Tome 5 Against Nestorius (CPG 5217)
| Reference: | CPG 5217 |
| Incipit: | Ἐπισεμνύνεται μὲν ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος τοῖς παθήμασι τοῦ Χριστοῦ |
| Date: | Spring 430 |
| Greek Text: | ACO 1.1.6:91-106. |
| English Translation: | P.E. Pusey. pp. 155-184, updated by J. Winkel |
Cyril refers to Nestorius sometimes in second person, sometimes in third person. Usually the referent is clear from context, but clarification has been added in some cases when a sudden change in person is unclear. Any direct quotes from Nestorius’ works are in italics.
The main topic of the Tomes is the union of natures in Christ, which Cyril defines as a union κατὰ ὑπόστασις and accuses Nestorius of thinking of it as a συνάφεια. Ὑπόστασις has been translated as ‘subsistence,’ by which Cyril means a being which subsists in itself. He uses ὑπόστασις interchangeably with πρόσωπον (person). Cyril writes that the union results in one ὑπόστασις in Christ. He accuses Nestorius of teaching a συνάφεια, which has been translated ‘connection.’ This word implies two different beings side-by-side, moving in synchrony but nevertheless distinct. This is Cyril’s main argument against Nestorius, that he teaches not one but two Christs, one man and one divine.
For more information on the Five Tomes, click here.
Contents:
1. Introduction – Heresy Comes from Shame of the Gospel (1–2)
2. First Argument – Nestorius Denies That God Suffered (3–10)
3. Second Argument – Nestorius Divides Christ’s Natures into Two Persons (11–18)
4. Third Argument – Nestorius Contradicts Himself; Scripture’s Testimony Is Clear (19–24)
5. Fourth Argument – Nestorius Wrongly Accuses His Opponents of Mixing the Natures (25–33)
6. Fifth Argument – Cyril Explains the Trinity’s Economy (34–40)
7. Sixth Argument – Nestorius Twists the Terms of Nicaea (41–45)
BOOK 5
1. Introduction – Heresy Comes from Shame of the Gospel
| Ἐπισεμνύνεται μὲν ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος τοῖς παθήμασι τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ δή φησιν ὁτὲ μὲν ὅτι ἐμοὶ δὲ μὴ γένοιτο καυχᾶσθαι εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι’ οὗ ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται κἀγὼ τῷ κόσμῳ, ὁτὲ δὲ αὖ· οὐ γὰρ ἐπαισχύνομαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον· δύναμις γὰρ θεοῦ ἐστιν εἰς σωτηρίαν παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι, Ἰουδαίῳ τε πρῶτον καὶ Ἕλληνι. ἀλλ’ ὧδε μὲν ὁ πνευματοφόρος ἠξίου τε φρονεῖν αὐτὸς καὶ μὴν καὶ ἑτέρους μυσταγωγεῖν (γέγραφε γὰρ οὐ μάτην, ἀλλ’ ἵνα ἡμᾶς ἀναπείσῃ τῆς ἐνούσης αὐτῷ πίστεως τὴν ὀρθότητα ζηλοῦν ᾑρημένους τοῖς Χριστοῦ παθήμασιν ἐναβρύνεσθαι), ἐπερυθριῶσι δέ τινες τῷ σταυρῷ καὶ τοῖς γεγονόσι τῆς ὑφ’ ἡλίῳ μυσταγωγοῖς ἀνοσίως ἀντανιστάμενοι διὰ τοῦ φρονεῖν ἑλέσθαι τὰ ἐναντία μόνον οὐχὶ καταμειδιῶσιν οἱ τάλανες τῶν Χριστοῦ παθημάτων αἰσχύνονταί τε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, Ἰουδαικὴν νοσοῦντες ἀμαθίαν καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων ἀβελτηρίας κατ’ οὐδένα τρόπον ἡττώμενοι· γέγονε γὰρ αὐτοῖς σκάνδαλον ὁ τοῦ σωτῆρος σταυρός. | 1. The divine Paul boasts in the sufferings of Christ. He says, “Let it never be that I boast about anything except the cross of Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world” [Gal. 6:14]. In another place, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first to the Jew and then to the Greek” [Rom. 1:16]. And this Spirit-covered man thought it right for him to think this way and to teach others this way as well. For he had not written for no reason, but so that he might persuade us to be zealous for the rightness of faith that he had, and when we have grasped it, to glory in the sufferings of Christ. But some are ashamed of the cross, and they wickedly stand against those who have been made teachers of everything under the sun. Because they choose to believe the opposite of them, these wretches do not smile at Christ’s sufferings and are ashamed of the gospel. They are sick with Jewish ignorance and just as foolish, for the Savior’s cross has become an offense to them. |
| καὶ γοῦν τῷ ξύλῳ προσηλωθέντα βλέποντες τὸν τῆς ζωῆς ἀρχηγόν, τὸ τοῦ νόμου τέλος, ἔσειον μὲν ἐπ’ αὐτῷ τὰς θεομισεῖς κεφαλάς, οὐ θεὸν εἶναι πιστεύοντες ἀληθῶς ἐνηνθρωπηκότα τε καὶ καθιγμένον εἰς κένωσιν, οἰόμενοι δὲ μᾶλλον ἕνα τῶν καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἄνθρωπον ἁπλῶς ὑπάρχειν αὐτόν, ἔφασκον δὲ ὡς ἐκ πονηροῦ θησαυροῦ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν προφέροντες τὰ πονηρά· ὁ καταλύων τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις οἰκοδομῶν αὐτόν, σῶσον σεαυτόν· εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, κατάβηθι ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ, καὶ πάλιν· ἄλλους ἔσωσεν, ἑαυτὸν οὐ δύναται σῶσαι· εἰ βασιλεὺς Ἰσραήλ ἐστι, καταβάτω νῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ καὶ πιστεύσομεν ἐπ’ αὐτόν. οὐ γάρτοι, καθάπερ ἔφην ἀρτίως, θεὸν ᾤοντο κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχειν αὐτὸν οὔτε μὴν υἱὸν ἀληθῶς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρός, περιαυτίζεσθαι δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ τὴν τῆς θεότητος δόξαν ἑαυτῷ προσνέμειν ἀποτολμᾶν. τοιγάρτοι ποτὲ μὲν ἔφασκον· περὶ καλοῦ ἔργου οὐ λιθάζομέν σε, ἀλλὰ περὶ βλασφημίας, ὅτι σὺ ἄνθρωπος ὢν ποιεῖς σεαυτὸν θεόν, ποτὲ δὲ Πιλάτῳ προσῆγον καὶ σταυροῦσθαι παρεκάλουν, εἶτα τῆς ἐπ’ αὐτῷ σκαιότητος τὰς αἰτίας εἰπεῖν ἐξαιτούμενοι, κατηγόρευον εὐθὺς καὶ κατακεκράγεσαν λέγοντες ὅτι υἱὸν θεοῦ ἑαυτὸν ἐποίησεν. ἀλλ’ ἰδοὺ δὴ καὶ νῦν οὐ παρά γε τῶν ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ οὔτε μὴν τῆς τῶν Φαρισαίων πληθύος, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῶν δοκούντων εἶναι Χριστιανῶν καὶ τεταγμένων ἐν διδασκάλοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς τὴν θείαν λαχοῦσιν ἱερουργίαν τὰ ἴσα πάσχων ὁρᾶται. ἀπιστεῖται γὰρ ὅτι καὶ θεὸς κατὰ φύσιν ἐστὶν εἷς τε καὶ μόνος καὶ ἀληθῶς υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρός, πρόφασις δὲ τῆς ἐπ’ αὐτῷ δὴ τούτῳ δυσβουλίας αὐτοῖς τὸ παθεῖν ἑλέσθαι σαρκὶ τὸν δι’ ἡμᾶς θάνατον, | When they see the Prince of Life, the fulfillment of the law, nailed to a piece of wood, they shake their impious heads, not believing that God was truly made man and came down into emptiness, but supposing instead that he was just a man like us. They “bring forth out of their heart evil things as out of evil treasure” [Luke 6:45] when they said, “You that will destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself; if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross,” and again, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will believe in him” [Matthew 27:40, 42]. For they did not think, as I have just said, that he was God by nature, nor that he was the Son of God the Father, but rather that he was bragging and daring to give himself the glory of the Godhead. That is why they once said, “We do not stone you for good works, but for blasphemy, because you, a man, claim to be God” [John 10:33]. Another time, they brought him to Pilate and called for his crucifixion, and when he demanded that they should tell him the reason of their hostility towards him, they immediately began to accuse him, saying that “He claimed to be the Son of God” [John 19:7]. But now, too, he sees equal mistreatment, not because of Israelites nor from the multitude of Pharisees, but from those who seem to be Christians and are ranked among teachers, who have been given Divine Priesthood. For they do not believe that he is God by nature and the one true Son of the Father, and the excuse for their ill will towards him is that he chose to suffer death in the flesh for us. |
| καίτοι διὰ τοῦτο καθιγμένον εἰς κένωσιν οἰκονομικῶς, ἵνα καὶ παθὼν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκὶ καταργήσῃ τοῦ θανάτου τὸ κράτος ἅτε δὴ ὑπάρχων κατὰ φύσιν ζωὴ καὶ ἐκ ζωῆς ἀναφὺς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρός. κατηρρώστησε γὰρ ἡ ἀνθρώπου φύσις τὴν φθορὰν ὡς ἐν ἀπαρχῇ καὶ ῥίζῃ τῇ πρώτῃ, τουτέστιν Ἀδάμ. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ προσκέκρουκε διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς τῷ νομοθέτῃ καὶ θεῷ καὶ παρενεγκόντι πρὸς ὕπαρξιν, ἐπάρατος ἦν εὐθὺς καὶ θανάτου κάτοχος καὶ βεβασίλευκεν ὁ θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ καὶ μέχρι Μωσέως, ἐκτεινομένης εἰς ἅπαν τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ σπέρμα τε καὶ γένος τῆς ἐπὶ τῷδε δίκης. ῥίζης γὰρ ὥσπερ ἀναφύντες φθαρτῆς, φθαρτοὶ καὶ ἡμεῖς καὶ τοῖς τοῦ θανάτου βρόχοις ἐνισχημένοι διετελοῦμεν οἱ δείλαιοι. ἐπειδὴ δὲ χρηστὰ περὶ ἡμῶν ὁ δημιουργὸς ἐσκέψατο καὶ ἀνῃρημένης τῆς φθορᾶς ἀναστοιχειῶσαι πρὸς τὸ ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς τὴν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν ἠθέλησε, ῥίζαν ὥσπερ ἡμῖν ἐπήνθησε δευτέραν οὐκ ἀνεχομένην κρατεῖσθαι θανάτῳ, τὸν ἕνα κύριον Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστόν, τουτέστι τὸν ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ θεὸν λόγον καθ’ ἡμᾶς γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον, γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός. οὐ γάρτοι θεοφόρον εἶναι φαμὲν ἄνθρωπον ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ’ αὐτόχρημα κατὰ ἀλήθειαν τὸν ἐκ θεοῦ λόγον ἡνῶσθαι σαρκί, ἵνα τὴν ἰδίαν ψυχὴν τεθεικὼς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ δοὺς τῷ θανάτῳ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα δι’ ἡμᾶς οἰκονομικῶς, εἶτα κρεῖττον αὐτὸ τῆς φθορᾶς ἀποφήνας διὰ τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως, πληροφορήσῃ σύμπαντας τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύοντας ὅτι καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐγερεῖ καὶ ἀμείνους ἀποφανεῖ τῶν τοῦ θανάτου δεσμῶν καὶ τῆς φθορᾶς ἀρκύων ὀλίγα πεφροντικότας. | And for this reason he came down into emptiness for the purpose of salvation, in order that by suffering for us in the flesh he would abolish the power of death, because he is by nature life and sprung from life, that is, God the Father. For the nature of mankind was sick with decay in its firstfruits and original root, Adam. Since it offended God, its law-giver and maker, through its disobedience, immediately it was cursed and overpowered by death. And death has reigned from Adam to Moses, stretching over all of his offspring and the whole human race after him. Just as we sprung from a perishable root, we are perishable, too, and we continue to be miserably held by the snare of death. But when the Creator planned good things concerning us and wanted to change the nature of man to what it was at the beginning by taking away decay, he made a second root, so to speak, which was not held down to be ruled by death. This is the one Lord Jesus Christ, that is, God the Word, who out of his own being was made human just as we are, born of a woman. For we do not say that merely a man is carrying God, but that the Word of God itself has been truly united to flesh, so that by laying down his own life for us, and by giving his own body to death for our sakes according to the plan of salvation, and then by showing it stronger than decay through his resurrection from the dead, he promised to all who believe in him that he will also raise us. Then he will reveal us to be superior to the chains of death, and we will care little about the nets of decay. |
| ἐντεῦθεν οἶμαί που καὶ τὸν θεσπέσιον Παῦλον ἐν παντὶ ποιεῖσθαι λόγῳ καὶ θαύματι τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἀγάπην. ἔφη γὰρ ὧδε· τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν πρὸς ταῦτα; εἰ ὁ θεὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, τίς καθ’ ἡμῶν; ὅς γε τοῦ ἰδίου υἱοῦ οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλ’ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πάντων παρέδωκεν αὐτόν, πῶς οὐχὶ καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ἡμῖν χαρίσεται; καίτοι πλεῖστοι μὲν ὅσοι χάριτί τε καὶ κατὰ θέσιν υἱοί (καὶ κεκλήμεθα γὰρ θεοὶ καὶ υἱοὶ ὑψίστου πάντες), εἷς δὲ καὶ μόνος ὁ κατὰ φύσιν καὶ ἴδιος αὐτοῦ, τουτέστιν ὁ ἐξ αὐτοῦ θεὸς λόγος, καὶ ὅτε γέγονε σάρξ. οὕτω γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων δεδόσθαι φαμέν, καθὰ καὶ αὐτός πού φησιν· οὕτω γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται, ἀλλ’ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον. μονογενὴς μὲν οὖν ὁ δοθείς· ἀνέφυ γὰρ μόνος ἐκ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς οὐσίας ὁ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τε καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ λόγος· ἐπειδὴ δὲ γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, ταύτῃ τοι τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ποιούμεθα πίστιν, τὸν κατὰ σάρκα θάνατον αὐτοῦ καταγγέλλοντες καὶ ὁμολογοῦντες τὴν ἀνάστασιν, τὸν αὐτὸν εἰδότες καὶ προαιώνιον υἱὸν καὶ ἐν ἐσχάτοις καιροῖς ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομικῶς παθόντα τε σαρκὶ δι’ ἡμᾶς τὸν θάνατον καὶ ἐγηγερμένον ἐκ νεκρῶν. | 2. And so I think that the inspired Paul makes the love of God the Father towards us the subject of much speech and marvel. For he says this: “What, then, will we say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also freely give us all things with him?” [Rom. 8:31–32]. And further, there are very many sons by grace and by adoption (for we are also called gods and are all sons of the Most High), but only one who is his Son by nature and is “his very own,” that is, God the Word, who is from him even when he was made flesh. For we say that he has also been given for all, as he, too, somewhere says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life” [John 3:16]. “Only-begotten,” then, is the one who was given, for he alone sprung from the essence of God the Father, the Word both out of him and in him. But since he has been made a man, for that reason we make our faith in him. We declare his death according to the flesh and confess his resurrection, knowing that the same one is both the Son before eternity and a man according to the plan of salvation in the last times, and that he suffered death in the flesh for our sakes and has risen from the dead. |
2. First Argument – Nestorius Denies That God Suffered
| ἀλλ’ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως τοῖς παρ’ ἡμῶν ἐπασχάλλει λόγοις ὁ τῆς Ἰουδαίων ἀμαθίας συνήγορος· ἔφη γὰρ πάλιν· Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ τῆς γεννήσεως τῆς ἐκ τῆς Χριστοτόκου παρθένου τίθησι τὸ υἱός ἡ θεία γραφή, δεδηλώκαμεν· ἄκουσον δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ θανάτου, εἴ ἐστι ποτὲ κείμενος ὁ θεός, ἵνα παθητὸν τὸν θεὸν εἰσαγάγωμεν. ἐχθροί, φησίν, ὄντες κατηλλάγημεν τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. οὐκ εἶπε διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου. | 3. But (I do not know how) the advocate of the Jews’ ignorance is offended by our words, for he said again, “We have shown then that divine scripture places ‘Son’ on the birth from the virgin mother of Christ… Hear also of his death, whether God is found there, so that we could bring in a suffering God. ‘Although we were enemies,’ it says, ‘we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son’ [Rom. 5:10]. It does not say ‘Through the death of God the Word.’” |
| Ἀληθὲς ὅτι κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον ἔστι δίκαιος ἀπολλύμενος ἐν δικαίῳ αὐτοῦ, ἀποφέρει δὲ τοῦ εἰκότος καὶ τὸν εὖ βεβηκότα νοῦν τὴν τοῦ συμφέροντος δόκησιν ὑποτρέχον ἔσθ’ ὅτε τὸ πεφυκὸς ἀδικεῖν. οἴεται μὲν γὰρ οὐ μετρίως εὐσεβεῖν τὸ πᾶσιν ὁμολογούμενον κρατύνειν ἐπιχειρῶν, ταύτῃ τοι λέγων ὅτι κατὰ φύσιν ἰδίαν ἐπέκεινά τέ ἐστι παθῶν καὶ θανάτου κρείττων ὡς θεὸς ὁ ἐκ θεοῦ πατρὸς λόγος (τεθναίη γὰρ ἂν κατά τινα τρόπον ἡ ζωή)· προσκρούει γε μὴν οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ νῦν τοῖς τῆς ἐκκλησίας δόγμασι, τῆς μετὰ σαρκὸς οἰκονομίας τοῦ μονογενοῦς εἰς ἅπαν ἠφειδηκὼς καὶ τοῦ μυστηρίου τὸ βάθος κατ’ οὐδένα τρόπον ἐννοῶν. | 4. It is true, as it is written, that “There is a righteous man that dies in his righteousness” [Eccl. 7:15]. For the person whose nature is to hurt turns aside even the well-established mind from what is right by sometimes putting on the show of being helpful. For he [Nestorius] thinks that he lives very piously, attempting to strengthen what is confessed by all. Because of this, he says that the Word of God the Father, as God, is by nature beyond suffering and superior to death; because how can life die? But he offends no less against the doctrine of the Church, entirely disregarding the relationship of the Only-Begotten with the flesh, and in no way considering the depth of the mystery. |
| εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐξητάζετο πρὸς ἡμῶν ὁποία τίς ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ λόγου φύσις, ἢ γοῦν ἐρομένοις καὶ ἀναμαθεῖν ἐθέλουσιν ἑτέροις ἡμᾶς ἐξηγεῖσθαι χρῆν, ἦν δήπου πάντως ἀκόλουθόν τε καὶ ἀναγκαῖον διὰ πάσης ἐννοίας σοφῆς τε καὶ ἀληθοῦς ἰέναι, σπουδάζοντας ἀπρόσιτον αὐτὴν τῷ θανάτῳ δεικνύειν καὶ παθῶν εἰς ἅπαν ἀπηλλαγμένην· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὁ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τρόπος δίδωσιν αὐτῷ, τό γε ἧκον εἰς τοὺς τῆς οἰκονομίας λόγους, τὸ κἂν εἰ ἕλοιτο τεθνάναι σαρκί, μηδὲν εἰς ἰδίαν ὑπομεῖναι φύσιν, τί τῶν καλλίστων ἡμᾶς αὐχημάτων ἀποστερεῖς; διεπύθου γὰρ λέγοντος· ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς τὴν ψυχὴν ἑαυτοῦ τίθησιν ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων. οὐκοῦν κἂν εἰ λέγοιτο παθεῖν, ἀπαθῆ μὲν ἴσμεν ὡς θεόν, πεπονθέναι δὲ φαμὲν οἰκονομικῶς ἰδίαι σαρκὶ τὸν θάνατον, ἵνα πατήσας αὐτὸν καὶ ἐγηγερμένος, καθὸ πέφυκεν εἶναι ζωὴ καὶ ζωοποιός, μεταστοιχειώσῃ πρὸς ἀφθαρσίαν τὸ θανάτῳ τυραννούμενον, τουτέστι τὸ σῶμα οὕτω τε καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἡ τοῦ κατορθώματος διατρέχῃ δύναμις, εἰς ἅπαν ἐκτεινομένη τὸ γένος. καὶ γοῦν ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος ἐγὼ γὰρ διὰ νόμου, φησί, νόμῳ ἀπέθανον, ἵνα θεῷ ζήσω. Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι, ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ ὁ Χριστός. ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ, ἐν πίστει ζῶ [ἐν σαρκὶ] τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ. οὐκ ἀθετῶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ. οὐ γὰρ ἔτι τὴν ἰδίαν διαζῶμεν ζωήν, τὴν Χριστῷ δὲ μᾶλλον καί ἐστιν ἀληθὲς ὡς εἷς ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν, ἵνα οἱ ζῶντες μηκέτι ἑαυτοῖς ζῶσιν, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀποθανόντι καὶ ἐγερθέντι. πρὶν μὲν γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐπιλάμψαι τὸν μονογενῆ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον, ἀμαθίαι καὶ σκότῳ κεκρατημένοι καὶ τὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἔχοντες ζυγὸν καὶ ἀνάπτοντες ἀνοσίως τῇ κτίσει τὸ σέβας παρὰ τὸν κτίστην καὶ ποιητὴν καὶ πᾶν εἶδος φαυλότητος ἀνεπιπλήκτως ἐπιτηδεύοντες, ἐν διαστάσει διετελοῦμεν οἱ τάλανες, ἐχθρὰ φρονοῦντες αὐτῷ, κατηλλάγμεθα δὲ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, καθὰ γέγραπται. | 5. Then, if it were up to us to examine what the nature of the Word is, or if we needed to describe it to those who asked and who wanted to learn, it would of course make sense and be necessary to show that it is unapproachable by death and entirely removed from sufferings, because we are eager to go through every wise and true thought. But since the state of incarnation allows him, as far as it is present in the plan of salvation—and although he chose to die in the flesh, not to submit to any of it in his own nature—then why do you rob us of our most beautiful boasts? For you heard him say, “The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep” [John 10:11]. So even though he is said to suffer, we know that he does not suffer as God. We say that he suffered death according to the plan of salvation in his own flesh, in order that by trampling it and rising—in that he is life and life-giving—he might transform that which is tyrannized by death, i.e., the body, into something incorruptible. In this way he spreads the power of the achievement to us, too, extending to the whole human race. And truly the divine Paul says, “Through the law, I have died to the law that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live I live in faith, in the flesh of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not refuse the grace of God” [Gal. 2:19–21]. For we no longer live our own life but rather we live in Christ, and it is true that “One died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died and rose for them” [2 Cor. 5:14–15]. For before the only-begotten Word of God shone on us, we were ruled by ignorance and darkness. We had on us the yoke of sin and wickedly offered worship to created things rather than our Creator and Maker, freely committing every kind of wickedness. We remained miserably separated and hostile to him in our minds, but we have been “reconciled through the death of His Son” [Rom. 5:10], as it is written. |
| σὺ δὲ πάλιν ἐν σμικρῷ πεποίησαι λόγῳ τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ ἀχάλινον εἰς ἐξιτηλίαν ἀποφαίνων ἡμῖν τὸν σεαυτοῦ λόγον κατηλλάχθαι φὴς τῷ θεῷ τὸν κόσμον οὐ διά γε τοῦ μονογενοῦς, τουτέστι τοῦ ἐκ πατρὸς φύντος λόγου, ἀκούων δὲ θάνατον τοῦ υἱοῦ, εἶτα βασανίζων, ὡς οἴει, λεπτῶς τὰς τοῦ θεηγόρου φωνάς, οὐ κατέδεισας εἰπεῖν· οὐκ ἔφη διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου. εἶτα πῶς ἦν, εἰπέ μοι, σοφός, μᾶλλον δὲ πῶς οὐχ ἁπάσης ἐμβροντησίας ἔμπλεως ὁ τοιόσδε λόγος; θανάτῳ γὰρ κάτοχον ἀποφῆναι τὴν ζωὴν πῶς ἦν ἀκόλουθον; εἰπέ μοι, καὶ τῆς τὰ πάντα ζωογονούσης φύσεως κατηγορῆσαι τὴν φθορὰν πῶς οὐκ ἀπόπληκτον κομιδῇ καὶ τῆς εἰς λῆξιν ἡκούσης δυσφημίας ἐπίκλημα γένοιτ’ ἂν καὶ μάλα εἰκότως; οὐκοῦν ἥκιστα μὲν ταῖς σαῖς εἰς τοῦτο περιεργίαις ἢ γοῦν εἰκαιομυθίαις ὁ τῶν ἁγίων ἕπεται νοῦς, οἶδε δὲ οἶδε παθόντα σαρκὶ δι’ ἡμᾶς τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον καὶ τῷ θανάτῳ τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος κεκληκότα τὸν κόσμον εἰς διαλλαγάς, τὰς πρός γε φημὶ τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς πατέρα. καὶ γοῦν ἔφη που πρὸς ἕνα τῶν ἁγίων μαθητῶν τοὺς λόγους ποιούμενος· ἐγὼ εἰμὶ ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ καὶ οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ δι’ ἐμοῦ. ἀλήθεια δὲ καὶ ζωὴ καὶ ὁδὸς τίς ἂν ἕτερος εἴη παρά γε τὸν ἐκ θεοῦ φύντα λόγον, εἰ καὶ γέγονε καθ’ ἡμᾶς μορφὴν δούλου λαβών; | 6. But you [Nestorius] again have made but slight account of the truth. Displaying to us your uncontrolled and even bland speech, you say that the world has been reconciled to God, but not through the Only-Begotten, that is, the Word that sprang of the Father. Instead, when you hear about the death of his Son and investigate intelligently (or so you think) the words of the Divine, you are not afraid to say, “He did not say, ‘Through the death of God the Word.’” But tell me, how is that sort of statement wise, or rather, how is it not completely full of utter foolishness? Tell me, how does it make sense to set forth life as subject to death, and to accuse the nature which gives life to all things of decaying? How is it not entirely senseless? Would it not reasonably be called a most extreme charge of blasphemy? By no means therefore does the mind of the saints go along with your needless mental games, or rather your random talking. For it knows, it knows that the Word of God suffered in the flesh for our sakes, and through the death of his own body has called the world to reconciliation with the Father in heaven. And truly he said somewhere, when having a conversation with one of the holy disciples, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me” [John 14:6]. But who else could be the Truth and Life and Way, except the Word which sprang from God, even if he has been made like us by taking servant’s form? |
| ὅτι δὲ δι’ αὐτοῦ θείας φύσεως ἀποδεδείγμεθα κοινωνοὶ καὶ οἱ ποτὲ ὄντες μακρὰν γεγόναμεν ἐγγύς, ἑνούμενοι σχετικῶς δι’ αὐτοῦ τῷ πατρὶ καὶ μὴν καὶ ἀλλήλοις ὡς ἐν πίστει μιᾶι καὶ ὁμοψυχίαι διὰ τὸ ἑνὸς μετεσχηκέναι πνεύματος, αὐτὸς πιστώσεται λέγων πρὸς τὸν ἐν οὐρανοῖς πατέρα καὶ θεόν· οὐ περὶ τούτων δὲ ἐρωτῶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν πιστευσάντων διὰ τοῦ λόγου αὐτῶν εἰς ἐμέ, ἵνα πάντες ἓν ὦσι, καθὼς σύ, πάτερ, ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν σοί, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ἓν ὦσιν, ἵνα ὁ κόσμος πιστεύσῃ ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας. κἀγὼ τὴν δόξαν ἣν δέδωκάς μοι, δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, ἵνα ὦσιν ἕν, καθὼς ἡμεῖς ἕν, κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ σὺ ἐν ἐμοί, ἵνα ὦσι τετελειωμένοι εἰς ἕν. σύνες οὖν ὅπως αὐτὸς μέν ἐστι φυσικῶς ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ πατρί, μεσίτης δὲ καὶ διαλλακτὴς ἀποδεδειγμένος διὰ τοῦ γενέσθαι καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἐν ἡμῖν δέ ἐστι διά τε τῆς ἰδίας σαρκὸς ζωοποιούσης ἡμᾶς ἐν πνεύματι καὶ διὰ τοῦ μεταλαχεῖν τῆς ἁγιότητος αὐτοῦ, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι πάλιν τῆς διὰ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. αἰτεῖ δὲ ὡς δόξαν παρὰ πατρὸς τὸ τὴν ἰδίαν ἡμῖν ἐναργῆ καταστῆσαι φύσιν ὅτι τε εἴη ζωοποιὸς καὶ φθορᾶς ἀμείνων ὡς θεός. καὶ γοῦν ἔφη πάλιν· ἐγώ σε ἐδόξασα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὸ ἔργον τελειώσας ὃ δέδωκάς μοι ἵνα ποιήσω· καὶ νῦν δόξασόν με σύ, πάτερ, παρὰ σεαυτῷ τῇ δόξῃ ἧι εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί. ἔργον δὲ τετελειωμένον ἐσμὲν ἡμεῖς ὡς ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ πρώτῳ νικῶντες φθορὰν καὶ τὸ τοῦ θανάτου πατοῦντες κράτος· ἀνεβίω γὰρ ἐκ νεκρῶν, πάντας ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ. | 7. Through Him we have been appointed partakers of the divine nature, and we who once were far have been made close. We were united permanently through him to the Father and also to one another in one faith and unity of soul by reason of being made participants of one Spirit. Jesus himself will give assurance of all this, saying to God the Father in Heaven, “I do not ask for these alone, but also for them who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I ask that they also may be one in us, and that the world may believe that you sent me. I have given them the glory which you have given me, that they may be one just as we are one, both I in them and you in me, that they may be perfected into one” [John 17:20–23]. Take notice, then, how he is by nature in his own Father but is appointed as a mediator and reconciler through being made like us. He is in us, both through his own flesh which makes us alive in spirit, and through the sharing of his holiness, and again it is clearly through the Holy Spirit. And he asks as glory from the Father to make his own nature clear to us, that it is both as life-giving and as superior to corruption as God. And truly he said again, “I glorified you on the earth by perfecting the work which you have given me to do. And now glorify me with you, Father, with the glory which I had with you before the world began,” [John 17:4–5]. And we are a perfected work, overcoming decay and trampling the might of death in him first, for he lives again from the dead, having all in himself. |
