How have they dared at all to utter this new blasphemy against the Saviour? But, as it seems, the impious man is evil, and truly reprobate concerning the faith. For previously, by denying the divinity of the only-begotten Son of God, they pretended at least to acknowledge His incarnate presence; but now, slipping down little by little, they have fallen away even from this conceit of theirs, and have become atheists on all counts, so that they neither acknowledge Him as God, nor do they believe that He became man. For if they believed, they would not have uttered such things as thy piety has written against them.
2. Thou, therefore, beloved and truly most desired, B hast acted in a manner befitting ecclesiastical tradition and piety toward the Lord, having refuted, invited, and rebuked such men. But since, being goaded on by their father the devil, they have not known nor understood, according as it is written, but walk in darkness; let them learn from thy reverence that this evil-mindedness of theirs is of Valentinus, Marcion, and Manichaeus—of whom some introduced a mere phantom in place of the truth, while others, dividing what is indivisible, denied that which is written, *The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us*. Why then, since they hold the same opinions as these men, do they not also become heirs of their names? For it is reasonable that those whose perversity they possess, they should also bear their names, so that henceforth they might be called Valentinians, Marcionites, and Manichaeans. Perhaps, even by this, being ashamed by the stench of the names, they might be able to perceive into what a depth of impiety they have fallen. C And it would indeed have been proper to answer them no further, according to the apostolic exhortation: *A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition avoid, knowing that he that is such an one is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself*; especially since the prophet also says of the same: *The fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will understand vanity*. But since they, by the example of their leader, go about like lions, seeking whom among the simpler folk they may devour, for this reason it has become necessary for us to write back to thy reverence, so that the brothers, being instructed again by thine admonition, may perceive their futility more and more.
3. We do not worship a creature; D far be it! Such error belongs to the Heathens and the Arians; but we worship the Lord of creation, who became flesh, the Word of God. For even if the flesh itself...
A be a part of created things, it has become God's body. And neither do we, dividing such a body in itself from the Word, worship it, nor, wishing to worship the Word, do we distance Him from the flesh; but knowing, as we said before, that "the Word was made flesh," we recognize Him to be God, even when He was made in the flesh. Who, therefore, is so senseless as to say B to the Lord: "Depart from the body, that I may worship You"? Or who is so impious as to say to Him, along with the senseless Jews, because of the body: "Why do you, being a man, make yourself God?" But the leper was not like that; for he worshiped God who was in the body, and he knew that He was God, saying: "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean." And neither did he, because of the flesh, think the Word of God to be a creature; nor, C because the Word is the Artificer of all creation, did he despise the flesh with which He was clothed; but as in a created temple he worshiped the Creator of all, and was cleansed. So too the woman with an issue of blood, believing and only touching the hem of His garment, was healed; and the sea, churning with waves, heard the Word who had become flesh, and the storm ceased; and the man blind from birth was healed by the spittle of the flesh D of the Word. And what is greater and more paradoxical (for perhaps this was a scandal to those most impious ones), even when the Lord hung upon the cross (for it was His body, and in it was the Word), the sun was darkened, the earth trembled, the rocks were rent, the veil of the temple was torn, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose.
4. These things truly happened, and no one, as the Arians now dare, doubted whether or not they ought to believe and obey the Word made flesh; but looking upon Him as a man, they recognized Him to be their Artificer; and hearing a human voice, they did not, because of what was human, say that the Word is a creature; but rather they trembled all the more, and knew nonetheless that He was speaking from a holy temple. Why then do not the impious men fear, lest, as they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge, they be given over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting? For created things do not worship a created thing, nor again do they refuse to worship their Lord because of the flesh; but they saw in the body their Creator, and at the name of Jesus every knee bowed, and will bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue shall confess.
