The Word as Creator in the flesh
Athanasius is concluding his letter to Adelphius, warning the Arians not to dishonor the Lord's body or divide the Word from it, and affirming the Church's worship of the incarnate Creator.
Therefore the one who dishonors the temple dishonors the Lord who is in the temple; and the one who divides the Word from the body rejects the grace given to us in him. And let the most impious Ariomaniacs not suppose, because the body is created, that the Word is also a creature; nor, because the Word is not a creature, let them slander his body. For their malice is to be marveled at, because they stir up and confuse everything, and they invent pretexts only so that they may number the Creator among the creatures. But let them hear: If the Word were a creature, he would not have taken to himself the created body in order to make it alive. For what help will there be for creatures from a creature, when it itself also needs salvation? But since the Word, being Creator, himself became the maker of creatures, for this reason also at the consummation of the ages he himself put on the created body, so that again he himself, as Creator, might renew it and be able to win it back. A creature could never be saved by a creature, just as creatures were not created by a creature, unless the Word were Creator. Therefore let them not speak falsely against the divine Scriptures, nor scandalize the innocent among the brothers; but if they are willing, let them also repent, and no longer worship the creature alongside the God who created all things. But if they wish to remain in their impieties, let them alone be filled with them, and let them gnash their teeth according to their father the devil, because the faith of the catholic Church knows the Word of God as Creator and maker of all things, and we know that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God (John 1:1); and when he became also man for our salvation, we worship him, not as an equal thing becoming equal to the body, but as Lord taking the form of the servant (Philippians 2:7), and as maker and Creator becoming in a creature, so that, having freed all things in him, he might bring the world to the Father and make peace for all things, whether in heaven or on earth (Colossians 1:20). For thus we also recognize his paternal divinity, and we worship his incarnate presence, even if the Ariomaniacs burst themselves apart. Greet all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you fare well and remember us to the Lord, beloved and truly most longed for, if there is need for these things to be read to Hieracas the presbyter.
Greek
Οὐκοῦν ὁ τὸν ναὸν ἀτιμάζων, ἀτιμάζει τὸν ἐν τῷ ναῷ Κύριον· καὶ ὁ διαιρῶν τὸν Λόγον ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος, ἀθετεῖ τὴν χάριν τὴν δοθεῖσαν ἡμῖν ἐν αὐ τῷ. Καὶ ἀσεβέστατοι δὲ Ἀρειομανῖται μὴ, ἐπειδὴ τὸ σῶμα κτιστόν ἐστι, νομιζέτωσαν καὶ τὸν Λόγον εἶναι κτίσμα, μηδὲ διὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι τὸν Λόγον κτίσμα, διαβαλλέτωσαν τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ. Θαυμάσαι γάρ ἐστιν αὐτῶν τὴν κακόνοιαν, ὅτι καὶ πάντα κυκῶσι καὶ φύρουσι, καὶ προφάσεις ἐφευρίσκουσιν, ἵνα μόνον τὸν κτίστην τοῖς κτίσμασι συναριθμήσωσιν. Ἀλλ' ἀκουέτωσαν· Εἰ κτίσμα ἦν ὁ Λόγος, οὐ προσελάμβανε τὸ κτιστὸν σῶμα, ἵνα αὐτὸ ζωοποιήσῃ. Ποία γὰρ τοῖς κτίσμασι παρὰ κτίσματος ἔσται βοήθεια, δεομέ νου καὶ αὐτοῦ σωτηρίας; Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ, κτίστης ὢν ὁ Λόγος, αὐτὸς δημιουργὸς γέγονε τῶν κτισμάτων· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων τὸ κτιστὸν αὐτὸς ἐνεδύσατο, ἵνα πάλιν αὐτὸς, ὡς κτίστης, ἀνακαινίσῃ, καὶ ἀνακτῆσαι τοῦτο δυνηθῇ. Κτίσμα δὲ ὑπὸ κτίσματος οὐκ ἄν ποτε σωθῇ, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ ὑπὸ κτίσματος ἐκτίσθησαν τὰ κτίσματα, εἰ μὴ κτίστης ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Ὅθεν μὴ καταψευδέσθωσαν τῶν θείων Γραφῶν, μηδὲ σκανδαλιζέτωσαν τοὺς ἀκεραίους τῶν ἀδελφῶν· ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν βούλωνται, μεταγινωσκέτωσαν καὶ αὐτοὶ, καὶ μηκέτι τῇ κτίσει λατρευέτωσαν παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα τὰ πάντα Θεόν· ἐὰν δὲ ταῖς ἀσεβείαις αὐτῶν ἐμμένειν ἐθέλωσι, μόνοι τούτων ἐμφορείσθωσαν, καὶ τριζέτωσαν τοὺς ὀδόντας κατὰ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν τὸν διάβολον, ὅτι ἡ πίστις τῆς καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας, κτίστην οἶδε τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λό γον καὶ δημιουργὸν τῶν ἁπάντων, καὶ οἴδαμεν, ὅτι Ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· γενόμενον δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ ἄνθρωπον διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν προσκυνοῦμεν, οὐχ ὡς ἴσον ἐν ἴσῳ γενόμενον τῷ σώματι, ἀλλ' ὡς Δεσπότην προσλαβόντα τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφὴν, καὶ δημιουργὸν καὶ κτίστην ἐν κτίσματι γινόμενον, ἵν', ἐν αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ἐλευθερώσας, τὸν κόσμον προσαγάγῃ τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ εἰρηνοποιήσῃ τὰ πάντα, τὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τὴν πατρικὴν αὐ-τοῦ θεότητα ἐπιγινώσκομεν, καὶ τὴν ἔνσαρκον αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν προσκυνοῦμεν, κἂν Ἀρειομανῖται διαῤῥηγνύωσιν ἑαυτούς. Προσαγόρευε πάντας τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν. Ἐῤῥῶσθαί σε καὶ μνημονεύειν ἡμῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ εὐχόμεθα, ἀγαπητὲ καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς ποθεινότατε, ἐὰν χρεία ᾖ ἀναγνωσθῆναι ταῦτα Ἱερακᾷ τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ.