν κατὰ φύσιν, ὕδωρ δὲ τὸ κρυσταλλωθὲν στερέω μα, ὃ δὴ οὐρανὸν ἐκάλεσα· εἰ φύσεως οὖν δρόμον ἐπιζητεῖς, πῶς τὸ πῦρ ὑπὸ 3 τοῦ ὕδατος φυλάττεται ἢ τὸ κρυσταλλωθὲν στερέωμα πῶς ὑπὸ τῆς θέρμης τοῦ πυρὸς οὐ διαλύεται καὶ διαρρεῖ; Καὶ ἵνα σου τὴν ψυχὴν μὴ περὶ τὴν ὁρωμένην διακόσμησιν ἀσχολήσω, ἐπ' αὐτήν σε τὴν οἰκονομίαν χειραγωγήσας πείθω ὡς οὐ χρὴ ἐπὶ ταῖς παραδόξοις θαυματουργίαις φύσεως ἐπιζητεῖν δρόμον. Ἀναλόγισαι γὰρ ὅτι θεὸς ὢν ἀνθρώπινον ὑπεδύην σῶμα. Τοῦτο δὲ πρῶτον παρὰ φύσιν. Ἐπεὶ πῶς τὸ τριχῇ διάστατον σῶμα τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τὸν ἀχώρητον, τὸν ἀμέτρητον, τὸν πανταχοῦ ὄντα, τὸν πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην περιγράφοντα, τὸν μετροῦντα τὸν οὐρανὸν σπιθαμῇ καὶ τὴν γῆν δρακὶ καὶ τὴν θάλατταν κοτύλῃ χωρῆσαι ἠδύνατο, εἰπέ. Ὅτι γὰρ ἐχώρησεν δῆλον, ἐπειδὴ καὶ πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος ἐνῴκησεν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ σωματικῶς. Τὸ δὲ πῶς ἐγὼ μὲν οἶδα, φησίν. Οἶδα γὰρ ἃ οἰκονομῶ, σὺ δὲ ἀκοῦσαι οὐ δύνῃ· ὑπερβαίνει γὰρ ἀκοὴν θνητὴν ἡ τῶν ἀπορρήτων εἴδησις οὕτως, ὅτι κἂν ποτὲ διὰ πλῆθος οἰκτιρμῶν ἑρμηνεῦσαί τι θέλω, οὕτως ἑρμηνεύω, οὐχ ὡς ἡ φύσις ἔχει, ἀλλ' ὡς σὺ μαθεῖν δύνῃ· διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ τῶν δοκήσει σοφῶν τὸν τῦφον καταστέλλων ἔλεγον· Ὁ δοκῶν εἰδέναι τι, οὐδέπω οὐδὲν ἔγνωκεν, καθὼς δεῖ γνῶναι. Ἐπεὶ ὅτι λόγος ὢν σὰρξ γέγονα, ἤκουσας, τὸ δὲ πῶς ἀγνοεῖς. Πῶς γὰρ ἤμην ἐν τῇ σαρκί, ὡς σῶμα ἐν σώματι ἢ ὡς ψυχὴ ἐν σώματι; Οὐκοῦν συνέπαθον τῷ παθητῷ σώματι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔπαθον. Θεοῦ γὰρ φύσις οὐ περιπίπτει πάθει. Ὥσπερ οὖν σὰρξ γέγονα οὐκ ἐκπεσὼν τοῦ εἶναι θεός, οὕτως καὶ πάθος ὑπέμεινα οὐ περιπεσὼν πάθει. Ἐγεννήθην δι' οἰκονομίαν, ἀπέθα νον διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίαν· μᾶλλον δὲ διὰ τοῦτο ἀπέθανον, ἐπειδὴ ἐγεννήθην. Μὴ ζητήσῃς οὖν ἐπ' ἐμοῦ ἢ γεννήσεως τάξιν ἢ
The Fisherman's Bait§4
4In the manner of death. For nature does not do these things, but power accomplishes them. Being God, therefore, I descended into a human body. This was first contrary to nature; but it did not happen through nature as an impossibility, because it lay within my authority, the one who created nature.
I also consented again for the body itself to fall into general death, so that life, mastering death, might demonstrate its energy within that death. The living is not wonderful, but the dead living is this great and paradoxical thing. Therefore I also consented to be dissolved, and after being dissolved I rose, so that I might show that even after the body was subjected to death, I remained thus impassive, because I raised not only my own body, but also the bodies of the sleeping righteous together with me.
