On Union

Name: On Union
Author: John of Damascus

De unione

John of Damascus (c. 645/675–749 AD) · PG 94-96

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Contents4 passages

1Definition and first modes of union
2Modes of union: juxtaposition, coalescence, substance, relation
3Union according to composition and according to person
4The union in Christ is essential, true, and preserves each nature's property

Author

John of Damascus (c. 645/675–749 AD) — Monk and priest near Jerusalem who left a career at the court of Damascus. He defended the use of icons when the emperors banned them, and his Fount of Knowledge sums up the Greek Fathers' teaching in one ordered book.

All works by John of Damascus

About this text

John of Damascus lists twelve kinds of union, from wine mixed with water to union in one person, to show how Christ's two natures are joined.

John of Damascus, an Eastern Christian monk and theologian, wrote this treatise in Greek. He had served as a financial official under the Syrian caliph before entering the monastery of Mar Saba. The work is a doctrinal explanation of the concept of union, written to clarify how the divine and human natures come together in Christ.

The treatise responds to errors about Christ's person. John argues against Nestorius, who divided Christ into two persons, and also against Eutyches and Dioscorus, who confused or mixed the natures. The reader will meet Peter and Paul as examples of individuals who share one substance, and will hear the teaching of Nestorius quoted only as the 'nonsense' that John rejects.

A reader should know that 'person' here translates the Greek term hypostasis, meaning an individual concrete reality, while 'nature' means the essential character of a thing and 'substance' means what a thing is. 'Union according to substance' means that individuals such as Peter and Paul share the same humanity but remain separate persons. 'Union according to person' applies only to Christ, in whom the divine and human natures are united in one person without confusion or change, each nature keeping its own natural property.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 94-96; De unione (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. 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.

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Definition and first modes of union§1

John of Damascus opens his treatise On Union by defining union and beginning a list of twelve modes of union with examples from nature.

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1Union is the communal coming together of separate things. It occurs in twelve modes: according to blending, according to heaping, according to nature, according to mixing, according to confusion, according to harmony, according to juxtaposition, according to fusion, according to substance, according to relation, according to composition, and according to person only. Blending occurs with liquids, as with wine and water. Heaping occurs with dry things, as with wheat and barley. Nature occurs with dry and wet, as with earth and water. Mixing occurs with different flours. Confusion occurs with molten things, as with gold and silver, or wax and pitch. Harmony occurs with stones.

Greek · §1

The Greek is on each section page: §1

Modes of union: juxtaposition, coalescence, substance, relation§2

John of Damascus is listing the twelve modes of union with examples, and here he gives the examples for union according to juxtaposition, coalescence, substance, and relation.

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2Union according to juxtaposition occurs with planks. Union according to coalescence occurs with a torch that proceeds from fire and is then united again. Union according to substance occurs with individuals, such as Peter and Paul, or certain horses, or oxen, or other animals. Union according to relation occurs with friends and opinions coming together into one will.

Greek · §2

The Greek is on each section page: §2

Union according to composition and according to person§3

John of Damascus is listing the modes of union and now gives the mode according to composition, then the mode according to person, which he says applies only to Christ's divinity and humanity.

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3Union according to composition is seen in soul and body. Union according to person is spoken of only in the case of the divinity and humanity in Christ. For the two natures had one person, not two, contrary to the nonsense of Nestorius.

Greek · §3

The Greek is on each section page: §3

The union in Christ is essential, true, and preserves each nature's property§4

John of Damascus is closing his treatise by characterizing the hypostatic union of Christ's two natures as essential and true, not imaginary, and as preserving the natural property of each nature after the union.

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4This kind of union is also called essential and true, not a matter of imagination.

Union according to person can also be defined another way: it is the coming together of things different in essence into one person, with the natural property of each being preserved after the union.

Greek · §4

The Greek is on each section page: §4

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