Various Fragments

the same essence might be understood, which is impassible insofar as it is the Word; but which suffers through the part of the flesh, which concurs with the Word to complete one essence. But that this is absurd and highly execrable, anyone can easily understand. The flesh, they say, is a part of the divine essence, and, what is more laughable, it is a part of Him who has no parts. They make the simple composite. For if these parts concur with one another into one thing, the composite is shown to be different, consisting of different parts. Furthermore, it receives an increase from the added flesh, which is not viewed as belonging to its own nature, but is a part of the essence that receives the flesh itself. What is more, change is evident from these things, since the Word no longer remains according to its eternal essence, but happens to be some other thing on account of the increase. You constitute God as a mutable nature, or as a part of a mutable nature, and you show this one new composition and change out of both, so that a great difficulty arises in the mind, since it can neither be seen what follows from this, nor can a name be found for the proposed entity. ^B For by what name should we call the one essence out of both? The Word only? But the part of the flesh does not permit this. The flesh only? But the nature of the Word does not allow it. Christ? That is a name for the dispensation, not for the essence. Oh, the insanity of impious men, who, while they dare to treat of an immutable essence, even strip it of its proper name! For in this way, not even that will be preserved for the Son, that He is of the same essence as the Father. For whoever admits an addition to his own essence, and a change through the commixture of another, is not of the same essence as one who remains in the same essence. For the Father possesses nothing in His nature besides His own glory. But the Son joins flesh to His nature, so that there might be one essence of flesh and Word; and He is seen to be far removed from Him who has received no addition for the increase or mutation of His own essence. It is necessary, therefore, that you acknowledge one essence of Word and flesh, not as confused, or else you fall into the error of those who have followed Arius, and introduce a diversity of essence between them, and oppose the sacred words of the Lord, and with great danger reject that: *I and the Father are one*. ^C And, *He who has seen me, has seen the Father*. How are they one, where such a difference is found? That one indeed has remained to the very end, such as He is believed to have been from all eternity: but the other has mixed His own internal essence in the composition of flesh, or increased it, or through confusion changed it into something else? How does he who sees this one, see that one, if the divinity alone indicates the essence of the Father; but the divinity and humanity of the Son, which are one thing by nature? And the essence of the Father indeed has no part that can suffer. But the nature of the Word has a part that can suffer? ^D What is more criminal than this impiety? To speak of one essence, and to divide this into various and different parts, and to say abusive words which cannot be fitted to the proposed subject, unless a part of the perfect nature is passible, and a part is impassible; and one part suffers, and another part does not suffer; and one part lives, and another part dies. A wretched animal, indeed, whose dead part the rest perceives with feeling, if it is one essence to simultaneously perish and live. But let this empty doctrine be rejected. We have not received that there is a part of a simple nature, which cannot be divided. Nor have we learned that what is impassible suffers in one part, while in another part it does not suffer. Nor do we recognize the definition of one nature in two, nor of a diverse one, even if we admit the name. All of which things are detected to be posited by those who say that the Word and the flesh have converged into one essence. How therefore is both the flesh assumed, and He who assumed it not changed? And He who is joined with it, preserves the same essence with His Father? How, from the assumption of the flesh, and from those things which were accomplished through it, wisely beyond what can be said, does He not arrive at the increase or change of His own essence, but at the communication of a natural dignity, which He accomplished by the grace of a mysterious union? For it is one thing to say that two perfect natures have converged into one person, and another that one essence has been produced out of two parts. For the ratio of the divine essence is indeed simple, but the miracle of the human dispensation is twofold. Wherefore neither is the simplicity of the essence cut into various parts, nor is the twofold ratio of the dispensation fused into one essence. For how can it be, that what is eternal, and what is recent, be considered in one nature? Was the blood and water also the essence of the divinity, which flowed out like a fountain from His side? If it is of the same nature both to suffer and not to suffer, it is necessary that the wills also be diverse, and not the same actions. For one thing corresponds to the form of God, and another to the form of a servant: one to the temple, and another to the God inhabiting it. They introduce, therefore, a perpetual sedition into one essence, of which part of the essence wills one thing, and part another. If it is one essence, why does He say: *Not what I will, but what thou willest*? How is it the same which made and which was made? How is it the same and knows all things before they were made, and is ignorant of the last day and hour? How is it the same and prays and receives prayers? How does He say: *My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me*? Who knows the same nature to be forsaken by itself, and as if invoking another, which things all follow a dual nature? But because we have brought an example of human nature indeed to confirm piety, but others distort it for destruction, it is necessary that we also discourse on this item.