Voluntarily, therefore, through philanthropy I undergo death, but voluntarily, according to some economy, I feign cowardice. For I feign cowardice so that I might deceive death. Just as in the desert, if I had not become hungry, the devil would not have approached (Matt 4:3). But because of this I became hungry, so that, not thinking there was another Adam, he might bring the beast. Thus also here, because of this, I offer the word of cowardice as bait, so that I might hook death for myself.
For when the devil saw many signs having been performed: paralyzing nerves, joining tongues that were wandering, opening deaf ears, giving sight to the blind, turning the surge of the sea into calm, drying up the bleeding springs by the touch of the vessel, raising Lazarus by the word (John 11:43), raising the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:41), calling up the son of the widow from the dead (Luke 7:14); all these things having seen and having been persuaded by these deeds, that I am the Son of God having appeared in the form of man according to the prophecy of the prophets, he fears and is terrified to crucify me and hand me over to death, lest, having entered under the form of a dead man, I might free the dead.
What then do I do, so that I might also transform the cowardice of the devil into madness and make him attack death? I flee so that he may pursue, I feign cowardice so that he may be emboldened; I use lowly words so that, thinking me one of many, he may rush upon and overwhelm me. For if he does not overwhelm me, he will not be able to overwhelm those who are laid upon me. Therefore I speak words of cowardice, in order to—
Having deceived the deceiver, I will undo the deception. That one deceived Adam with deceitful words; I deceive the deceiver with cowardly words. But he spoke words to deceivers in order to destroy man, while I speak words of cowardice in order to free the inhabited world.
I am a fisherman fishing. For just as a fisherman, having placed a worm on a hook, extends the rod and sometimes gives the hook and sometimes pulls and withdraws, so that by showing the fleeing worm he might prepare to strike the fish, so also I, having placed the body like a worm on the hook of my divinity—for I am a worm and not a man—sometimes pull death as a coward, and sometimes give the hook as a brave man, so that the devil, as a fish falling upon the worm, that is, coming upon the flesh, might secretly fall upon the hook of divinity and, having fallen, be pulled, so that what was said by Job might be fulfilled upon him: 'You shall draw a dragon with a hook' (Job 41:1).
Therefore, not fearing death, I said: 'My soul is in great distress' (Psalm 91:7). Nor do I say I am cowardly to suffer: 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me' (Matthew 26:39). For I do all things so that death might not escape me. I act cowardly as a man, so that having laid it down as a man, I may work as God.
I have used lowly words, so that by consuming my leaven of the flesh, he might find the coal of divinity fiercely burning him. I act cowardly so that my body might chew a grain of mustard seed, and he will find the sharpness of divinity severely tormenting him. I act cowardly so that he might swallow me as a man. For if he swallows me, he will find the hard rock of divinity crushing his teeth, so that what is written might be fulfilled upon him: 'God will crush his teeth in his mouth' (Psalm 3:7).
Therefore, I hide the authority of the divinity and put forward the cowardice of the flesh, so that he might not be hunted by the power of divinity, but might be cast down by the weakness of the body. For lest he think highly of himself as being defeated by God, for this reason I deceive him through the flesh, so that he might be attacked through those things by which he planned to attack. I therefore conquer him through the weakness of the body, so that he might not think highly of himself as being rebuked by divine power. For that which is by the divinity...
