Spirit of the risen one; same Christ weak in flesh, strong as God
And again concerning the holy apostles: “And coming opposite Mysia they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them.” (Acts 16:7) When therefore the Spirit is also his own—the Spirit of the one raised—although God and Father makes us alive in the Spirit, how can one doubt that the resurrection was done with respect to the human, yet the matter was worked together with his own Father by the God-Word from him by nature, whose own also is the life-giving Spirit?
“Since you seek proof of Christ who speaks in me, who toward you is not weak but is powerful in you. For he was also crucified from weakness, but he lives from God’s power.” (2 Corinthians 13:3–4) Some of those who had believed in our Lord Jesus Christ were scandalized, perhaps carried by words from certain people toward thoughts like these: If he was truly God and Son by nature of the God who is able in all things, how did he not escape the killers’ plots? And how, having endured the most dishonorable death on wood, would he not reasonably be thought to have been weak as we are? Toward such things the inspired Paul says: For if you should wish to test rightly who and how great is the one who speaks in me, having considered your own case you will find a sufficient grasp. For he was not weak in you, but rather showed you most powerful through his own Spirit.
Greek
καὶ πάλιν περὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων· «Ἐλθόντες δὲ κατὰ τὴν Μυσίαν ἐπείραζον εἰς τὴν Βιθυνίαν πορευθῆναι, καὶ οὐκ εἴασεν αὐτοὺς τὸ Πνεῦμα Ἰησοῦ.» ὅτε τοίνυν ἴδιόν ἐστι τὸ Πνεῦμα καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐγηγερμένου, καίτοι τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ζωοποιοῦντος ἡμᾶς ἐν Πνεύματι, πῶς ἔστιν ἀμφιβάλλειν ὅτι πέπρακται μὲν περὶ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον ἡ ἀνάστασις, ἐνήργηκε δὲ τὸ χρῆμα μετὰ τοῦ ἰδίου Πατρὸς ὁ ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατὰ φύσιν Θεὸς Λόγος, οὗ καὶ ἴδιον τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστι τὸ ζωοποιόν;
«Ἐπεὶ δοκιμὴν ζητεῖτε τοῦ ἐν ἐμοὶ λαλοῦντος Χριστοῦ, ὃς εἰς ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἀσθενεῖ ἀλλὰ δυνατεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. καὶ γὰρ ἐσταυρώθη ἐξ ἀσθενείας, ἀλλὰ ζῇ ἐκ δυνάμεως Θεοῦ.» ἐσκανδαλίζοντό τινες τῶν πεπιστευκότων εἰς τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστόν, τάχα που λόγοις τοῖς παρά τινων ἀπενηνεγμένοι πρὸς ἐννοίας τοιαύτας· Εἰ Θεὸς ἦν ἀληθῶς καὶ Υἱὸς κατὰ φύσιν τοῦ πάντα ἰσχύοντος Θεοῦ, πῶς οὐ διέδρα τὰς τῶν φονώντων ἐπιβουλάς; πῶς δὲ καὶ ἀτιμότατον τὸν ἐπὶ ξύλου θάνατον ἀνατλάς, οὐκ ἂν νοοῖτο, καὶ μάλα εἰκότως, ἀσθενῆσαι καθ’ ἡμᾶς; πρὸς δὴ τὰ τοιάδε φησὶν ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος· Εἰ γὰρ δὴ βούλοισθε δοκιμάζειν ὀρθῶς τίς ἂν εἴη καὶ πόσος ὁ λαλῶν ἐν ἐμοί, τὰ καθ’ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐννενοηκότες, ἀποχρῶσαν εὑρήσετε τὴν κατάληψιν. οὐ γὰρ ἠσθένησεν ἐν ὑμῖν, ἀπέφηνε δὲ μᾶλλον δυνατωτάτους διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου Πνεύματος.
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.