^A And we attest that it is possible for the union of two things to exist as one person. For if nothing prevents human nature from having two parts, from which one person arises, namely man, who is constituted in this way; how much more is divine grace able to bring about that two perfect natures may come together into an unconfused union, and yet not one single person be taken away?

Moreover, when we hear: *One Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things*, we attribute the generation of all things, as is meet, to the divinity alone; and, in the same way, when we hear: *One suffering Christ*, we recognize the affection of the conjoined flesh. For how can we understand weakness and power of the same essence and in the same being? The *spirit*, he says, *is willing, but the flesh is weak*; not, however, as a part of the flesh or a part of the spirit. And again: *For if he was crucified in weakness, he lives by the power of God*. ^B You see the names and the things: spirit and flesh, power and weakness, cross and life, he who raises and he who is raised, he who exalts and he who is exalted. But you see in one person not a composition of parts, but a conjunction of perfect natures, by which not two essences become one, but one dignity and glory is declared. We do not therefore deny the conjunction of the natures, but we say that they have not now flowed together into one essence. That it is impossible for two to become one essence, the law of nature teaches, the rule of doctrine teaches, and experience in every kind of thing persuades; even the Lord himself openly indicates this, who after his resurrection, when the disciples still did not believe, said: *Handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have*. *Handle*, he says, first, so that he might show that he was not a spirit—a specter by which those looking would be deceived—but a body resisting touch. ^C Who does not see the properties of the natures, when the spirit indeed has not flesh and bones, which are present to the body; and the body is visible, but the spirit is not seen; the body is subject to touch, but the spirit does not fall under touch? How therefore is the essence one, when there is such a great difference?

Of the same, against the same.

For see, they have produced another false argument, along with impiety. How, they say, man consisting of two things is called one nature, so also it is certain that the Lord Christ, existing from Word and flesh, is one essence. That two things differing only between themselves cannot make a perfect one essence, and one that is not mutable, was demonstrated a little before. That this example is of no use to the matter proposed by them will immediately be shown. Man is rightfully considered an animal from the soul endowed with mind and the body affected by senses. Since neither of these subsists without the other, nor preserves the bounds of nature, when they take their beginning of existing from the womb, and thus come into life, and effect the constitution of one animal. But the Lord Jesus does not receive the beginning of existing from imperfect things, but shows in himself the beginning of perfect natures. And there, indeed, the parts of man are soul and body: here, however, neither is the flesh a part of the Word, nor the Word a part of the flesh. For each of these, before they are joined, shows a perfect nature, so that nothing at all is lacking either to the divinity in its proper reason or to the humanity. For it is one thing for an essence to be completed from two parts, and another for two essences to be joined, each of which is perfect. Wherefore he is called both the form of God and the form of a servant. In man, truly, neither is the soul alone man, nor is the flesh. For if the other of these were a perfect nature in reality, it would have perfected something even without the other. And this is clear, not only from divine laws, but even from human words. For those who profess these things define man in this way: that he is an animal endowed with reason, mortal: so that "endowed with reason" looks to the soul, and "mortal" looks to the body. Thus they deemed that each belongs to one person, not two. By a like reason, divine Scripture signifies man himself both as being in the image of God, on account of the excellence of the soul endowed with reason, and calls him male and female on account of the property of the flesh; so that it may declare that soul and body are parts of one person, and not of two. Why therefore do they use this example, which has no similarity? For if they showed two perfect persons ^D enclosed in one essence, they would have rightly brought forward the example. But saying that two parts form one person, they say there are two persons, whereas the Lord Christ is called two perfect things, both God and man, on account of the perfection of each. For indeed the name of the Savior Christ does not now show only divinity, as being absolute and perfect, nor now only humanity, as that to whose perfection nothing is lacking. But now, when the person itself receives the difference and perfection of both of two natures in a new conjunction, they indeed have applied it to the mutation and overthrow of the divinity, and to the humanity: but we, as…

What do you say? What do you demonstrate? Does the difference of the natures depart; and is no indication of them left behind? How therefore shall we name the subject? The Word alone? For no one would have called that "flesh," who thinks that by that name he is honoring it. But how do you not offer insult to him himself, when you think that his essence is such that it is permitted for another created essence to be changed into it? For that which can be taken from lesser things is common to many, and is not the excellence of one. But to whom it is proper that he is inaccessible, how can another be joined to him? But you not only offer insult to the Word, but you also take away the person of the flesh. For whose indication is no longer left behind, how shall we recognize the glory of him? For if…