Greek · §4
θανάτου τρόπον. Ἃ γὰρ ἡ φύσις οὐ ποιεῖ, ταῦτα ἡ δύναμις ἀποτελεῖ. Θεὸς οὖν ὢν ἀνθρώπινον ὑπῆλθον σῶμα. Τοῦτο πρῶτον παρὰ φύσιν· ἀλλ' οὐ γέγονεν διὰ τὴν φύσιν ἀδύνα τον, ἐπειδὴ ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ ἐξουσίᾳ ἔκειτο, τοῦ πεποιηκότος τὴν φύσιν. Συνεχώρησα δὲ πάλιν καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ σῶμα τῷ γενικῷ περιπεσεῖν θανάτῳ, ἵνα ἡ ζωὴ ἡ τοῦ θανάτου δεσπόζουσα καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ θανάτῳ τὴν τῆς ζωῆς ἐνέργειαν ἐπιδείξηται. Τὸ μὲν ζῶν ζῆν οὐ δὲν θαυμαστόν, τὸ δὲ ἀποθανὸν ζωῶσαι τοῦτο μέγα καὶ παράδο ξον. ∆ιὸ καὶ λυθῆναι αὐτὸ συνεχώρησα καὶ μετὰ τὸ λυθῆναι ἀνέστησα, ἵνα δείξω ὅτι καὶ τοῦ σώματος ὑποβληθέντος θανάτῳ οὕτως ἀπαθὴς ἔμεινα, ὅτι οὐ μόνον τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα ἤγειρα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ τῶν προκεκοιμημένων δικαίων σώματα συνανέστησα. Ἑκὼν οὖν φιλανθρωπίᾳ τὸν θάνατον ὑπομένω, ἑκὼν δὲ πάλιν κατά τινα οἰκονομίαν τὸν θάνατον δειλιῶ. ∆ειλιῶ γὰρ τὸν θάνα τον, ἵνα ἀπατήσω τὸν θάνατον. Ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, εἰ μὴ ἐπείνασα, οὐ προσήρχετο ὁ διάβολος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δὲ ἐπείνασα, ἵνα μὴ νομίσας ἄλλον εἶναι Ἀδὰμ προσενέγκῃ τὸ θήρατρον. Οὕτως καὶ ὧδε διὰ τοῦτο τῆς δειλίας προφέρω ῥῆμα, ὡς δέλεαρ, ἵνα ἑαυτῷ ἀγκιστρεύσω τὸν θάνατον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶδεν ὁ διάβολος πολλὰ σημεῖα πεποιηκότα, παραλυτικὸν νευρώσαντα, ἀλάλων τὰς γλώσσας ἀρθρώσαντα, κωφῶν τὰ ὦτα ἀνοίξαντα, τυφλοὺς ὀμματώσαντα, τῆς θαλάσσης τὸν φλυσμὸν εἰς γαλήνην μεταβα λόντα, τῆς αἱμορροούσης τὰς πηγὰς διὰ τῆς ἁφῆς τοῦ κρασπέδου ξηράναντα, τὸν Λάζαρον λόγῳ ἐγείραντα, τὴν τοῦ Ἰαείρου θυγατέρα ἀναστήσαντα, τὸν τῆς χήρας υἱὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνακαλε σάμενον, πάντα οὖν ταῦτα θεασάμενος καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγ μάτων πεισθείς, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ ἐν μορφῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φανεὶς κατὰ τὴν τῶν προφητῶν πρόρρησιν, φοβεῖται καὶ δέδιεν σταυρῷ με προσηλῶσαι καὶ θανάτῳ παραδοῦναι, ἵνα μὴ νεκροῦ ὑπεισελθὼν σχῆμα τοὺς νεκροὺς ἐλευθερώσω. Τί οὖν ποιῶ, ἵνα καὶ τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν δειλίαν εἰς ἀπόνοιαν μεταβάλω καὶ τὸν θάνατον ἐπιδραμεῖν ποιήσω; Φεύγω ἵνα διώξῃ, δειλιῶ ἵνα θαρρήσῃ, ταπεινοῖς κέχρημαι ῥήμασιν ἵνα με ἕνα τῶν πολλῶν νομίσας προσδράμῃ καὶ καταπίῃ. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἐμὲ μὴ καταπίῃ, τοὺς καταποθέντας ἐμέσαι οὐκ ἔχει. Ὅθεν δειλίας φθέγγομαι ῥήματα, ἵνα 4 τὸν ἀπατεῶνα ἐξαπατήσας τὴν ἀπάτην λύσω. Ῥήμασιν ἐκεῖνος δολεροῖς ἠπάτησεν τὸν Ἀδάμ, ῥήμασιν ἐγὼ δειλοῖς ἀπατῶ τὸν δολερόν. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἀπατηλοὺς ἐφθέγξατο λόγους, ἵνα τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀπολέσῃ, ἐγὼ δειλίας φθέγγομαι ῥήματα, ἵνα τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐλευθερώσω. Ἁλιεύς εἰμι ἁλιεῖς ἁλιεύων. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἁλιεὺς τῷ ἀγκίστρῳ τὸν σκώληκα περι θεὶς ἐκτείνει τὸν κάλαμον καὶ ποτὲ μὲν ἐνδίδωσιν τὸ ἄγκιστρον, ποτὲ δὲ ἕλκει καὶ ὑποσύρει, ἵνα φεύγοντα τὸν σκώληκα δείξας ἐπιδραμεῖν τὸν ἰχθὺν παρασκευάσῃ, οὕτως κἀγὼ τῷ ἀγκίστρῳ τῆς θεότητός μου ὥσπερ σκώληκα περιθεὶς τὸ σῶμα–Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι σκώληξ καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος–ποτὲ μὲν ἕλκω τὸν θάνατον ὡς δειλιῶν, ποτὲ δὲ ἐνδίδωμι τὸ ἄγκιστρον ὡς θαρρῶν, ἵνα ὁ διάβολος ὥσπερ ἰχθὺς τῷ σκώληκι ἐφαλλόμενος, τουτέστιν τῇ σαρκὶ ἐπερχόμενος, λανθανόντως τῷ ἀγκίστρῳ περιπέσῃ τῆς θεότητος καὶ περιπεσὼν ἑλκυσθῇ, ὡς πληρωθῆναι ἐπ' αὐτῷ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰὼβ εἰρημένον· Ἄξεις δὲ δράκοντα ἐν ἀγκίστρῳ. Οὐ φοβούμενος οὖν τὸν θάνατον εἶπον· Περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυ χή μου. Οὐδὲ δειλιῶν τὸ παθεῖν λέγω· Πάτερ εἰ δυνατὸν παρελθάτω ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο. Πάντα γὰρ ποιῶ, ἵνα με ὁ θάνατος μὴ διαφύγῃ. ∆ειλιῶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἵνα καταποθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐργάσωμαι ὡς θεός. Ταπεινοῖς κέχρημαι ῥήμασιν, ἵνα καταπιών μου τὴν ζύμην τοῦ σώματος εὕρῃ τὸν ἄνθρακα τῆς θεότητος δεινῶς αὐτὸν κατακαίοντα. ∆ειλιῶ, ἵνα μασήσηταί μου τὸ σῶμα, κόκκον σινάπεως· εὑρήσει τὴν δριμύτητα τῆς θεότητος σφοδρῶς αὐτὸν βασανίζουσαν. ∆ειλιῶ, ἵνα καταπίῃ με ὡς ἄνθρωπον. Ἐὰν γάρ με καταπίῃ, εὑρήσει τὴν στερεὰν τῆς θεότητος πέτραν τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ συντρίβουσαν, ὡς πληρωθῆναι ἐπ' αὐτῷ τὸ γε γραμμένον ὅτι Ὁ θεὸς συνθλάσει τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὖν κρύπτω τῆς θεότητος τὴν αὐθεντίαν, προβάλλω δὲ τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν δειλίαν, ἵνα μὴ τῇ δυνάμει τῆς θεότητος θηρευθῇ, ἀλλ' ἵνα τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ τοῦ σώματος καθαιρεθῇ. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ μέγα φρονῇ ὡς ὑπὸ θεοῦ ἡττώμενος, διὰ τοῦτο διὰ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτὸν ἀπατῶ, ἵνα δι' ὧν ἐπεβούλευσεν ἐπιβουλευθῇ. Νικῶ τοίνυν αὐτὸν διὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας τοῦ σώματος, ἵνα μὴ μέγα φρονῇ ὡς ὑπὸ θείας δυνάμεως ἐλεγχόμενος. Τὸ γὰρ ὑπὸ τῆς θεότητος
Victory through weakness§5
5His being defeated brought him glory rather than insult. Therefore now I conquer him through a cowardly, humble, and weak flesh, not tempting but being tempted, not striking but being struck, not killing but dying, not crucifying but being crucified, not beating but being beaten, so that the things of the victory might not be inscribed to me, but so that through the form of man the prizes might be granted to the race of men.
For this reason, therefore, I seem cowardly, so that the devil might fall like a fish upon the bait, and death might be stuck like a sparrow to the glue. Since he was wickedly deceived, for this reason he is beautifully deceived. Since he seduced the race of men through bodily pleasure, for this reason he is driven away from the race through the body. What he did, Christ suffers; what he did to the many, this he endures from one. But what he did, that was destruction to those who suffered it; but what I do to him, it shall be salvation to the inhabited world.
For I deceive the schemer through the body, so that, having been exposed, he may no longer be able to lead astray those whom he himself led astray through the body; he brings death, but I through it provide the resurrection. Unwillingly, he benefits the race. For through those things through which he brings death, he brings the occasion for the resurrection. The attacker of all things has become the benefactor of the inhabited world unexpectedly; for having been deceived, he benefited the inhabited world, having devised a deception beneficial to the cosmos and a trophy against his own tyranny.
Just as one sharpening a stone against rocks will not break the rock, but will crush the stone, so also the devil, having thrown death like a stone against my body as if it were a rock, did not destroy my body—for you will not see your holy one see corruption (Psalm 16:10)—but he crushed his own darts because of the opposition, being unable to endure the hardness. Let no one therefore despise my cowardice through ignorance, nor let them cast the bitter words against the Divinity. I am a shepherd according to the word of the Divinity; for he says, 'The one who shepherds, attend to Israel,' the one who leads like a sheep Joseph, but a sheep according to...
Greek · §5
ἡττηθῆναι αὐτόν, δόξαν αὐτῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ὕβριν ἔφερεν. Ὅθεν νῦν αὐτὸν διὰ δειλῆς καὶ ταπεινῆς καὶ ἀσθενοῦς σαρκὸς νικῶ, οὐ πειράζων ἀλλὰ πειραζόμενος, οὐ βάλλων ἀλλὰ βαλλόμε νος, οὐκ ἀποκτέννων ἀλλ' ἀποθνῄσκων, οὐ σταυρῶν ἀλλὰ σταυ ρούμενος, οὐ τύπτων ἀλλὰ τυπτόμενος, ἵνα μὴ ἐμοὶ τὰ τῆς νίκης ἐπιγραφῇ, ἀλλ' ἵνα διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μορφῆς τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ βραβεῖα ἀπονεμηθῇ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὖν δοκῶ δειλιᾶν, ἵνα ὁ μὲν διάβολος ὡς ἰχθὺς ἐπὶ τὸ δέλεαρ πέσῃ, ὁ δὲ θάνατος ὥσπερ στρουθίον τῇ κόλλῃ προσ παγῇ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἠπάτησεν κακῶς, διὰ τοῦτο ἀπατᾶται καλῶς. Ἐπειδὴ διὰ σωματικὴν ἡδονὴν ἐγοήτευσεν τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων, διὰ τοῦτο διὰ σώματος ἀπελαύνεται τοῦ γένους. Ὅπερ ἐποίησεν πάσχει· ὃ εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἔπραξεν, τοῦτο παρ' ἑνὸς ὑπομένει. Ἀλλ' ὃ μὲν ἐποίησεν ἐκεῖνος, τοῖς πεπονθό σιν ὀλέθριον ἦν, ὃ δὲ ἐγὼ εἰς αὐτὸν ποιῶ, τῇ οἰκουμένῃ ἔσται σωτήριον. Ἀπατῶ γὰρ διὰ τοῦ σώματος τὸν πλάνον, ἵνα ἐλεγχ θεὶς μηκέτι δύνηται πλανᾶν οὓς ἐπλάνα αὐτὸς τῷ σώματι· προσ φέρει τὸν θάνατον, ἐγὼ δι' αὐτοῦ παρέχω τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Ἄκων εὐεργετεῖ τὸ γένος. ∆ι' ὧν γὰρ τὸν θάνατον προσάγει, τῆς ἀνα στάσεως πρόφασιν προσάγει. Ὁ πάντων ἐπίβουλος εὐεργέτης τῆς οἰκουμένης γέγονεν ἄφνω· εὐεργέτησεν δὲ τὴν οἰκουμένην πλανηθείς, πλάνην τῷ κόσμῳ συμφέρουσαν καὶ τρόπαιον κατὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ τυραννίδος ἐπινοήσας. Ὥσπερ ὁ λίθον ἀκοντίζων κατὰ πέτρας τὴν μὲν πέτραν οὐ διαρρήξει, τὸν δὲ λίθον συντρίψει, οὕτως καὶ ὁ διάβολος κατὰ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ ἐμοῦ ὥσπερ λίθον τὸν θάνατον ῥίψας τὸ μὲν ἐμὸν σῶμα οὐ διέφθειρεν–Οὐ δώσεις γὰρ τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν–τὰ 5 δὲ ἑαυτοῦ κέντρα συνέθλα σεν τῆς ἀντιτυπίας τὸ στερρὸν ὑπομεῖναι μὴ δυνάμενος. Μηδεὶς οὖν μου δι' ἄγνοιαν δειλίαν καταψηφιζέσθω μηδὲ τα πεινὰ ῥήματα τῇ θεότητι ἐπιριπτέτω. Ποιμήν εἰμι κατὰ τὸν τῆς θεότητος λόγον· Ὁ ποιμαίνων, γάρ φησιν, τὸν Ἰσραὴλ πρόσχες, ὁ ὁδηγῶν ὡσεὶ πρόβατον τὸν Ἰωσήφ, πρόβατον δὲ κατὰ
The Economy of the Flesh§6
6The economy of the flesh: For I was led like a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer, silent. Since the devil was attacking me, wanting to snatch my flesh like a sheep, but knowing that the Divinity, as a shepherd, withdraws and flees, because of this I hide the Divinity like a shepherd, but I present my flesh like a sheep, so that, emboldened, he might approach, and having approached, might snatch, and having snatched my flesh like a sheep, he might be destroyed by the two-edged sword of the Spirit (Heb 4:12). Stop then, heretic, my cowardice and my ignorance which you are disparaging. For I act cowardly so that I may show the incomprehensible taking up of the flesh.
