Theotokos; one Son; death and resurrection
— not a mere human begotten from her, but the Word himself enfleshed, with a body from her as his own. That is why he is said to have been begotten in the flesh: he makes the begetting of his own flesh his.
Those who senselessly deny that the holy virgin is God-bearer are forced to say there are two sons of God. For if she did not bear in the flesh the enfleshed God, they must admit — willing or not — that she bore only a common human, with nothing more than we have.
Then how will every knee bend to him, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father? How do angels worship him, and the holy host of the highest powers? Has all heaven, with us, served a common human? God forbid (Philippians 2:10–11).
We worship Emmanuel as true God. He is not otherwise to be worshiped unless we believe that the Word from God, whom all creation worships, became flesh according to the Scriptures — not changed into flesh, but taking flesh from the holy virgin, as I said, and enduring a human birth with us — so that, having become human, he might die for us in a human way and rise in a divine way, having trampled the power of death.
Only so could we too, as conquerors in Christ, overpower sin, put off corruption, and escape death, and cry out in the joy that is in Christ: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O Hades, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)
For just as we fell in Adam — if Emmanuel were only a common human, how would a human’s death help human nature? And yet many
Greek
γεγεννημένος, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς σαρκωθεὶς ὁ Λογος καὶ ἰδιον ἔχων σῶμα τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς, διὰ τοῦτο λέγεται γεγεννῆσθαι σαρκικῶς, ὡς τῆς ἰδίας σαρκὸς τὴν γέννησιν οἰκειούμενος. οἱ δὲ λέγοντες ἀσυνέτως θεοτόκον οὐκ εἶναι τὴν ἁγίαν παρθένον, ἐκπίπτουσιν ἀναγκαίως εἰς τὸ δύο λέγειν υἱοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ. εἰ γὰρ μὴ:
b réroke σαρκικῶς σαρκωθέντα Θεὸν ἡ ἁγία παρθένος, πᾶσα πως ἀνάγκῃ καὶ οὐχ ἑκόντας αὐτοὺς ὁμολογεῖν, ὅτι κοινὺν γεγέννηκεν ἄνθρωπον, οὐδὲν ἔχοντα παρ᾽ ἡμᾶς τὸ πλεῖον.
εἶτα πῶς αὐτῷ κάμψει “πᾶν γόνυ koi πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξο- * μολογήσεται ὅτι Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν «oi τὸ * Πατρός ;" πῶς αὐτῷ προσκυνοῦσιν ἄγγελοι καὶ τῶν
ἀνωτάτω δυνάμεων ἡ ἁγία πληθύς ; ἄρ᾽ οὖν ἀνθρώπῳ κοινῷ λελάτρευκε μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν καὶ σύμπας ὁ οὐρανός ; μὴ γένοιτο.
e προσκυνοῦμεν yap ὡς Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν τὸν EupavovgA. eara δὲ οὐχ ἑτέρως προσκυνητὸς, ἐὰν μὴ πιστεύωμεν ὅτι αὐτὸς 015 ἐκ Θεοῦ Λόγος, ὁ παρὰ πάσης κτίσεως προσκυνούμενος, ic um σὰρξ ἐγένετο, κατὰ τὰς γραφάς" οὐκ εἰς σάρκα μεταβε- βλημένος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου σάρκα λαβὼν, ox ἔφην, καὶ ἀνθρωπίνην μεθ΄ ἡμῶν ὑπομείνας γέννησιν, ἵνα καὶ ἃ ἄνθρωπος γεγονὼς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀποθάνῃ μὲν ἀνθρωπίνως, x ἀναστῇ δὲ θεϊκῶς πατήσας τοῦ θανάτου τὸ κράτος. οὕτω γὰρ ἦν δύνασθαι καὶ ἡμᾶς, ὡς ἐν Χριστῷ νικήσαντας, κατευμεγεθῆσαι μὲν τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἀποδύσασθαι δὲ τὴν φθορὰν καὶ διαδρᾶναι θάνατον: οὕτω τε εἰπεῖν ἐκ περι- Ho.xi χαρείας τῆς ἐπὶ Χριστῷ “ Ποῦ ἡ δίκη σου θάνατε ; ποῦ T03
κέντρον gov 490p; ὥσπερ yop ἐν Αδαμ πεπτώκαμεν,
φ v ^ [1 e Et δε ἄνθρωπος ἦν κοινος ὁ ἘΞμμανουὴλ, πῶς ἂν ὠφέλησε
τὴν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν ὃ ἀνθρώπου Üavaros; καῖτοι πολλοὶ
I. γεγενημένος C. 4. ἐμπίπτουσιν Edd. -12 citant e, Niketas
[ signatus ]. ἡ. αὐτὸν C. αὐτὴν Comm. αὐτοὺς exhibet e. 8. τὸ] τι ek. II. προσκυνήσουσιν C. Comm. I3. ó om. C. Comm. I5. πιστεύσωμεν ad iai E 16. πάσης 4- τῆς Edd. 35. ἐπὶ] ἐν Edd. δίκη C. »i5
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.