Christ sets church gifts; anathema on those who split the one Lord
“And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing.” (1 Corinthians 12:28) Though these are said to be God’s doing, it is Christ who worked them. For he himself appointed the apostles in the church, and teachers as well, and worked powers; for he gave the holy disciples authority to heal every disease and every weakness among the people (Matthew 10:1).
“The greeting is in my own hand — Paul’s. If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be anathema. Maranatha.” (1 Corinthians 16:21–22) Whom, then, does he call Lord here? The Son himself is confessedly Lord, and likewise the Spirit — “for the Lord,” (2 Corinthians 3:17) he says, “is the Spirit.” But blessed Paul’s aim in these words stretches toward Jesus himself; for there is, he says, one Lord, Jesus Christ.
So he anathematizes the one who does not love him. And the one who does not love him is the one who will not say he is Son of God by nature and in truth, but sets him in a second rank beside the Word from God, and wrongs the mystery of the economy by cutting the one Lord Jesus Christ into two.
From the Second Letter to the Corinthians: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him in every place; for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” (2 Corinthians 2:14–15)
Then how is Christ not God, if he himself is the fragrance of the knowledge of the Father? No one would learn the sweet scent of the divine nature from human nature alone. Just as the scent of humanity points to a human, so the scent of deity points to God. And if Christ is said to be — and truly is — the Father’s aroma,
Greek
«Καὶ οὓς μὲν ἔθετο ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ πρῶτον ἀποστόλους, δεύτερον προφήτας, τρίτον διδασκάλους, ἔπειτα δυνάμεις, ἔπειτα χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων.» Θεοῦ λεγομένου ταῦτα κατορθοῦν, Χριστὸς ὁ ἐνεργήσας ἐστίν. ἔθετο γὰρ τοὺς ἀποστόλους αὐτὸς ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ μέντοι καὶ διδασκάλους, ἐνεργῆσαί τε καὶ δυνάμεις· δέδωκε γὰρ ἐξουσίαν τοῖς ἁγίοις μαθηταῖς θεραπεύειν πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν ἐν τῷ λαῷ.
«Ὁ ἀσπασμὸς τῇ ἐμῇ χειρὶ Παύλου. εἴ τις οὐ φιλεῖ τὸν κύριον, ἤτω ἀνάθεμα. μαραναθά.» ἄρα τίνα φησὶ κύριον ἐν τούτοις; κύριος μὲν ὁμολογουμένως καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Υἱός, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα — «ὁ γὰρ κύριος,» φησί, «τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν.» ὁ δέ γε τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου σκοπὸς ἐν τούτοις εἰς αὐτὸν συντείνεται τὸν Ἰησοῦν· εἷς γάρ, φησίν, κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός.
ἀναθεματίζει τοίνυν τὸν μὴ φιλοῦντα αὐτόν. οὐ φιλεῖ δὲ αὐτόν, ὁ μήτε φύσει μήτε ἀληθείᾳ λέγων Υἱὸν εἶναι τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ ὡς ἐν δευτέρᾳ τάξει τιθεὶς παρὰ τὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ Λόγον, καὶ τὸ τῆς οἰκονομίας ἀδικῶν μυστήριον, διὰ τοῦ τέμνειν εἰς δύο τὸν ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν.
Ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Κορινθίους δευτέρας. «Τῷ δὲ Θεῷ χάρις τῷ πάντοτε θριαμβεύοντι ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τὴν ὀσμὴν τῆς γνώσεως αὐτοῦ φανεροῦντι δι᾽ ἡμῶν ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ· ὅτι Χριστοῦ εὐωδία ἐσμὲν τῷ Θεῷ ἐν τοῖς σωζομένοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις.»
εἶτα πῶς οὐ Θεὸς ὁ Χριστός, εἴπερ ἐστὶν αὐτὸς ὀσμὴ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Πατρός; οὐ γὰρ ἔν γε τῇ ἀνθρώπου φύσει τὴν τῆς θείας φύσεως εὐωδίαν ἀναμάθοι τις ἄν· ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ ἡ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ὀσμὴ σημαίνει που πάντως ἄνθρωπον, οὕτω καὶ ἡ τῆς Θεότητος Θεόν. εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς εὐωδία τοῦ Πατρὸς εἶναι
About this text
Cyril’s court treatise on right faith for Arcadia and Marina (CPG 5219). One Son, Word made flesh — not two Christs. English from Pusey’s Greek.
English follows Pusey’s 1877 Greek of De recta fide ad Arcadiam et Marinam. OCR of that print was cleaned section by section before Pass A/B. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Pusey, De recta fide ad reginas (Oxford, 1877) (Greek · CPG 5219 §§1–100)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.