A And although it may not please the Arians, yet it is true that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. For the flesh brought no dishonor upon the Word; far be it! But rather, it was glorified by Him. Nor, because the Son, who exists in the form of God, took the form of a servant, was He diminished in His divinity; but rather, He Himself became the liberator of all flesh and of all creation. And if God sent His Son, born of a woman, that fact brings upon us no shame, but rather glory and great grace. For He became man, that He might deify us in Himself; and He was born of a woman, and was born of a Virgin, that He might transfer our wandering origin into Himself, and that we might henceforth become a holy race, and partakers of the divine nature, as the blessed Peter wrote. B "And that which was impossible for the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh."
5. Since, therefore, He was assumed by the Word that He might liberate all men, and raise all from the dead, and redeem them from sin, how do those who despise this, or who because of this accuse the Son of God as if He were a product or a creature, not appear ungrateful, and worthy of every hatred? For they all but cry out to God, saying: "Do not send Your only-begotten Son in the flesh; do not cause Him to take flesh from the Virgin, lest He redeem us from death and sin. We do not want Him to be in a body, lest He undertake death on our behalf; C we do not wish the Word to become flesh, lest in it He become our mediator for access to You, and we inhabit the mansions in the heavens. Let the gates of the heavens be closed, lest Your Word, through the veil of His flesh, renew for us the way to the heavens." Such are the voices which they utter with diabolical boldness, through which they have devised such perverse notions for themselves; for those who do not wish to worship the Word who became flesh are ungrateful for His incarnation; and those who separate the Word from the flesh do not think that any redemption from sin, or any abolition of death, has occurred. But where, pray, will the impious find the flesh which the Savior took, apart by itself, that they might even dare to say: D "We do not worship the Lord with the flesh, but we separate the body, and we serve the Lord alone"? Yet the blessed Stephen saw the Lord standing at the right hand in the heavens; and the angels said to the disciples: "So shall He come in the way you saw Him going into heaven." Indeed, the Lord Himself, addressing the Father, said: "I will that where I am, they also may always be with Me." If, therefore, the flesh
A cannot be separated from the Word, is it not necessary that these men should either lay aside their error and worship the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, or, if they refuse to worship and serve the Word made flesh, be rejected by all and no longer considered Christians, but be numbered either among the heathens or among the Jews?
6. Such, then, as we have said before, is their madness and audacity. But our faith is right, B derived from apostolic teaching and the tradition of the Fathers, and confirmed by the authority of both the New and Old Testaments. For these are the words of the prophets: "Send forth Thy Word and Thy truth"; and: "Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us." Now, what is this but that God has been born in the flesh? Apostolic tradition also teaches the same, as the blessed Peter says: "Christ therefore having suffered in the flesh for us"; and as Paul writes: "Looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and cleanse for Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." C How, then, could He have given Himself for us, unless He had borne flesh? For by offering this, He gave Himself for us, that by undergoing death in it, He might destroy the devil who held the power of death. Hence, we always give thanks in the name of Jesus Christ, and we do not reject the grace granted to us through Him. For the bodily presence of the Savior became the price of death and the salvation of all created things. Therefore, most beloved and desired one, those who love the Lord should be reminded by these words; but those who imitate Judas, and desert the Lord to follow Caiphas, should be dissuaded by the same, if they will, and at last feel shame. Let them know, therefore, that when we worship the Lord in the flesh, we are not worshipping a created thing, but the Creator who put on the created body, as we have explained above.
7. I would wish that your piety might ask them this: D When the Israelites were ordered to ascend to Jerusalem to worship in the temple of the Lord, where the ark was, above which the cherubim of glory overshadowed the mercy seat, were they doing well or the opposite? If they were doing ill, why were those who neglected this law punished? For it is written: "Whoever shall despise and not ascend, shall perish from the people." But if they were acting rightly, and were accepted in that matter
A to God, are not the wretched Arians, B the most shameful of all heretics, worthy of dying six hundred times over? They praise the reverence of the ancient people toward the temple, yet they refuse to adore the Lord in the flesh, as one existing in a temple. And yet the ancient temple was constructed of stones and gold, like a shadow; but after the truth had arrived, the figure vanished, and not one stone remained upon another in it, according to the Lord’s voice, that was not overthrown. Nor did those who beheld the temple built of stones think that the Lord himself, who spoke within it, was a created thing: nor, while regarding the temple, did they withdraw to adore from afar; but, having entered into it, they rightly served the God who uttered oracles from the temple. Since these things are so, is it not worthy of adoration, the most holy and truly venerable body of the Lord, which was indeed announced by the archangel Gabriel, formed by the Holy Spirit, and became the garment C of the Word? By extending his bodily hand, the Word healed the woman suffering from fever; and by uttering a human voice, he raised Lazarus from the dead; and again, by extending his hands upon the cross, he cast down the prince of the power of the air, who now works in the sons of disobedience, and prepared for us a clear way to the heavens.
