On the True Faith, to the Empresses Pulcheria and Eudocia · §1

Dedication: right faith in one Lord; not two sons; Word took ensouled body of Mary Theotokos

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So I approach and dedicate this discourse to you, most pious empresses. I have composed it concerning the right and blameless faith that is ours toward our Lord Jesus Christ. It especially befits you who are so holy and beloved of God to bind on, together with the highest boasts of the empire, the crown of love toward Christ.

That crown is already fitted to your renowned heads, and the God of all brightens you with unending glories. Yet so that you may shine still more — holding in mind the accurate and unadulterated knowledge of the mystery concerning Christ — I have put together this little treatise, showing through every thought that just as there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, so also there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things (1 Corinthians 8:6); and with them, of course, the Holy Spirit.

And having learned to think rightly, we will not put up with those who divide the one Christ and Son and Lord into two sons. For we do not say that the Son begotten before every age from the essence of God the Father is one, and that the one who in the last times came to be from a woman, came to be under the law (Galatians 4:4), is another — but one and the same, both before the true coming-together and union with flesh and still after it.

For the Son from God the Father by nature, taking to himself an ensouled and intelligent body, has been begotten according to the flesh through the holy virgin and Theotokos Mary — not turned into flesh (far from it!), but rather taking it on, and not neglecting to be God.

Greek

, « 9, ^ , r4 γ΄ 7: Ὅ σ πλουσίως τὸ αὐτοῦ μυστήριον. γέγραπται γάρ TL Ὁ 2 Cor.

Χριστοῦ εὐωδια ἐσμὲν τῷ Θεῷ.

Πρόσειμε δὴ οὖν ἀνατιθεὶς τὸν λόγον ὑμῖν ταῖς εὐσεβε- στάταις βασιλίσσαις, πεποίηται δέ μοι περὶ τῆς ὀρθῆς τε

$xai ἀμωμήτου πίστεως, ἧπερ ἂν γένοιτο Trap ἡμῶν εἰς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦν τὸν Χριστόν. πρέπει γὰρ ὑμῖν δὴ μάλιστα ταῖς οὕτως ὁσίαις καὶ θεοφιλεστάταις, ὁμοῦ τοῖς

τῆς βασιλείας ὑπερτάτοις αὐχήμασι καὶ τῆς εἰς Χριστον

ἀγάπης τὸν στέφανον ἀναδήσασθαι. ἤδη μὲν οὖν ταῖς ὁ

τὸ ἀριδίμοις ὑμῶν ἐφήρμοσται kepuQais, kai ἀτελευτήτοις ὑμᾶς

εὐκλείαις ὁ τῶν ὅλων καταφαιδρύνει Θεός" ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦ kai

ἔτι μειζόνως καταλαμπρύνεσθαι, τοῦ κατὰ Χριστὸν μυστη- ρίου τὴν ἀκριβῆ τε καὶ ἀκιβδήλευτον γνῶσιν ἐχούσας εἰς

νοῦν, συντέθεικα TO λογίδιον, διὰ πάσης ἐννοίας καταδεικνυς,

i50r. ὥσπερ ἐστὶν εἷς Θεὸς ὁ Πατὴρ ἐξ οὗ rà πάντα, οὕτω 1 Cor. . Φ , ᾽ " M *» € , .ἃ T, καὶ εἰς κύριος ἰησοῦς Χριστος δι᾽ οὗ τὰ πάντα" ἐν δὲ δήπου ἃ

πάντως kai TO llveüua τὸ "Ayiov. καὶ τῶν εἰς δύο μερι-

(ovrev υἱοὺς τὸν ἕνα Χριστὸν koi Ὑἱὸν kai Κύριον, ὀρθὰ.

φρονεῖν ἐγνωκότες οὐκ ἀνεξόμεθα. οὐ γὰρ ἕτερον εἶναί

ἰοῴαμεν υἱὸν TOV πρὸ παντὸς αἰῶνος γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς

οὐσίας TOU Θεοῦ xai llarpos, ἕτερον δὲ rov ἐν ἐσχάτοις “ κε » ᾽ « , εν » Q'oQQ* . καιροῖς “ γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικὸς, γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον" ἀλλ᾽ Gal.iv.4

ἕνα καὶ TOv avrov καὶ πρὸ τῆς πρὸς σάρκα συνόδου kale — .

ἐνώσεως ἀληθοῦς kai uera τοῦτο eri. ὁ γὰρ ἐκ Θεοῦ Ilarpos

; κατὰ φύσιν Ytos, ἔμψυχόν re καὶ ἔννουν ἑαυτῷ σῶμα λαβὼν, οι N ^ γεγέννηται σαρκικῶς διὰ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου kai θεοτόκου

Μαρίας, καὶ ovk εἰς σάρκα τραπείς" μὴ yévorro' προσλαβὼν ᾿ σι hj! ^ 4 «4 δὲ μᾶλλον αὐτὴν, καὶ TOU εἶναι Θεὸς οὐκ ἡμεληκώς" με-

»ἡμένον (pro more) C. 22. γενόμενον prius] γεννώμενον w. Comm. γενό- μενον habet C. 24. ἐκ om. v. 26. γεγένηται C. Αὐ. om. παρθένου v., παρθένου καὶ C. Comm.

About this text

Cyril’s court treatise on right faith for Pulcheria and Eudocia (CPG 5220). One Son who suffers in flesh yet remains impassible as God. English from Pusey’s Greek.

English follows Pusey’s 1877 Greek of De recta fide ad Pulcheriam et Eudociam. 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 5220 §§1–48)

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.