| ἀλλ’ ἐφ’ ἑτέρας ἴσως ἐννοίας ἀποκομίζων τὸ εἰρημένον, οὐκ ἐπί γε τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου ταυτὶ δὴ χρῆναι νοεῖσθαι φής, ἀποφέρων δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τιθεὶς ἀνὰ μέρος τὸν ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου γεγεννημένον ὡς ἕτερον υἱόν, αὐτῷ τὰ τοιάδε πρέπειν τε αὐτὸς διαβεβαιοῖ καὶ μὴν καὶ ἑτέρους ἀναπείθειν ἐπείγῃ ταὐτά σοι φρονεῖν καὶ λέγειν. ἐρεῖς δέ που πάντως ὅτι τῆς δόξης κύριος ὢν ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος οὐκ ἂν ὡς δόξης ὑπάρχων ἐπιδεὴς ἐζήτησε τὴν παρὰ πατρός. ἄκουε τοίνυν καὶ πρὸς ἡμῶν· εἰ μὴ αὐτὸν εἶναι φὴς τὸν ἐκ θεοῦ κατὰ φύσιν υἱὸν μονογενῆ δόξαν ἐν τούτοις αἰτοῦντα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός, τίς ἦν ὁ λέγων· δόξασόν με τῇ δόξῃ ἧι εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί; πῶς οὖν, εἰπέ μοι, προκόσμιος ὁ ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου κατὰ σὲ νοούμενος ἄνθρωπος ἰδικῶς; ἆρ’ οὐχὶ πρέποι ἂν τῷ τῶν αἰώνων δημιουργῷ τὸ πρεσβυτέραν ἔχειν τοῦ κόσμου τὴν ὕπαρξιν καὶ συναίδιον τῷ πατρί; ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἂν ἐνδοιάσειέ τις τῶν εὖ φρονεῖν εἰωθότων. ὅτε τοίνυν ἑαυτὸν κεκένωκε μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, τότε δὴ τότε καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐνοῦσαν αὐτῷ κατὰ φύσιν ἀναφοιτῆσαι δόξαν ἐθέλων, καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἑνωθείσης αὐτῷ σαρκὸς ἐπὶ καιροῦ φησι· δόξασόν με σύ, πάτερ, παρὰ σεαυτῷ τῇ δόξῃ ἧι εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί, ἵνα ὁ κόσμος πιστεύσῃ ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας. κἀγὼ τὴν δόξαν ἣν δέδωκάς μοι, δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, ἵνα ὦσιν ἕν, καθὼς ἡμεῖς ἕν, ἐγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ σὺ ἐν ἐμοί, ἵνα ὦσι τετελειωμένοι εἰς ἕν. δι’ αὐτοῦ τοιγαροῦν τὴν καταλλαγὴν ἐσχήκαμεν· τετελείωκε γὰρ οὕτω τὸ ἔργον ὃ δέδωκεν αὐτῷ εἰς τελείωσιν ὁ πατήρ. συλλήπτορα δὲ τῶν ἐμῶν λόγων ποιήσομαι πάλιν τὸν ἱερώτατον Παῦλον ὡδὶ γεγραφότα τοῖς ἐξ ἐθνῶν κεκλη- μένοις· νυνὶ δὲ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ὑμεῖς οἱ ποτὲ ὄντες μακρὰν ἐγενήθητε ἐγγὺς ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ. αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν, ὁ ποιήσας τὰ ἀμφότερα ἓν καὶ τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας, τὴν ἔχθραν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ, τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασι, καταργήσας, ἵνα τοὺς δύο κτίσῃ ἐν αὐτῷ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον ποιῶν εἰρήνην καὶ ἀποκαταλλάξῃ τοὺς ἀμφοτέρους ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἀποκτείνας τὴν ἔχθραν ἐν αὐτῷ. καὶ ἐλθὼν εὐηγγελίσατο εἰρήνην ὑμῖν τοῖς μακρὰν καὶ τοῖς ἐγγύς. καὶ μὴν καὶ ἑτέρωθι· δικαιωθέντες οὖν ἐκ πίστεως εἰρήνην ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. οὐκοῦν κατηλλάγμεθα τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, καταργήσαντος ἢ γοῦν ἀποκτείναντος τὴν ἔχθραν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ κατά γε τὴν πίστιν τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων. | 8. But returning, perhaps, to other ideas which have been said: you [Nestorius] say that these things should not be understood to be about God the Word. Rather, when you separate from him the one who was born of the holy virgin and put that one by himself as another son, you insist that such things are fitting of him and you hurry to persuade others to think and say these things with you. And you will (I suppose) surely say that the only-begotten Word of God, being the Lord of Glory, would not have sought it from the Father as though he needed glory. Hear therefore from us too: If you say that the only-begotten Son, who is of God by nature, is not the one who here asks for glory from the Father, who was it who said, “Glorify me with the glory which I had with you before the world began”? [John 17:5]. Tell me, how then was he before the world, who was of the holy virgin and is thought of (according to you) as a man separately? Is it not fitting to the Creator of the ages, to have an existence older than the world and coeternal with the Father? No one who is used to thinking correctly will doubt it. Therefore, when he emptied himself and received a servant’s form, then, yes, then, desiring to go back to the glory inherent in him by nature along with the flesh which was united to him, at a fitting time does he say, “Glorify me with you, Father, with the glory which I had with you before the world began, that the world may believe that you sent me. I have given them the glory which you have given me, that they may be one just as we are one, both I in them and you in me, that they may he perfected into one” [John 17:5, 21–23]. Through him therefore we have had the reconciliation, for thus he has completed the work which the Father gave him for completion. And I will make again the most holy Paul the supporter of my words, who wrote in this way to those who were called out of the Gentiles: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made the two into one and has broken down the dividing wall, having abolished in his flesh the enmity and the law of commandments in ordinances. He did this to make in himself one new man of the two groups, making peace, and to reconcile both of them to God in one body through the cross, on which he put to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and to them that were near” [Eph. 2:13–17]. And in another place also, “Justified therefore by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” [Rom. 5:1]. Therefore we have been reconciled to God the Father through the death of his Son, who abolished or put to death the enmity in his flesh, according to the faith of the sacred scriptures. |
| ἀναιρεῖς δὲ τοὺς λόγους τῆς οἰκονομίας αὐτὸς καὶ ὁμολογεῖν οὐκ ἀξιοῖς ὅτι σαρκὶ πέπονθεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, εὑρεσιλογίαις τισὶν ἀσυνέτοις χρώμενος. κοινὸν γὰρ ὄνομα φὴς τῷ ἐκ θεοῦ φύντι λόγῳ καὶ ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς τὸ υἱός, εἶτα τῶν εἰς ἡμᾶς γεγονότων ἀγαθῶν ἀεργῆ καθιστὰς τὸν δι’ οὗ σεσώσμεθα, θεὸν λόγον, ὡς ἑτέρῳ παρ’ αὐτὸν καὶ ἰδικῶς νοουμένῳ τῶν καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἑνὶ τὰ ἐφ’ οἷς δοξάζεται, προσνενεμηκὼς ἁλώσῃ σαφῶς. οἴει δέ σοι πρὸς ἀπόδειξιν ὧν ἔφης καὶ μὴν καὶ πε- φρόνηκας οὐκ ὀρθῶς, ἀποχρήσειν εὖ μάλα τὴν ὁμωνυμίαν, οὐκ ἐννοῶν ὅτι κἂν τοῖς κατὰ φύσιν εἶναί τι λαχοῦσιν ὁμωνύμως ἕτερα λέγηται τῶν ὄντων τινά, οὐχὶ ταύτης ἕνεκα τῆς αἰτίας ἐξωστέον τὰ κατὰ φύσιν, περιτιθέντας ἀεὶ τὰ αὐτῶν τοῖς κατὰ θέσιν ἢ μίμησιν. δεῖ δὲ οἶμαι τὰς τῶν δρωμένων ἀεὶ δοκιμάζεσθαι φύσεις καὶ οἷς ἂν μάλιστα πρέποι, προσνέμειν αὐτά, οἷον, φέρε εἰπεῖν, θεὸς ὠνόμασται καὶ ἔστι κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ὁ πατήρ, ἐξ αὐτοῦ δὲ καὶ πᾶσα πατριὰ ἔν τε οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆςὀνομάζεται κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· ἀλλ’ εἰσὶ καὶ ἕτεροι σαρκικοί τε ἡμῖν καὶ πνευματικοὶ πατέρες. ἆρ’ οὖν εἴ τι λέγοιτο τῶν θεοπρεπεστάτων περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρός, ἁρμόσειεν ἂν καὶ τοῖς κατὰ θέσιν τὴν αὐτὴν ἐκείνῳ λαχοῦσι κλῆσιν καὶ ὁ τῆς ὁμωνυμίας τρόπος τῶν αὐτῷ καὶ μόνῳ πρεπωδεστάτων ἐξώσειεν ἂν αὐτόν; καίτοι πῶς οὐχ ἅπασιν ἐναργὲς ὡς ἔκτοπόν τε καὶ ἀπηχὲς τὸ ὧδε τινὰς τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἑλέσθαι φρονεῖν ἢ λέγειν; | 9. But you are undoing the words of God’s plan for salvation and do not think it right to confess that the Word of God has suffered in the flesh for our sakes, making use of a kind of unskillful eloquence. For you say that “son” is a name shared both by the Word which sprang of God and by us ourselves. Then, having set up God the Word—through whom we have been saved—as something other than the worker of the good which has happened to us, you will evidently be caught assigning the things in which he is glorified to someone like us, thought of as different and apart from him. You think that having the same name will be more than enough to prove what you said and even what you unrightly thought. You do not consider that, even though other things are said to be same-named as the one which has received something according to nature, on account of these causes one does not throw out what is by nature, always placing its things around what shares a name according to arrangement or imitation. But we must, I think, always test the natures of the things which have been done and assign them to whomever they best fit. In this way, for example, the Father is called and truly is God, and from him also “every fatherhood both in heaven and on earth receives its name” [Eph 3:15], as it is written, but there are also other fathers with us, both biological and spiritual ones. If, then, someone might speak about the things most befitting of God the Father, will it also be fitting of those who by arrangement obtain the same title with him? Will similarity of name push him away from the things which in the highest degree befit him alone? And how is it still not evident to everyone that it is both absurd and discordant that any among us should prefer to think and speak this way? |