8. Therefore, he who despises the temple, despises the Lord in the temple; and he who separates the Word from the body, rejects the grace given to us in him. Nor let the most impious Arians, because the body is created, imagine that the Word is also a created thing; nor, because the Word is not a created thing, let them think it is permitted for them to disparage his body. For it is a matter of wonder at their perversity D that they confound and stir up all things, and invent excuses, only that they might number the Creator among created things. But let them hear what we are about to say: If the Word were a created thing, he would not have assumed a created body, that he might give life to it. For what aid could a created thing bring to a created thing, when it is itself in need of salvation? But because the Word, being Creator, was the artificer of created things, therefore at the end of the ages he put on a created thing, so that he, as Creator, might mend and restore it. For a created thing would never be able to save a created thing, just as created things could not be created by a created thing, unless it
the Word being creator. Let them cease from this point on to interpret the divine Scriptures falsely, and let them not be a scandal to the simpler brethren; but if they wish, let them too change their minds, and no longer serve the creature instead of God, who created all things. But if they desire to persist in their impieties, let them be satisfied to bear the consequences alone among themselves, and let them gnash their teeth like their father the devil, since the faith of the catholic Church recognizes the Word of God as the creator and artificer of all things. And we know that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God." We worship Him having become man for our salvation, not as an equal having come to be in an equal body, but as the Lord who took the form of a servant, and as the artificer and creator having come to be in a created being, so that B by freeing all things in Himself, He might bring the world to the Father, and make peace for all things, both those in heaven and those on earth. For thus do we acknowledge His paternal divinity, and we worship His corporeal presence, even if the Arians burst asunder. Greet all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for your health and that you remain mindful of us before the Lord, most beloved and truly most desired, if there is need for these things to be read to Hieracas the presbyter.
ADMONITION TO THE EPISTLE OF SAINT ATHANASIUS TO MAXIMUS THE PHILOSOPHER
I. About this same time saint Athanasius’s response to Maximus the philosopher was given, to whom there is also an epistle to Adelphius: concerning which, as it happens, manifold opinions were arising regarding the Incarnation of the Lord. Therefore, by this epistle, the holy doctor approves what Maximus had written to him against certain heretics—some of whom, that is, denied that Christ was true God; others surmised that the Word, as in former times, had come upon some man, and was not truly made man Himself; while others still thought that He had become man by the common order of nature. Athanasius briefly disputes against those errors, saying that he himself had borrowed what he says from the letters of Maximus, and that he deemed nothing needed to be added, but only to remember the cross, so that those who, from the things which the Lord did and suffered as man, deny that He is God, might, with their opinion changed, now adore the Crucified. We have seen elsewhere that Athanasius, while arguing against the Arians, shows that the Word truly became man, and not, as in former times, that He came upon some holy man: which error he also expressly refutes above in the Epistle to Epictetus.
II. This Maximus the philosopher, to whom saint Athanasius sends the epistle, appears to be none other than that Alexandrian whose praises Gregory Nazianzen celebrates in his 23rd oration, in whose name, as Jerome narrates in his *Catalogue of ecclesiastical writers*, some later suppressed it and wrote in the false name of Hero, because, forsooth, the same Gregory in another place inveighs against him most vehemently: "As if it were not permitted," says Jerome, "to both praise and vituperate the same man according to the time." However, Gregory testifies that Maximus was accustomed to dispute against the Gentiles and the heretics, as is clear from these words of his: "Confuse both the superstition of the Greeks..."