I say: My soul is troubled, so that you may learn that I have not taken up an insensate body, as the Apollinarian error wills. Do not then cast the sufferings of the flesh upon the impassible by word: for I am God and man, heretic. As God, he guarantees the wonders; as man, he witnesses the sufferings. Since therefore I am God and man, say, who is the one suffering? If God suffered, you have said the blasphemous thing; but if the flesh suffered, why do you attach the suffering to that the Divinity to which you do not attribute cowardice? For when another is suffering, another does not act cowardly, and a God being crucified is not disturbed.
And that the flesh suffered, while the Word remained impassible, is witnessed by Isaiah, who, having seen me drenched in spirit, asked: Why are your garments red? (Isa 1:18). Your garments, he says, are red, and not you. For the body indeed is stained, but the Word of the Divinity is not harmed. And also witness is Jacob the patriarch, saying concerning me: He washes his robe in wine and his garment in the blood of the grape (Gen 49:14). What robe? The body. With what blood? That which flowed from the side. But if not
Greek · §6
τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς οἰκονομίαν· Ὡς πρόβατον γὰρ ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθην καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἔναντι τοῦ κείροντος αὐτὸν ἄφωνος. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐφεδρεύει μοι ὁ διάβολος, ἁρπάσαι μου τὴν σάρκα ὡς πρόβατον θέλων, δεδιὼς δὲ ὡς ποιμένα τὴν θεότητα ὑπαναχωρεῖ καὶ φεύγει, διὰ τοῦτο κρύπτω μου ὡς ποιμένα τὴν θεότητα, προΐεμαι δὲ τὴν σάρκα ὡς πρόβατον, ἵνα θαρρήσας προσέλθῃ, προσελθὼν δὲ ἁρπάσῃ, ἁρπάσας δέ μου τὴν σάρκα ὡς πρόβατον ἀναιρεθῇ τῇ διστόμῳ μαχαίρᾳ τοῦ πνεύματος. Παῦσαι οὖν, αἱρετικέ, δειλίαν μου καὶ ἄγνοιαν καταψηφιζό μενος. ∆ειλιῶ γάρ, ἵνα δείξω ἀφαντασίαστον τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν ἀνάληψιν. Λέγω· Ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται, ἵνα μάθητε ὅτι οὐκ ἄψυχον ἀνείληφα σῶμα, ὡς ἡ Ἀπολλιναρίου βούλεται πλάνη. Μὴ τὰ πάθη οὖν τῆς σαρκὸς τῷ ἀπαθεῖ προσρίψῃς λόγῳ· θεὸς γάρ εἰμι καὶ ἄνθρωπος, αἱρετικέ. Θεὸς ὡς ἐγγυᾶται τὰ θαύματα, ἄνθρωπος ὡς μαρτυρεῖ τὰ παθήματα. Ἐπεὶ οὖν θεός εἰμι καὶ ἄνθρωπος, εἰπὲ τίς ἐστιν ὁ παθών; Εἰ ὁ θεὸς ἔπαθεν, εἶπες τὸ βλάσφημον· εἰ δὲ ἡ σὰρξ ἔπαθεν, τί τὸ πάθος προσάπτεις ᾧ τὴν δειλίαν οὐκ ἐπιρίπτεις; ἄλλου γὰρ πάσχοντος ἄλλος οὐ δειλιᾷ καὶ ἀνθρώπου σταυρουμένου θεὸς οὐ ταράττεται. Καὶ ὅτι ἡ σὰρξ ἔπαθεν, ἀπαθοῦς μείναντος τοῦ λόγου, μάρτυς Ἠσαΐας, ὃς ἐν πνεύματί με αἱμαγμένον θεασάμενος ἠρώτα· Ἵνα τί σου ἐρυθρὰ τὰ ἱμάτια; Τὰ ἱμάτιά σου, φησίν, ἐρυθρά, καὶ οὐχὶ σύ. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ σῶμα τιτρώσκεται, ὁ δὲ τῆς θεότητος οὐ παραβλάπτεται λόγος. Μάρτυς δὲ καὶ Ἰακὼβ ὁ πατριάρχης ὁ περὶ ἐμοῦ λέγων· Πλυνεῖ ἐν οἴνῳ τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς τὴν περιβολὴν αὐτοῦ. Ποίαν στολήν; τὸ σῶμα. Ποίῳ αἵματι; τῷ ἐκ τῆς πλευρᾶς ῥεύσαντι. Εἰ δὲ μὴ
The distinction between human fear and divine impotence§7
7You cast my testimony aside, but I testify to myself. For my testimony is true, even if you do not wish it, which I used to say to the Jews: 'Why do you want to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you?' 'A man,' he said, 'heretic, not God.'
