Shared blood and flesh; one Lord Jesus; death abolished in Christ
“Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, he himself likewise shared in the same, so that through death he might abolish the one who has the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their life.” (Hebrews 2:14–15)
By “children” here he clearly means us who are on the earth, according to what is sung in the Psalms as in God’s person: “I said: You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.” (Psalm 82:6) As far as what seems good to God and the gentleness in him by nature, we would all be children… but as David says we die as humans and fall as one of the rulers, dragging down our own mind by the passions of the flesh.
How, then, have we shared in blood and flesh? The human soul, having a nature other than flesh, by composition with it in union has completed the one rational living being — the human. So also the Word of God, ineffably uniting himself to ensouled flesh — not soulless, as some say — shared blood and flesh like us, through birth from a woman. So there is one Lord Jesus Christ: the Word of God united the human to himself and even so remained what he was.
And if he himself has abolished death’s power as Life and God, what suffered death must be thought his own, so that as he himself rose he may be said to abolish corruption… “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:21–22) And since trampling death is beyond the measures of humanity as we understand it, we say that by union — that is, communion with flesh and blood — the Word of God became human as we are, and even so remained stronger than death: for God was in flesh.
Greek
«Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὰ παιδία κεκοινώνηκεν αἵματος καὶ σαρκός, καὶ αὐτὸς παραπλησίως μετέσχε τῶν αὐτῶν, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ θανάτου καταργήσῃ τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου, τουτέστι τὸν διάβολον, καὶ ἀπαλλάξῃ τούτους ὅσοι φόβῳ θανάτου διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῆν ἔνοχοι ἦσαν δουλείας.»
τὰ παιδία φησὶν ἐν τούτοις ἡμᾶς δηλονότι τοὺς ὄντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, κατά γε τὸ ἐν ψαλμοῖς ὑμνούμενον ὡς ἐκ προσώπου Θεοῦ· «Ἐγὼ εἶπα· Θεοί ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ Ὑψίστου πάντες.» ὅσον γὰρ ἧκεν εἰς τὸ Θεῷ δοκοῦν καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐνοῦσαν ἡμερότητα κατὰ φύσιν αὐτῷ, πάντες ἂν ἦμεν τέκνα… ἀλλ’ ᾗ φησὶν ὁ Δαυεὶδ ὡς ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνήσκομεν καὶ ὡς εἷς τῶν ἀρχόντων πίπτομεν, τοῖς τῆς σαρκὸς πάθεσι τὸν οἰκεῖον ὑποφέροντες νοῦν.
πῶς οὖν ἄρα κεκοινωνήκαμεν αἵματος καὶ σαρκός; ψυχὴ γὰρ ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσιν ἑτέραν ἔχουσα παρὰ τὴν σάρκα, τῇ πρὸς αὐτὴν συνθέσει καθ’ ἕνωσιν, τὸ ἕν τε καὶ λογικὸν ἀποτετέλεκε ζῷον, τουτέστι τὸν ἄνθρωπον. οὕτω τοιγαροῦν καὶ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος ἐμψυχωμένῃ σαρκὶ, καὶ οὐκ ἀψύχῳ κατά τινας, ἑαυτὸν ἀπορρήτως ἑνώσας, μετέσχεν αἵματος καὶ σαρκὸς παραπλησίως ἡμῖν, διὰ γεννήσεως δὲ δηλονότι τῆς ἐκ γυναικός. εἷς οὖν ἄρα κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ὡς ἑνώσαντος μὲν ἑαυτῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, μεμενηκότος δὲ καὶ οὕτως ὅπερ ἦν.
εἰ δὲ αὐτὸς κατήργηκε τοῦ θανάτου τὸ κράτος ὡς ζωὴ καὶ Θεός, ἴδιον αὐτοῦ νοεῖσθαι πρέπει τὸ πεπονθὸς τὸν θάνατον, ἵν’ ὡς αὐτὸς ἀναστὰς καταργῆσαι λέγοιτο τὴν φθοράν… «ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντες ἀποθνήσκουσιν, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ πάντες ζωοποιηθήσονται»… ἐπεὶ δέ ἐστι τῶν τῆς καθ’ ἡμᾶς νοουμένης ἀνθρωπότητος ἐπέκεινα μέτρων τὸ πατῆσαι θάνατον, ἑνώσει φαμὲν ἤγουν κοινωνίᾳ τῇ πρὸς σάρκα τε καὶ αἷμα τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον γενέσθαι καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἄνθρωπον, ἀπομεμενηκέναι δὲ καὶ οὕτω θανάτου κρείττονα· Θεὸς γὰρ ἦν ἐν σαρκί.
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.