| τί τοίνυν ἡμῖν τὴν ὁμωνυμίαν ἀειλογῶν τὸν φύσει τε καὶ ἀληθῶς ἀτιμάζεις υἱόν, τῶν εἰς ἡμᾶς εὐεργετημάτων ἔξω τε τιθεὶς καὶ ἀλλότριον ἀποφαίνων; καίτοι δέον συλλέγειν εἰς ἕνωσιν ἃ διιστᾶν ὁλοτρόπως οὐκ ἐρυθριᾶις, ἕνα τε νοεῖν μετὰ τῆς ἰδίας αὐτοῦ σαρκὸς τὸν ἐκ θεοῦ πατρὸς λόγον. ἱδρῶτος γὰρ οὕτω μακροῦ σαυτὸν ἀπαλλάξεις ὀρθά τε πεφρονηκὼς ἐπαινεθήσῃ λοιπὸν καὶ ἥκιστα μὲν παθητὴν ἐρεῖς τὴν θεότητα τοῦ μονογενοῦς, ὁμολογήσεις δὲ σὺν ἡμῖν ὅτι καὶ ζωὴ καὶ ζωοποιὸς κατὰ φύσιν ἐστὶ καὶ μὴν καὶ παντὸς ἐπέκεινα πάθους, εἶτα παθούσης τῆς ἑνωθείσης αὐτῷ σαρκὸς χάριτι θεοῦ κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον ὑπὲρ παντὸς ἐγεύσατο θανάτου, ἵνα τοῦ πάντας νενικηκότος τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ναὸν ἀποφήνας κρείττονα χρηματίσῃ μὲν ἀπαρχὴ τῶν κεκοιμημένων καὶ πρωτότοκος ἐκ νεκρῶν, παραπέμπων δὲ καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς τὴν χάριν, ὡς εἷς τε καὶ μόνος ὑπάρχων υἱὸς καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως καὶ μετ’ αὐτὴν ἔτι σωτὴρ ὀνομάζηται καὶ λυτρωτὴς τῶν ὅλων, εἶτα τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὡς ἔφην, ἐλευθερῶν ἅπαντας τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύοντας, εἰρήνη γένηται τοῖς μακρὰν καὶ τοῖς ἐγγύς, καταλλάττων δι’ ἑαυτοῦ τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ τοὺς πάλαι τῇ κτίσει λελατρευκότας καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐχθρεύοντας τῷ παναγάθῳ θεῷ. | 10. Why then do you, by always talking to us of name-sharing, dishonor the one who is by nature the true Son, putting him forth and rendering him separate from the kindly deeds to us? And yet that which you are not ashamed to separate completely, you ought to be gathering into unity, and you ought to understand that the Word which is from God the Father is one with his very own flesh. For in this way you would free yourself from much toil. Understanding correctly, you would from now on be praised. And you would in no way say that the Godhead of the Only-Begotten is able to suffer, but would with us confess that he is life and life-giving by nature and moreover beyond all suffering. Next, you would confess that when the flesh which was united to him suffered, he tasted death for all by the grace of God [Heb. 2:9], as it is written. He did this so that after demonstrating that his own temple is superior to the one who had conquered all that are on the earth, he might be called the firstfruits of those that slept and the firstborn from the dead. He passed on the grace to us too, so that being one and only Son—both before the incarnation and after it—he might still be called Savior and Redeemer of all. He also freed (as I said) from sin all who believe in him, that he might become peace to them that are far and near, reconciling to God the Father through himself those who worshiped the creature from ancient times and who through sin were at enmity with the all-good God. |
3. Second Argument – Nestorius Divides Christ’s Natures into Two Persons
| ἀλλ’ εἰς δυάδα πάλιν υἱῶν καταμερίζων τὸν ἕνα κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ὧδέ πού φησιν Ἄκουσον καὶ τὴν ἄλλην αὐτῶν μαρτυρίαν. εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὸν κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν· ἰδοὺ τὸν κύριον τῆς δόξης λέγει, οὐ καλεῖ τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα, ἀλλὰ τὴν θεότητα. τοῦτο δέ ἐστι καὶ διασπώντων τὴν συνάφειαν τὴν ἀκριβῆ· ὅταν γὰρ λέγῃς ὅτι οὗτος μὲν οὔκ ἐστι κύριος, ἐκεῖνος δὲ κύριος, οὐ ψιλὸν ἄνθρωπον ποιεῖς τὸν Χριστόν; τί οὖν λέγεις ἐν ἐκκλησιαστικῷ προσωπείῳ, αἱρετικέ; κύριος καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἢ οὔ; εἰ μὲν οὖν κύριος, κοινωνεῖ τὰ λεγόμενα· εἰ δὲ οὐ κύριος, μὴ σύ, ψιλὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν Χριστὸν ποιῶν, ἐμοὶ πρόστριβε τὸν ὀνειδισμόν. Εἶτά φησιν· Ἀκούσωμεν τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου φανερῶς κεκραγότος τίς ἐστιν ὁ σταυρωθείς. ἄκουσον τοίνυν φανερωτάτης φωνῆς· καὶ γὰρ ἐσταυρώθη, φησίν, ἐξ ἀσθενείας, ἀλλὰ ζῇ ἐκ δυνάμεως θεοῦ. εἰ ἐσταυρώθη ἐξ ἀσθενείας, τίς ἠσθένησεν, αἱρετικέ; ὁ θεὸς λόγος; | 11. But severing the One Lord Jesus Christ again into a pair of sons, he [Nestorius] says something like this: “Hear their other testimony also:‘For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory’ [1 Cor 2:8], See, he says ‘the Lord of glory,’ he calls not so the manhood but the Godhead. But this belongs to those who pluck apart the exact connection, for when you say, ‘This is not Lord, but the other is,’ you make Christ a mere man. What then do you say, you heretic in clerical form? Is the man also Lord or not? If then he is Lord, the things said agree; if he is not Lord, do not, making Christ a mere man, fasten the disgrace of it on me.” Then he says, “We hear the blessed Paul openly crying out who it is who was crucified. Hear then most clearly the voice: he says, ‘For he was crucified out of weakness, but he lives out of the power of God’ [2 Cor. 13:14]. If he were crucified outof weakness, who was it who was weak, heretic? God the Word?” |
| Ἀποκομίζεται εἰς ἐννοίας ἐκτόπους καὶ εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν, τὴν τοῦ μυστηρίου δύναμιν κατ’ οὐδένα τρόπον συνιείς, ὥς γε μοι φαίνεται, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῖς ἰδίοις σκέμμασιν ἑπόμενος πανταχοῦ καὶ τάχα που δεδιὼς μὴ ἄρα τι τῶν εἰς ὀρθότητα ἢ ἀλήθειαν ἢ πεφρονηκὼς ἢ λέγων ἁλῷ. ἀντανίστησι μὲν γὰρ ἑαυτῷ καθάπερ οὖν οἴεται, τὰς τῶν ὀρθοδόξων φωνάς, καταφωρᾶται δὲ πάλιν ἐκεῖνα τιθεὶς ἃ μηδεὶς πώποτε τῶν ὀρθοποδεῖν εἰωθότων περὶ τὴν πίστιν κἂν γοῦν ἑτέρου λέγοντος ἀνάσχοιτο ἄν. κύριον μὲν γὰρ τῆς δόξης τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον εἶναί τε φαμὲν καὶ ἔστι κατὰ ἀλήθειαν, ἀδιαίρετον δὲ καὶ ἕνα μετὰ τῆς ἑνωθείσης αὐτῷ σαρκὸς ψυχὴν ἐχούσης τὴν λογικὴν τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον ἐπιγινώσκοντες αὐτὸν εἶναι φαμὲν τὸν <διὰ> τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος ὡς ἄμωμον ἱερεῖον καὶ εὐοσμώτατον θύμα προσκομίσαντα μὲν ἑαυτὸν τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί, προσηλώσαντα δὲ τῷ ξύλῳ τὸ καθ’ ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον. ἔστι γοῦν ἀκοῦσαι λέγοντος διὰ φωνῆς τοῦ Δαβίδ· θυσίαν καὶ προσφορὰν οὐκ ἠθέλησας, σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι· ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ ηὐδόκησας. τότε εἶπον· ἰδοὺ ἥκω, ἐν κεφαλίδι βιβλίου γέγραπται περὶ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ποιῆσαι, ὁ θεός, τὸ θέλημά σου. ἀπρακτούσης ἤδη τῆς κατὰ νόμον ἐντολῆς καὶ τελειούσης οὐδὲν καὶ ἀνεθελήτους ἔχοντος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς τὰς δι’ αἱμάτων θυσίας, σῶμα κατηρτίσθαι φησὶν ἑαυτῷ, ἵνα τῆς ἁπάντων σωτηρίας καὶ ζωῆς ἀντάλλαγμα δοὺς αὐτὸ πάντας ἐξέληται καὶ θανάτου καὶ φθορᾶς καὶ πρός γε τούτῳ καὶ ἁμαρτιῶν. | 12. He is carried away unto absurd thoughts and into a worthless state of mind, in no way understanding the force of the mystery, as it seems to me. Rather, in every way he follows his own schemes and perhaps even fears that he would be caught either thinking or saying something that has to do with rightness or truth. For he arrays against himself, or so he thinks, the words of the orthodox, but is caught again setting up those things which no one who walks rightly in the faith would even so much as tolerate another person saying. For we say that the one who was crucified is the Lord of glory, and he truly is so. Yet acknowledging that the Word of God is inseverable and is one with the flesh united to him which has a reasonable soul, we say that it is he who offered himself as the blameless offering and sweetest-smelling sacrifice of his own body to God the Father, and he who nailed to the wood the handwriting that was against us. And one may hear him say by the mouth of David, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. Whole burnt sacrifices for sin you also took no pleasure in. Then I said, ‘Look, I come (in the volume of the book it has been written of me) to do your will, O God” [Heb. 10:5–7, cf. Ps. 40:6–8]. Although the commandment according to the Law now is unprofitable and perfects no one, and God the Father holds the sacrifices through blood unacceptable, he says that a body has been prepared for him, in order that giving it as a ransom for the salvation and life of all, he might redeem all, both from death and decay and, even more, from sins. |
| αὐτὸν οὖν ἄρα φαμὲν τὸν ἐκ θεοῦ πατρὸς λόγον ἑλέσθαι καὶ παθεῖν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκὶ κατὰ τὰς γραφάς. οὕτως ἡμᾶς μεμυσταγώγηκεν ὁ ἱερώτατος Παῦλος· ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ, ἀλλ’ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος, καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ. διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν. κἄθρει δὴ ὅπως ὁ ἐν μορφῇ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ὑπάρχων ὡς θεός, ὁ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ κατ’ οὐδένα τρόπον μειονεκτούμενος, ὁ ἐν ἰσότητι τῇ κατὰ πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ὑπάρχων τε καὶ νοούμενος, κεκένωκεν ἑαυτὸν καὶ καθῆκεν ἑαυτὸν ἑκὼν εἰς ταπείνωσιν. | 13. We say, then, that the very Word of God the Father chose even to suffer for us in the flesh, according to the scriptures, and in this way the most holy Paul has instructed us: “He who was in the form of God did not hold equality with God a thing to seized, but emptied himself, taking servant’s form, made in likeness of man. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, the death of the cross. For this reason, God also highly exalted him” [Phil. 2:6–9]. Now see how the one who is in the form of God the Father as God, the exact representation of his being and in no way falling short, who is and is considered to be equal in everything—how he has emptied himself and brought himself down of his own will into lowliness. |