This man, Jesus, who was killed by the Jews, fears. And do not disturb the word with your ignorance. For this reason I fear, so that death might cling to me as a man, and be defeated as being from God. But even while fearing, I do not entirely decline the passion. If I had refusedould not have said: 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me' (Matt 26:39). For it is certain that nothing is impossible for the Father.
If indeed I asked that death be brought forward, but He did not bring it about, you raise two absurdities. For if, being unable, He did not bring it forward, or if, being stingy, He handed it over, you would find, heretic, that you are attributing cowardice to me and impotence to the Father. But while saying I am a coward, you ask forgiveness on account of the flesh, yet while rubbing against the Father's impotence, you err unpardonably, saying the power of God is weaker than death. Otherwise, you would make me appear stronger than the Father.
And I state the manner. For if I, while living in the flesh, raised Lazarus, the daughter of Jairus, the boy of the widow, but having died again in the flesh, I emptied the tombs of the five hundred dead, my Father, having experienced neither flesh nor death, would say of me, the one whom He loved as a child, as He himself says: 'This is my beloved Son' (Matt 3:17), that to come out of dangers He was not able—see what you suffer, heretic. Because you do not give equal judgment to what is equal to me, you provide more unwillingly, and whom you think is being dragged down by weakness, you make appear stronger than the Father; for I indeed and <not]
Greek · §7
ἐκβάλλετέ μου τὴν μαρτυρίαν, ἐγὼ ἐμαυτῷ μαρτυρῶ. Ἡ γὰρ μαρτυρία μου ἀληθής ἐστιν, κἂν μὴ θέλητε, ἣν πρὸς Ἰουδαίους ἔλεγον· Τί με θέλετε ἀποκτεῖναι, ἄνθρωπον ὃς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑμῖν λελάληκα. Ἄνθρωπον εἶπεν, αἱρετικέ, μὴ οὖν θεόν. Οὗτος οὖν ὁ ἀποκτανθεὶς ἄνθρωπος Ἰησοῦς παρὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων αὐτὸς δειλιᾷ. Καὶ μὴ συντάραττε τὸν λόγον τῇ σῇ ἀμαθείᾳ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δειλιῶ, ἵνα ὁ θάνατος ὡς ἀνθρώπῳ μοι συμπλακῇ καὶ ὡς παρὰ θεοῦ ἡττηθῇ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ δειλιῶν οὐ πάντη παραιτοῦμαι τὸ πάθος. Εἰ γὰρ παρῃτούμην, οὐκ ἂν εἶπον· Πάτερ εἰ δυνατὸν παρελθάτω τὸ ποτή ριον. Ἤδειν γάρ, ὅτι οὐδὲν τῷ πατρὶ ἀδύνατον. Εἰ δὲ ἐγὼ μὲν ᾔτησα παρενεχθῆναι τὸν θάνατον, αὐτὸς δὲ οὐ παρήγαγεν, δύο ἀνακύπτει ἄτοπα. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ δυνάμενος οὐ παρήνεγκεν ἢ ἀφειδῶν παρέδωκεν, εὑρίσκῃ, αἱρετικέ, ἐμοὶ μὲν δειλίαν, τῷ δὲ πατρὶ ἀδυναμίαν προσάπτων. Ἀλλ' ἐμὲ μὲν δειλιᾶν λέγων συγγνώμην ἔχεις διὰ τὴν σάρκα, τῷ δὲ πατρὶ ἀδυναμίαν προστρίβων ἀσύγγνωστα πταίεις ἀσθενεστέραν θανάτου τὴν δύναμιν λέγων τοῦ θεοῦ. Ἄλλως δὲ καὶ ἰσχυρότερόν με τοῦ πατρὸς ἀποφαίνῃ. Καὶ λέγω τὸν τρόπον. Εἰ γὰρ ἐγὼ ζῶν μὲν ἐν σαρκὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἤγειρα, τὴν Ἰαείρου θυγατέρα, τὸν παῖδα τῆς χήρας, ἀποθανὼν δὲ πάλιν ἐν σαρκὶ ὑπὲρ τοὺς πεντακοσίους νεκροὺς ἐκ τῶν τάφων ἐσκύλευσα, ὁ δὲ πατὴρ ὁ ἐμὸς ὁ μήτε σαρκὸς μήτε θανάτου πεῖραν λαβὼν ἕνα ἐμὲ ὅνπερ ἠγάπα παῖδα, ὡς αὐτὸς λέγει· Οὗτός μού ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς ἀγαπητός, ἐξελέσθαι ἐκ κινδύνων οὐκ ἐδυνήθη, ὅρα τί πάσχεις, αἱρετικέ. Ὅτι τὸ ἴσον μοι μὴ διδοὺς γνώμῃ τὸ πλέον παρέχεις ἄκων, καὶ ὃν δοκεῖς ἐπὶ ἀσθενείᾳ διασύρειν, ἰσχυρότε ρον τοῦ πατρὸς ἀποφαίνῃ· ὅτι ἐγὼ μὲν καὶ <μὴ>
Victory over Hades§8
8Having been called to rescue the souls held in Hades, I delivered them. For they say, 'Lord, you have brought my soul up from Hades,' yet having been called, he did not free my troubled soul from the attachments of evils.
