Twelve Chapters on the Faith · §3 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

Christ is not a man taken up like one of the prophets

Gregory condemns the view that Christ took up a complete man as one more prophet, and answers from Paul's contrast of the first Adam from the earth and the second Adam from heaven.

If anyone says that a perfect man was taken up by Christ like one of the prophets, and does not confess that he himself became man by incarnation from the Virgin, was born in Bethlehem and brought up in Nazareth, showed growth in age (Luke 2:52) and completed the course of time, was baptized in the Jordan and received from the Father this testimony, “This is my beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17), as it is written, let him be anathema.

For how can it be said that a perfect man was taken up by the Lord like one of the prophets, when the Lord himself became man through incarnation from the Virgin? That is why it is written, “The first man was from the earth, earthly” (1 Corinthians 15:47). But after the one who had been formed from the earth went back into the earth, the one who became the second man ascended into the heavens. And it is said that there is a first Adam and a last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). Just as it is acknowledged that the second comes from the first as far as the flesh is concerned, which is why Christ is both man and Son of Man, so it is also testified that the second is the Savior of the first, for whose sake he even came down from heaven. And since the Word came down from heaven and, having become man, ascended into the heavens, for this reason the second Adam is also said to be from heaven (1 Corinthians 15:47).

Latin

Si quis dicit hominem perfectum assumptum esse a Christo, tanquam unum ex prophetis; et non confitetur ipsum incarnatione ex Virgine factum hominem, in Bethleem natum, et in Nazaret educatum, et qui progressum in aetate ostendit, et cursum temporum complevit; in Iordane baptizatus est, et a Patre testimonium hoc accepit: Hic est filius meus dilectus, sicut scriptum est; anathema sit. Qua ratione dici potest homo perfectus a Domino assumptus, tanquam unus ex prophetis; cum ipse Dominus per incarnationem ex Virgine homo factus sit? Ideo scriptum est: Primus homo ex terra terrenus. Postquam vero is, qui ex terra formatus erat, in terram abiit; secundus homo factus, in caelos ascendit. Et dicitur primus Adam, et novissimus Adam. Et sicut in confesso est, secundum ex primo esse, quantum ad carnem attinet; unde et homo, et filius hominis Christus: ita quoque testatum est, quod secundus sit Salvator primi, propter quem etiam e caelo descendit. Quoniam autem Verbum e caelo descendens, et homo factum in caelos ascendit; ideo et e caelo secundus Adam esse dicitur.

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About this text

Gregory Thaumaturgus, Twelve Chapters on the Faith, in a fresh English translation: twelve brief condemnations of false teaching about Christ, each with a short explanation, ending with praise of the Father and the Holy Spirit and a warning against quarrels over words.

Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213–c. 270) wrote this treatise to defend the orthodox understanding of Christ against positions that either deny the createdness of Christ's body or confuse his flesh with his divinity. The work is organized as a series of chapters, each of which anathematizes a specific error and briefly argues against it.

The first two chapters set out two claims. First, Christ's body is created, not uncreated, because what is uncreated cannot suffer, be wounded, or be touched, yet the risen Christ showed the nails and the wound made by the lance, and his body able to be touched, to the disciples, entering through closed doors. Second, Christ's flesh is not consubstantial with the divinity, since consubstantiality means identity of nature and eternal existence, whereas the flesh exists in time. In both cases Gregory affirms that Christ is truly God and truly man: when he was otherwise God, he was recognized as man; and when he was truly man, God was nevertheless demonstrated from his own works. The other ten chapters condemn, in turn, the views that Christ was a man taken up like one of the prophets, that he was conceived from a man's seed, that the Son before the ages and the Son of the last times are two, that the one who suffered was someone other than the Word, that Christ was saved rather than the Savior, that he is divided into a perfect man and God the Word, that he is changeable, that he took only part of a man, that his body lacked soul or mind, and that he came only in appearance. The work closes with praise of the Trinity and a warning against quarrels over words.

A reader will meet Christ as the central figure, presented as true God and true man, whose body is created and whose divinity is eternal. Gregory cites Philippians 2:6-7 on Christ emptying himself and taking the form of a servant, and he alludes to resurrection appearances involving the nails, the lance wound, a body able to be touched, and entering through closed doors.

English translated from the Latin column of the Opera omnia print (Paris, 1622) for all twelve chapters; Chapters III-XII were read from the page images (printed pp. 3-8, PDF pp. 27-32). Vossius's scholia are left out; marginal variants are noted, not adopted. In Chapter IX the print reads 'corruptible in flesh' where its margin gives 'incorruptible'; the printed reading is translated. ANF 6 was consulted only as a sense check for Chapters I-II.

Printed text used

Translated from Opera omnia, Greek and Latin (Paris: Sonnius, Morel and Cramoisy, 1622), page images (Latin column (Greek damaged) · Capita I-XII (Chapters III-XII read from the page images, printed pp. 3-8))
Also checked Archive DjVu machine-read text (Latin/Greek mixed machine-read text)
Translated from Latin Capita I-II (Latin)

Where the prints differ

Cap. I interpretatio — machine-read text of clavorum / lancea / palpandum / clausis ianuis restored from the facing column and the John 20 scene; not invented doctrine.

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Latin on any section, or the Latin source link, to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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