| εἶτα τίς ἂν εἴη, φράσον, ὁ τῆς κενώσεως τρόπος, τεταπείνωται δὲ ὅπως μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν καὶ μέχρι θανάτου γεγονὼς ὑπήκοος, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ; ἢ οὐχ ἅπασιν ἐναργὲς ὅτι ταπεινοῦται τὸ ὑψηλόν, οὐ τὸ οἴκοθέν τε καὶ φυσικῶς ἐν ὑφέσει τε ὑπάρχον καὶ τεταπεινωμένον; κενοῦται δὲ οἶμαι τὸ πλῆρες ὑπάρχον καὶ δεδεημένον οὐδενός· δέχεται καὶ δούλου μορφὴν τὸ πρὸ αὐτῆς ἐλεύθερον κατὰ φύσιν· εὑρίσκεται δὲ καὶ ἄνθρωπος ὁ μὴ τοῦτο ὑπάρχειν πρίν, ὅτε οὐκ ἦν, εὑρεθείς. τίς οὖν ἄρα ἐστὶν ὁ ὑψηλὸς κατὰ φύσιν καὶ καθεὶς ἑαυτὸν εἰς ταπείνωσιν; τίς δὲ ὁ πλήρης, ἵνα νοῆται κεκενωμένος; τίς ὁ τῶν τῆς δουλείας ἐπέκεινα μέτρων, ἵνα λέγηται μορφὴν δούλου λαβεῖν; τίς οὐκ ὢν πρότερον καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἄνθρωπος, τοῦτο εὑρῆσθαι λέγεται; ταυτὶ γὰρ οἶμαι τῶν καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἑνὶ καὶ ἀνθρώπῳ κοινῷ προσνέμειν ἀποτολμᾶν εὔηθες ἂν εἴη καὶ τῆς ἁπασῶν ἐσχάτης ἀσυνεσίας ἐπίμεστον ἀληθῶς, ἁρμόσειε δ’ ἂν καὶ μάλα εἰκότως τῇ ὑπερτάτῃ φύσει. | 14. Tell me, what then will be the mode of the emptying, and how has he been humiliated, receiving servant’s form and made obedient to death, the death of the cross? Is it not clear to all that the high is humiliated, not that which from itself and of its own nature is in humiliation and brought low? The one which is full and in need of nothing is emptied; the one who was free by nature before receives the servant’s form, and also he is found to be a man who was not a man before when he was not found to be one. Who then is he who was high by nature and humiliated himself to lowliness? Who is the full, that he may be considered to be emptied? Who is he that is beyond the measures of slavery, that he may be said to take the slave’s form? Who is it that, not being initially man like us, may be said to have been found as a man? I think that to dare allot this to someone like us, to a common man, would be foolishness and truly full of the most extreme kind of ignorance, but that it fits exceedingly well to the supreme nature. |
| ἀλλ’ ὁ μὲν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος ἐκ πολλῆς ἄγαν τῆς εἰς ἡμᾶς ἡμερότητος καὶ φιλανθρωπίας προσκεκόμικεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα καὶ μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν γέγονεν ὑπήκοος τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ μέχρι θανάτου καὶ οὐκ ἀπόβλητον ἐποιήσατο τὸ παθεῖν ἑλέσθαι σαρκὶ καίτοι τὴν φύσιν ὑπάρχων ἀπαθὴς ὡς θεός· ἐπερυθριᾶι γε μὴν ἀσυνέτως οὑτοσὶ τοῖς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν θεοπρεπεστάτοις αὐτοῦ σκέμμασι καὶ τιμᾶν οἰόμενος ἀδικεῖ. ἀποφέρει μὲν γὰρ τοῦ παθεῖν αὐτὸν καίτοι μηδενὸς ἑτέρου παθεῖν λέγοντος εἰς ἰδίαν φύσιν, οὐκ αἰσθάνεται δὲ ὅτι σωτῆρα καὶ λυτρωτὴν οὐκ ἐφίησιν αὐτὸν ὁμολογεῖσθαι τῶν ὅλων, εἴπερ ἐστὶν ἕτερος παρ’ αὐτὸν ἰδικῶς καὶ ἀνὰ μέρος υἱὸς καὶ κύριος ὁ δι’ οὗ σεσώσμεθα καὶ ἐκλελυτρώμεθα διὰ τοῦ τιμίου σταυροῦ. καὶ εἴπερ ἐστὶν ἄνθρωπος ἁπλῶς καὶ οὐχὶ δὴ μᾶλλον ἐν ἀνθρωπείαι μορφῇ πεφηνὼς ὁ ἐκ θεοῦ πατρὸς λόγος, ἡκέτω, δεικνύτω καὶ ἐν μορφῇ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑπάρχοντα αὐτὸν καὶ μέντοι καὶ ἐν ἰσότητι (οὐ γὰρ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ) καὶ πρὸς ἔτι τούτῳ τὴν τοῦ δούλου λαβόντα μορφὴν ὡς οὐκ ἔχοντά ποτε καὶ ἐν κενώσει γεγενημένον ὡς ἐν ἰδίαι φύσει λαχόντα τὸ πλῆρες. ὁ γάρτοι θεσπέσιος Παῦλος τὸν ἐν μορφῇ καὶ ἰσότητι τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς γενέσθαι φησὶν ὑπήκοον αὐτῷ καὶ μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ. | 15. But the Word of God, of his exceeding gentleness and kindness towards us, has offered for us his own body and, having taken the servant’s form, has become obedient to God the Father as far as death. He did not make the choice to suffer in the flesh a thing to be thrown away, although by nature he is not able to suffer as God. Yet this man [Nestorius] foolishly blushes at his most God-befitting plans for us, and thinking he honors him, wrongs him. For he takes him away from the suffering—though no one else says that he suffers in his own nature—and does not understand that he forbids him to be confessed Savior and Redeemer of all, if it really is that someone other than he is Son and Lord, separately and apart, through whom we have been saved and redeemed by the precious cross. And if it really is that he is simply man, and not rather the Word from God the Father appearing in human form, let him come, let him show that he is both in the form of the Father and in equality with him (for he “thought that being equal with God was not a thing to seize” [Phil. 2:6]). Furthermore, let him show that he “took the form of the servant” [Phil. 2:7] as if at one time he did not possess it, and that he came to be in emptiness as if he possessed fullness in his own nature. For the divine Paul says that he who is in the form and equality with God the Father, was made obedient to him “even to death, the death of the cross” [Phil. 2:8]. |
| ἆρ’ οὐκ ἐναργὴς ἡ τῶν ἐννοιῶν ἀτοπία; κύριον δὲ τῆς δόξης ὀνομάζοντος ἡμῖν τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον, φαίη ἂν οὐδείς· οὐ λέγει τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα, ἀλλὰ τὴν θεότητα. ἕνα γὰρ ὁμολογοῦμεν Χριστὸν καὶ υἱὸν καὶ τῆς δόξης κύριον τὸν ἐκ θεοῦ πατρὸς λόγον ἐνανθρωπήσαντα δι’ ἡμᾶς παθόντα τε ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ σαρκὶ κατὰ τὰς γραφάς. | 16. Is not then the absurdity of their notions obvious? When blessed Paul calls him that was crucified ‘Lord of glory,’ no one will say, “He is not speaking of the human nature but of the divine nature.” For we confess one Christ and Son and Lord of glory, the Word from God the Father made man for our sakes and suffering for us in the flesh, according to the scriptures. |
| πλὴν οὐ μετρίως καταιτιώμενος ὡς τὴν ἀκριβῆ συνάφειαν, καθά φησιν αὐτός, διασπᾶν ἐθέλοντας τοὺς ἀπονέμοντας μὲν τῷ θεῷ λόγῳ τὸ τῆς κυριότητος ὄνομα, τῆς γε μὴν ἀνθρωπότητος ἀποφέροντας αὐτό, καθάπερ εἰς λήθην ὧν ἔφη, πεσών, διασπᾶν εἰς δύο καταφωρᾶται τὸν ἕνα καὶ τῆς ἀκριβοῦς κατ’ αὐτὸν συναφείας ὀλίγα πεφροντικώς. ἐρωτᾶι γὰρ ἀμαθῶς Κύριος καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἢ οὔ; εἰ μὲν οὖν κύριος, συνάιδει τὰ λεγόμενα. Οὐκοῦν εἰ κατὰ τὴν σὴν ἀσύνετον πεῦσιν κύριος μὲν ὁ λόγος ἰδικῶς, κύριος δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, δύο που πάντως οἱ κύριοι καὶ υἱοί. ὀνήσει δὴ οὖν τῆς ἀκριβοῦς συναφείας ἡ δύναμις κατ’ οὐδένα τρόπον τοὺς πεπιστευκότας εἴς γε τὸ χρῆναι νοεῖν ἕνα Χριστὸν καὶ κύριον καὶ υἱὸν μετὰ τῆς ἑνωθείσης αὐτῷ σαρκός. προκειμένου γὰρ καὶ παρενεχθέντος εἰς μέσον τοῦ προσώπου τοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, κἂν εἴ τις ἄνθρωπον λέγοι, τὸν ἐκ θεοῦ πατρὸς λόγον μορφὴν δούλου λαβόντα νοοῦμεν καὶ ἐκ τῶν τῆς κενώσεως μέτρων δηλοῦσθαι φαμέν· εἰ δὲ δὴ καὶ θεὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι πιστεύομεν ἐνηνθρωπηκότα τε ἤδη καὶ σεσαρκωμένον. ἀλλὰ γάρ, ὡς ἔφην, ἑνὶ δὴ καὶ μόνῳ καὶ ἰδικῶς νοουμένῳ παρὰ τὸν ἐκ πατρὸς λόγον ἀνθρώπῳ προσνέμει τῆς μετὰ σαρκὸς οἰκονομίας τὰ κατορθώματα καὶ αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὑπομεῖναί φησι σταυρὸν εἶναί τε τῆς δόξης διαβεβαιοῦται κύριον, γυμνῷ κτίσματι περιτιθεὶς τῆς ἀνωτάτω φύσεως τὰ αὐχήματα. φησὶ γάρ Ἀκούσωμεν τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου φανερῶς κεκραγότος τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἐσταυρωμένος. καὶ γὰρ ἐσταυρώθη. ἐξ ἀσθενείας, ἀλλὰ ζῇ ἐκ δυνάμεως θεοῦ. τίς ἠσθένησεν; ὁ θεὸς λόγος, αἱρετικέ; | 17. But he is in no small measure blaming those who assign to God the Word the name of lordship and separate it from the human nature, as wishing to pluck apart the exact connection (as he himself says). Now falling into forgetfulness of what he said, he is caught plucking apart the one into two, and little reflecting on the exact (according to him) connection. For he ignorantly inquires, “Is the man too Lord or not? If then he is Lord, the things said agree.” Then, if according to your witless inquiry, the Word is Lord by himself but the man is also Lord, there are surely two Lords and Sons. The meaning then of ‘exact connection’ will in no way benefit those who have believed that one ought to think of one Christ and Son and Lord with the flesh united to him. For when the person Immanuel is put and brought forward, though one should say man, we think of the Word out of God the Father having taken the servant’s form and say that he is shown by the measures of emptiness. And if we say ‘Only-Begotten God,’ we believe the same one to now be incarnate and made flesh. But he (as I said) assigns to a man—individual and alone and considered apart from the Word which is out of the Father—the achievements of the plan of salvation with flesh. He says that he too endured the cross for us and affirms that he is the Lord of glory, putting around a mere creature the glories of the supreme nature. For he says, “Let us hear the blessed Paul openly exclaiming who he is that is crucified. ‘For truly he was crucified out of weakness but he lives out of the power of God’ [2 Cor. 13:14]. Who is weak? Is it God the Word, you heretic?” |