But may it never be! For neither the father, being either ungenerous or powerless, failed to free me from the suffering, nor did I, while refusing the suffering, ask for the cup to pass. For if suffering is unheard of, I truly was cowardly; but if death is arbitrary, I thought it cowardly to free man by using sophistry against the devil. Therefore, the devil, not agreeing with this, dragged me as if to drown me, unaware that he also had those whom he would have cast down by me.
As soon as I rushed upon Hades, I plundered its tombs and stripped the sarcophagi. I stripped them not by open fighting, but by invisibly providing the resurrection. For I loosed no one and all fled, I spoke nothing and liberty was proclaimed, I called no one and all rushed together. For as soon as I arrived as a king, the tyrant was despised, I shone as light and the darkness was dissolved.
For it was to see every prisoner seeing liberty, and every captive dancing the resurrection; thus, as those dead were marvelling at me in the victory, while casting down death in its defeat, saying: 'Where, O Death, is your sting? Where, O Hades, is your victory?' And these things are so. Let us send up glory for the things said to Christ, the King of all, for to him belong glory, honor, and worship, with the unblemished Father and the all-holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Greek · §8
παρακληθεὶς τὰς ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ κατεχομένας ψυχὰς ἐρρυσάμην· Κύριε, γάρ φησιν, ἀνήγαγες ἐξ ᾅδου τὴν ψυχήν μου, αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ παρακληθεὶς τὴν τεταραγμένην μου ψυχὴν τῶν ἐπηρτημένων οὐκ ἠλευθέρωσεν κακῶν. Ἀλλὰ μὴ γένοιτο! Οὔτε γὰρ ὁ 6 πατὴρ ἢ ἀφειδῶν ἢ ἀδυναμῶν οὐκ ἠλευθέρωσέν με τοῦ πάθους, οὔτε ἐγὼ παραιτού μενος τὸ πάθος ᾔτησα παρελθεῖν τὸ ποτήριον. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀκού σιον τὸ πάθος, ἀληθῶς ἐδειλίων, εἰ δὲ αὐθαίρετος ὁ θάνατος, ἔδοξα δειλιᾶν, ἵνα σοφισάμενος τὸν διάβολον ἐλευθερώσω τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ὅθεν τοῦτο μὴ συνορῶν ὁ διάβολος εἵλκυσέν με ὡς καταπίνειν μέλλων, ἀγνοῶν ὅτι καὶ τοὺς καταποθέντας ἐμέσαι εἶχεν. Ἅμα γὰρ ἐπέστην τῷ ᾅδῃ, ἐσκύλευσα αὐτοῦ τοὺς τάφους, ἐγύμνωσα τὰς θήκας. Ἐγύμνωσα δὲ οὐ φανερῶς μαχόμενος, ἀλλ' ἀοράτως τὴν ἀνάστασιν παρεχόμενος. Οὐδένα γὰρ ἔλυον καὶ πάντες ἀνίεντο, οὐδὲν ἐλάλουν καὶ ἐλευθερία ἐκηρύττετο, οὐδένα ἐκάλουν καὶ πάντες συνέτρεχον. Ἅμα γὰρ ἐπέστην ὡς βασιλεύς, κατεφρονήθη ὁ τύραννος, ἔλαμψα ὡς φῶς καὶ διελύθη τὸ σκότος. Ἦν γὰρ ἰδεῖν πάντα μὲν δεσμώτην ἐλευθερίαν βλέποντα, πάντα δὲ αἰχμάλωτον ἀναστάσει χορεύοντα· οὕτως ὡς αὐτοὺς τοὺς νεκροὺς ἐμὲ μὲν θαυμάζοντας ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ, τὸν δὲ θάνατον διασύροντας ἐπὶ τῇ ἥττῃ καὶ λέγειν· Ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέντρον, ποῦ σου, ᾅδη, τὸ νῖκος; Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὕτως. Ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων δόξαν ἀναπέμψωμεν τῷ παμβασιλεῖ τῶν ὅλων Χριστῷ, ὅτι αὐτῷ πρέπει δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ προσκύνησις σὺν τῷ ἀχράντῳ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ παναγίῳ πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 7