Rich Word became poor; bought us from the curse; one flesh’s death enough
Rich as God, he willingly became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9) and became as we are, so that human nature, having come in Christ into the heights of divine superiority, might put away the shame of poverty. For God the Father raised us together in Christ and seated us together in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), as it is written. But we would not have come into these things if the One who is rich as God had not clothed himself with the nature that is poor. A human who is poor by his own nature would not “become poor”; that befits more fittingly the One who is truly rich — that is, the Word from God the Father — when he became as we are. So there is one Christ and Son.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” (Deuteronomy 21:23) (Galatians 3:13) While the letter of the law declares cursed the one in transgression and sins, the One who did not know sin — that is, Christ — was brought under the curse, enduring an unjust sentence and suffering what befits those under a curse, so that the One worth all, dying for all, might loose the charges of everyone’s disobedience and buy what is under heaven with his own blood.
He would not have become worth all, if he were a mere human. But if he is understood as God become human and suffering in his own flesh, the whole creation is little beside him, and the death of one flesh suffices for the redemption of what is under heaven — for it was the Word sprung from God the Father’s own.
Greek
πλούσιος ὡς Θεὸς ἐθελοντὴς ἐπτώχευσε καὶ γέγονε καθ’ ἡμᾶς, ἵνα λοιπὸν ἡ ἀνθρώπου φύσις ἐν τοῖς τῆς θείας ὑπεροχῆς ὑψώμασιν ἐν Χριστῷ γενομένη τὸ τῆς πτωχείας αἶσχος ἀποσκευάζοιτο. συνήγειρε γὰρ ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ ἐν Χριστῷ, καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, καθὰ γέγραπται. ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἂν γεγόναμεν ἐν τούτοις, εἰ μὴ τὴν πτωχεύουσαν ἠμπέσχετο φύσιν ὁ πλούσιος ὡς Θεός. οὐ γάρ που πτωχεύσειεν ἂν ὁ κατὰ φύσιν ἰδίαν πτωχεύων ἄνθρωπος· πάθοι δ’ ἂν τοῦτο πρεπωδέστερον ὁ πλούσιος ἀληθῶς, τουτέστιν ὁ ἐκ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγος, ὅτε γέγονε καθ’ ἡμᾶς. εἷς οὖν ἄρα ἐστὶ Χριστὸς καὶ Υἱός.
«Χριστὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξηγόρασεν ἐκ τῆς κατάρας τοῦ νόμου, γενόμενος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα· γέγραπται γάρ· Ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου.» τοῦ νομικοῦ γράμματος ἐπάρατον ἀποφαίνοντος τὸν ἐν παραβάσει καὶ ἁμαρτίαις, ὁ μὴ εἰδὼς ἁμαρτίαν, τουτέστι Χριστός, ὑπενήνεκται τῇ ἀρᾷ, ψῆφον ἄδικον ὑπομείνας καὶ τὰ τοῖς ἐν ἀρᾷ πρέποντα παθών, ἵνα ὁ τῶν ὅλων ἀντάξιος ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀποθανὼν τῆς ἁπάντων ἀπειθείας λύσῃ τὰ ἐγκλήματα καὶ ἀγοράσῃ τὴν ὑπ’ οὐρανὸν αἵματι τῷ ἰδίῳ.
οὐκ ἂν οὖν γέγονεν εἷς ἁπάντων ἀντάξιος, εἴπερ ἦν ἄνθρωπος ἁπλῶς· εἰ δὲ δὴ νοοῖτο Θεὸς ἐνηνθρωπηκὼς καὶ σαρκὶ τῇ ἰδίᾳ παθών, ὀλίγη πρὸς αὐτὸν ἡ σύμπασα κτίσις, καὶ ἀπόχρη πρὸς λύτρωσιν τῆς ὑπ’ οὐρανὸν ὁ μιᾶς σαρκὸς θάνατος· ἴδια γὰρ ἦν τοῦ ἐκ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς φύντος Λόγου.
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.