| Ἀσθενείας μὲν οὖν ἁπάσης ἀμέτοχος παντελῶς ὁ ἐκ θεοῦ πατρὸς λόγος πρὸς ἡμῶν εἶναι πιστεύεται, αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τῶν δυνάμεων κύριος· πλὴν ἐκεῖνο φράσον· δέδιας ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ τὸ τῆς ἀσθενείας ὄνομα λαβεῖν; διὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν; καίτοι τῆς μετὰ σαρκὸς οἰκονομίας τοῦ κατεψέχθαι δεῖν ἔξω τιθείσης αὐτόν, κἂν εἰ λέγοιτό τι παθεῖν τῶν ὅσα ἐστὶ παρά γε τὴν αὐτοῦ φύσιν τε καὶ δόξαν. εἰ γὰρ πλούσιος ὢν ἐπτώχευσε καὶ γέγονε καθ’ ἡμᾶς μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, κἂν εἰ ἀσθενῆσαι λέγοιτο κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, τὸ ἀπεικὸς οὐδέν, ἵνα πτωχεύσαντα θεωρῇς τὸν πλούσιον, ἐν ταπεινώσει τὸν ὑψηλόν, ἐν τῇ καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἀσθενείαι τὸν τῶν δυνάμεων κύριον, τεθαύμασται δὲ διὰ τοῦτο τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ μυστήριον. πῶς γὰρ καὶ πεινῆσαι λέγεται, καίτοι ζωῆς ἄρτος ὑπάρχων αὐτὸς καὶ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβὰς καὶ ζωὴν διδοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ; τίνα τρόπον κεκοπίακεν ἐκ τῆς ὁδοιπορίας ὁ τῷ ἰδίῳ πνεύματι στερεῶν οὐρανούς; | 18. The Word from God the Father, then, is believed by us to be completely free of all weakness, for he is the Lord of Hosts. But tell me this: are you afraid to admit the designation of weakness in respect to him? Why? Indeed, the plan of salvation with flesh sets him apart from all blame, even though he is said to suffer as much as what is beside his own nature and glory. For if, although he was rich, he became poor and was made like us, receiving servant’s form, and even though he should be said to be weak by reason of the human nature, there is nothing unreasonable that you should see the rich poor, the high made low, the Lord of Hosts in weakness like us. Because of this the mystery about him is also marvelous. For how is he said also to be hungry, and yet is himself the bread of life who came down from heaven and gives life to the world? How was he tired from the journey, who established the heavens with his own Spirit? |
4. Third Argument – Nestorius Contradicts Himself; Scripture’s Testimony Is Clear
5. Fourth Argument – Nestorius Wrongly Accuses His Opponents of Mixing the Natures
6. Fifth Argument – Cyril Explains the Trinity’s Economy
7. Sixth Argument – Nestorius Twists the Terms of Nicaea
| Ὅτι δὲ κἂν εἴ τις λέγοι σαρκὶ τῇ ἰδίαι παθεῖν τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον, οὐκ ἂν ἀμοιρήσειε τοῦ καὶ ἐπαινεῖσθαι δεῖν καὶ φρονεῖν ἑλέσθαι τὰ ἀληθῆ (μεμένηκε γὰρ καὶ οὕτως ἀπαθής), πειράσομαι καταδεῖξαι πάλιν ἐξ ὧν γέγραφας αὐτὸς ἢ γοῦν ἔφης ἐν ἐκκλησίαις. ἐπαίνου μὲν γὰρ ἀξιοῖς τοὺς ἁγίους πατέρας ἡμῶν, τοὺς ἔν γε φημὶ τῇ Νικαέων κατὰ καιροὺς συναγηγερμένους ὡς ἀκριβῆ καὶ τετορνευμένην τῆς πίστεως ἡμῖν τὴν ὁμολογίαν εὖ μάλα πεποιημένους, πεφρόνηκάς γε μὴν οὐ τὰ ἐκείνων, πόθεν; οὔτε μὴν τοῖς τῆς ἀληθείας δόγμασιν ἐνερείσας τὸν νοῦν ὀρθὰ βαίνειν ἐπιθυμεῖς, χωλεύεις δὲ ὥσπερ ἀμφοτέραις ταῖς ἰγνύαις κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, τοῖς μὲν τῆς ὀρθότητος ἐρασταῖς ἀσυνέτως ἐπιτιμῶν, κρατύνων γε μὴν ὡς ἀλήθειαν τὸ αὐτῷ σοι δοκοῦν, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ οἷς αὐτὸς ἔφης, ἐμμένειν ἀξιῶν. εὑρίσκω γὰρ λέγοντα περὶ τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων | 41. But I will try to show again, from what you yourself have written or said in church, that though a man should say that the Word of God suffered in his own flesh, he would not be without share in being praise-worthy nor in having chosen to think the truth (for even in this he has remained impassible). For our holy fathers, those, I mean, who were in their season gathered together at Nicaea, you deem worthy of praise for having formed full well for us an accurate and finished confession of faith. Yet you think not about them (why would you?) nor do you long to go straight, fixing your mind on the doctrines of the truth, but you halt “on both thighs” [1 Kgs. 18:21], as it is written. Foolishly, you blame those who love right doctrine, yet you strengthen as truth whatever seems good to you yourself, but rather not even caring to abide in what you yourself said. For I find you saying of the holy fathers, |
| Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰ εἰρήκασιν ὅτι πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα θεὸν λόγον, ἔμελλεν ὁ θάνατος τῇ θείαι λογίζεσθαι φύσει, ὄνομα δέχονται κοινὸν τὸ Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς, ἵνα καὶ τὸν ἀποθανόντα σημάνωσι καὶ τὸν μὴ ἀποθανόντα. Προσεπάγει δὲ τούτοις· Ὥστε εἴ τις λέγοι· ὁ δεῖνα ἄνθρωπος ἀπέθανε, καίτοι ἡ ψυχὴ ἀθάνατός ἐστιν, ἀλλ’ ἐπειδὴ τὸ ὄνομα εἶπε τὸ σημαῖνον τὰς δύο φύσεις καὶ τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἀποθνῇσκον καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν ἀθάνατον, οὐκ ἔχει κίνδυνον ἡ φωνή· ἄνθρωπος γὰρ καλεῖται ἀμφότερα, καὶ τὸ σῶμα καὶ ἡ ψυχή· οὕτω τοίνυν καὶ ὁ μέγας ἐκεῖνος χορὸς ἔφη περὶ Χριστοῦ. | 42. “For since if they had said. ‘We believe in one God the Word,’ death would have been imputed to the Divine Nature, they admit a common term, Christ Jesus, that they may indicate both him that died, and him that did not die.” And he adds, “So that if a man should say, ‘A certain man is dead,’ though the soul is immortal, yet since he said the word which indicates the two natures, both the mortal body and the immortal soul, the expression is free from risk. For both are called man, both the body and the soul; and so it is for this reason that that great band spoke of ‘Christ’.” |
| Ὅτι μὲν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ὀνομάσαντες οὐ δύο καὶ ἀνὰ μέρος υἱοὺς κοινὸν ἔχοντας ὄνομα τὸ Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς, ἐνηνθρωπηκότα δὲ μᾶλλον τὸν ἐκ θεοῦ λόγον κατασημαίνουσιν, ἀνταίρειν οἶμαι τῶν εὖ φρονούντων οὐδένα καὶ τὸ ἔτι μακροὺς περὶ τούτων ἡμᾶς ἀντεξάγειν λόγους πρὸς τοῖς ἤδη γεγενημένοις περιττὸν οἶμαί που· πλὴν εἰ τοῖς πρὸς ἡμῶν οὐκ ἀναπείθῃ λόγοις εἴς γε τὸ ἑλέσθαι φρονεῖν ὅτι κἂν λέγωμεν σαρκὶ πεπονθέναι δι’ ἡμᾶς τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον, ἀπαθῆ καὶ οὕτω τηροῦμεν αὐτὸν ὡς θεόν, κἂν γοῦν ταῖς σεαυτοῦ χαρίζου φωναῖς τὸ εὖ πεποιῆσθαι δοκεῖν. ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἄνθρωπον εἰπὼν συνεσήμανε τῷ σώματι τὴν ψυχήν, καίτοι τὴν φύσιν ὑπάρχουσαν ἑτεροφυᾶ παρ’ αὐτό, κἂν εἰ λέγοιτο τὸ τοῦ δεῖνος σῶμα τυχὸν ἀποθανεῖν, ὅλος τοῦτο πεπονθὼς ὁ ἄνθρωπος νοοῖτ’ ἂν εἰκότως, καίτοι θανάτου οὐκ ἔχων δεκτικὴν τὴν ψυχήν, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ πάντων ἡμῶν σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ ἐκ θεοῦ πατρὸς λόγος, καθὰ πλειστάκις εἰρήκαμεν, μετέσχηκεν αἵματος καὶ σαρκὸς παραπλησίως ἡμῖν σῶμά τε ἴδιον ἐποιήσατο τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου κεχρημάτικέ τε οὕτω καὶ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, ταύτης ἕνεκα τῆς αἰτίας ἀποθανούσης αὐτοῦ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτῷ μὲν τὸ πάθος ὁ τῆς ἀληθοῦς ἑνότητος ἀνάπτει λόγος, ἔξω γε μὴν οἶδε μεμενηκότα τοῦ παθεῖν, ὅτι καὶ θεός ἐστι κατὰ φύσιν καὶ ζωή. καὶ γοῦν ὁ θεσπέσιος Πέτρος τοιαύτην ἡμῖν παρατιθεὶς τὴν μυσταγωγίαν ὧδέ πήι φησι περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς αὐτόν· ὃν οὐκ ἰδόντες ἀγαπᾶτε, εἰς ὃν ἄρτι μὴ ὁρῶντες, πιστεύοντες δὲ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε χαρᾶι ἀνεκλαλήτῳ καὶ δεδοξασμένῃ, κομιζόμενοι τὸ τέλος τῆς πίστεως, σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν, περὶ ἧς σωτηρίας ἐξεζήτησαν καὶ ἐξηρεύνησαν προφῆται οἱ περὶ τῆς εἰς ὑμᾶς χάριτος προφητεύσαντες, ἐρευνῶντες εἰς τίνα ἢ ποῖον καιρὸν ἐδήλου τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ προμαρτυρόμενον τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν παθήματα καὶ τὰς μετὰ ταῦτα δόξας, οἷς ἀπεκαλύφθη ὅτι οὐχ ἑαυτοῖς, ἡμῖν δὲ διηκόνουν αὐτὰ ἃ νῦν ἀνηγγέλη ὑμῖν διὰ τῶν εὐαγγελισαμένων ὑμᾶς πνεύματι ἁγίῳ ἀποσταλέντι ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ, εἰς ἃ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν ἄγγελοι παρακύψαι. | 43. I think no one that thinks rightly will deny that in naming Christ Jesus, they did not indicate two separate sons, having a common name, ‘Christ Jesus,’ but rather the Word out of God become man. And I think it superfluous for us to still array many words on this matter besides what has been already said. But if you are not persuaded by our words to think that, though we say that the Word of God has suffered in the flesh for our sakes, we hold him even in this to be impassible as God, at least allow to your own words that they appear to have been rightly framed. For just as he who said ‘man’ indicated the soul together with the body although it be of other nature than it; and even though such a person’s body were said to be dead, the whole person would reasonably be held to have suffered this, even though he possess a soul which is not recipient of death, so too of Christ, the Savior of us all. For since the Word out of God the Father (as we have repeatedly said) has partaken of blood and flesh in like manner as we, made his own the body which is of the holy virgin, and has thus been called Son of Man too. For this reason when his flesh died, the plan of true union attributes the suffering to him, yet knows that he has remained apart from suffering because he is both God and life by nature. And truly the divine-uttering Peter, in setting before us this teaching, says of him somewhere to them that believe in him, “The one you have not seen, you love; in him you believe, though you do not see him now, and you exult with unutterable and glorified joy, receiving the fulfillment of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation the prophets searched and examined, who prophesied of the grace to you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was signifying, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. To them it was revealed that they were ministering not to themselves but to us the things which are now declared to us through them that preached the gospel to us with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. These things the angels long to look into” [1 Pet. 1:8–12]. |
| ἀκούεις ὅπως τὸ πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις προφήταις ἦν, προανακεκράγασι δὲ τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν παθήματα καὶ τὰς μετὰ ταῦτα δόξας; ἆρ’ οὖν ὡς ἄνθρωπον ἁπλῶς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πεπονθότα τῷ κόσμῳ διακηρύττοντες; καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ μυστήριον τὸ διὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἡμῶν ἀποστόλων τε καὶ εὐαγγελιστῶν ἐν πίστει δεδωρημένον καὶ εἰς ταῦτα παρακύψαι φησὶν ἐπιθυμεῖν τοὺς ἀγγέλους; καίτοι πῶς οὐκ ἀπόβλητος εἴη ἂν ὁ μέχρι δὴ μόνων τῶν τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ὅρων τὴν τοῦ μυστηρίου δύναμιν κατακλείειν ἐπιχειρῶν; αὐτὸς ὁ ἐν μορφῇ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ὑπάρχων θεὸς λόγος κεκένωκεν ἑαυτὸν μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν καὶ τὴν κατὰ σάρκα γέννησιν ὑπομεμένηκε δι’ ἡμᾶς· αὐτὸς πέπονθεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῇ ἰδίαι σαρκὶ καὶ ἀνεβίω πάλιν ὡς θεός, κενώσας τὸν ἅιδην καὶ εἰρηκὼς τοῖς ἐν δεσμοῖς· ἐξέλθετε, καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῷ σκότει· ἀνακαλύφθητε. τί τοίνυν ἀνατρέπειν ἐπιχειρεῖς τὴν οὕτω σεπτὴν καὶ ἀξιάγαστον οἰκονομίαν, δι’ ἧς καὶ σεσώσμεθα καὶ παντὸς εἴσω γεγόναμεν ἀγαθοῦ; τί γὰρ δι’ αὐτῆς ἐκερδάναμεν, εἴσῃ τοι καὶ μάλα σαφῶς, ὡδὶ γεγραφότος τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου· καὶ ὑμᾶς ποτε ὄντας ἀπηλλοτριωμένους καὶ ἐχθροὺς τῇ διανοίαι ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς, νυνὶ δὲ ἀποκατήλλαξεν ἐν τῷ σώματι τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου, παραστῆσαι ὑμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους καὶ ἀνεγκλήτους κατ’ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, εἴ γε ἐπιμένετε τῇ πίστει. οὐκοῦν ὀνίνησι μὲν ἡ πίστις τοὺς ἀσάλευτον αὐτὴν ἑλομένους τηρεῖν, ὀνίνησι δὲ κατὰ τίνα τρόπον, ὁ πάνσοφος ἡμᾶς Ἰωάννης πιστώσεται λέγων· τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ νικῶν τὸν κόσμον εἰ μὴ ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ; οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐλθὼν δι’ ὕδατος καὶ αἵματος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, οὐκ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι μόνον, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι καὶ αἵματι, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστι τὸ μαρτυροῦν, ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια, ὅτι τρεῖς μαρτυροῦσι, τὸ πνεῦμα, τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα καὶ οἱ τρεῖς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν. εἰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαμβάνομεν, ἡ μαρτυρία τοῦ θεοῦ μείζων ἐστίν, ὅτι αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μαρτυρία τοῦ θεοῦ ὅτι μεμαρτύρηκε περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἔχει τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἐν ἑαυτῷ· ὁ μὴ πιστεύων τῷ θεῷ ψεύστην πεποίηκεν αὐτόν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἣν μεμαρτύρηκε περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. μεμαρτύρηκε δὲ τίνα τρόπον ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τῷ υἱῷ, σαφηνιεῖ λέγων ὁ θεσπέσιος ἡμῖν Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστής· κἀγὼ οὐκ ἤιδειν αὐτόν, ἀλλ’ ὁ πέμψας με βαπτίζειν ὕδατι, ἐκεῖνός μοι εἶπεν· ἐφ’ ὃν ἂν ἴδῃς τὸ πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον καὶ μένον ἐπ’ αὐτόν, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν τῷ πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον καὶ μένον ἐπ’ αὐτόν, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ, καὶ ἐγὼ ἑώρακα καὶ μεμαρτύρηκα ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. μαρτυρεῖται τοίνυν καὶ διὰ τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς φωνῆς ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς ὅτι φύσει τε καὶ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν υἱός ἐστιν αὐτοῦ, μαρτυρεῖται δὲ οὐδὲν ἧττον διά τε τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ τοῦ αἵματος καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος. ὕδατι μὲν γὰρ τῷ ἁγίῳ διασμήχει τῶν πιστευόντων τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ζωοποιεῖ δὲ διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος καὶ συνάπτει θεῷ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· ἐπειδὴ δέ ἐστι κατὰ φύσιν θεός, καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος χορηγίαν ποιεῖται πλουσίως, ὡς ἴδιον αὐτὸ ταῖς τῶν πιστευόντων ἐκχέων ψυχαῖς θείας τε φύσεως κοινωνοὺς ἀποφαίνων καὶ τῇ τῶν ἐσομένων ἀγαθῶν ἐλπίδι στεφανῶν. | 44. Do you hear that the Spirit of Christ was in the holy prophets too, and that they proclaimed beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow? Did they then proclaim to the world as though a mere man were suffering for us? And is this the mystery which through our holy apostles and evangelists has been given in trust, and into these things does he say that the angels long to look? Yet how is he not to be rejected who tries to shut up the meaning of the mystery within the limits of the human nature alone? God the Word himself, who is in the form of God the Father, has emptied himself, taking servant’s form and has undergone birth in the flesh for our sakes. He himself suffered for us in his own flesh, and he lived again as God, having emptied Hades. He said to them that were in bonds, “Come out,” and to them that were in darkness, “Show yourselves.” Why then do you try to overturn the so majestic and admirable plan through which we have been both saved and have been brought within all good? For what we gained through it you will know and that very clearly, since blessed Paul has written in this way, “Although you were at one time alienated and enemies in your mind in wicked works, yet now he has reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and unaccused in his sight, if you endure in the faith” [Col. 1:21–23]. Therefore, the faith profits them who will hold it unshaken. How it profits, the all-wise John will assure us, saying, “Who is he that overcomes the world? None except he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the one that came through water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not in water only, but in water and blood, and the Spirit is a witness, because the Spirit is truth. For three testify, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and the three testimonies are one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God, because he has witnessed concerning his Son. He that believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself, but he that does not believe God has made him a liar, because he did not believe the testimony which he has given regarding his Son” [1 John 5:5–10]. And how God the Father has testified to his Son, the divine John the Baptist will declare, saying, “And I did not know him, but he that sent me to baptize with water, he said to me, ‘The one on whom you will see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I saw and have testified that this is the Son of God” [John 1:33–34]. Our Lord Jesus Christ therefore is witnessed to through the Father’s voice, that he is by nature and in truth his Son. He is witnessed to no less through the water and the blood and the Spirit. For by the holy water he purges away the sins of them that believe, he gives life through his own blood and connects those on the earth to God. Since he is God by nature, he also richly gives the abundance of the Holy Spirit, pouring it forth as his own into the hearts of them who believe, making them partakers of the divine nature, and crowning them with the hope of the good things to come. |
| ἕνα τοίνυν ὁμολογοῦμεν υἱὸν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν κύριον, τουτέστι τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον ἐνανθρωπήσαντα καὶ σεσαρκωμένον, καὶ τοῦτον ἐσταυρωμένον καὶ ἐγηγερμένον ἐκ νεκρῶν ἥξοντά τε κατὰ καιροὺς ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων, δι’ αὐτοῦ τε καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ ἡ δόξα σὺν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν. | 45. We confess therefore one Son, Christ Jesus the Lord, that is, the Word of God made man and incarnate, and him crucified and raised from the dead. He will come in due time in the glory of God the Father with the holy angels. Through him and with him to God the Father be glory with the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. |
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Last updated 9/15/2026 by JSW
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