^A you do not point out that which you honor, the magnitude of the glory will not appear. It is necessary, therefore, to confess a union of two that is in no way confused, and to hold that it was brought about neither unto a mutation of the recipient nor unto the perishing of that which was received, but unto a communion of glory, which is declared in the person of one. For although you may allow both to be called the Word alone—the nature also resisting this—yet you shall not hide the distinction. Since the one was from the beginning, but the other came into being. The one which can neither be seen nor touched, from [the] infinite [is] infinite; 1015 but the other passed from that which can be seen and touched, into that which is neither seen nor touched. And the one is indeed immutable once and for all, while the other arrived from a mutable state to a more excellent condition. Furthermore, if this is solely the Word, why do we not find "the flesh became the Word," but "the Word became flesh"? Who, moreover, is so insane and bereft of mind as to dare to say that the divine essence assumed another essence of divinity stemming from a different nature, so that by such an accession it might acquire an increase of that which by nature lacks nothing and is perfect? To these things, how does divine Scripture, even after its return, preach the things that are proper to the flesh—namely, that he will return again and be seen in the same manner? Will you resist even the angels, who openly said, "This Jesus, who was taken up from you, will come in the same way as you saw him ascending into heaven"? Everything points clearly to signifying the flesh. That "he will come here," as in a body, now indeed seen here, now there; ^B just as you saw him, that is, with the eyes of the flesh. Whoever confesses him in this way, does not only resist the angels, but also opposes the sacred oracles of the Holy Spirit. How does the Lord Christ intercede for many, as the Word alone? And where is the equality of dignity with the Father, if he intercedes as if inferior, and does not bestow with authority, since he is equally omnipotent? Is it not clear that it is [the function] of the firstfruits to intercede for his own mass, so that he may show his affection toward the nature of the flesh? Whom, however, would the most clear proclamation of the most wise Paul not move; who says: "God, overlooking the times of ignorance, announces to all men everywhere that they should repent, because he has appointed a day in which he is to judge the world in righteousness, in the man whom he has defined, having given faith to all by raising him from the dead"? Did he not remove the difference? Did he not say "God in a man"? Did he not demonstrate God who raised, and the man who was raised? But although he shows a difference, he did not, however, omit the inseparable conjunction. For he did not say "God with a man," but "God in a man." Now how are we to understand that, "They will look on him whom they pierced," unless the nature of the flesh, which received the nails, openly demonstrates the openings? For the essence of the divinity, which is neither seen nor touched, is not going to bring forward the traces of the wounds in testimony; but the nature assumed from the suffering kind will refute the wickedness of the impious, who will be forced to acknowledge their own shameful deeds in the flesh which they wounded: thus we have demonstrated that the properties of the natures were not removed; and both the certain gain of the assumed human flesh, and the impudent argument of the adversaries, and the impregnable force of the truth.

NOTICE

1016 This Confession of faith was transcribed from the Vatican codex no. 1431, a manuscript of very good quality and very ancient, in which the works of Cyril exist, and among them, on page 24, appears the following little work under the name of Athanasius. The beginning of this [work] is the very same as that formula of faith sent to Jovian Augustus, and printed above. In the subsequent parts, however, the articles of the Symbol which is called the Apostles' [Creed] are liquidly investigated: it is certainly not a work unworthy of Athanasius, and it is composed in those words and clauses which prevailed in the age of Athanasius: nor is it a light argument that the errors of the Arians, the Pneumatomachians, and the Apollinarists of that age alone are clearly repudiated here. By the use also of the word *hypostasis* for the substance of the Father, it seems it should be ascribed to Athanasius. For those who deny that the Son is from the same *hypostasis* or essence as the Father are condemned, which manner of speaking was barely used after the age of Athanasius. This interpretation of the Symbol also exists in the Royal codex 2502, written on common paper in the year 1562, whose readings we note. And everywhere it is ascribed to Athanasius.

INTERPRETATION OF THE SYMBOL BY THE MOST HOLY ATHANASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA

^A We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible: and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made, those in heaven and those on earth, visible and invisible; who for us men and for our salvation came down, was incarnate, and was made man—that is, born perfectly of Mary, the ever-virgin, by the Holy Spirit—and truly and not in appearance possessed a body and soul and mind, and all that pertains to man, apart from sin; who suffered—that is, was crucified, was buried, and rose on the third day, and ascended into heaven in that same body in glory; who sits at the right hand of the Father, and is to come in that same body in glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there shall be no end. ^B And we believe in the Holy Spirit, who is not alien from the Father and the Son, but is consubstantial with the Father and the Son, the uncreated, the perfect, the Paraclete—that is, the Advocate—who spoke in the Law, and in the prophets, and in the Gospels; who descended upon the Jordan, preached to the apostles, and dwells in the saints. And we believe in one only, this Catholic and Apostolic Church, in one baptism of repentance and remission of sins, in the resurrection of the dead, in the eternal judgment of both souls and bodies, ^C and in the kingdom of heaven and life eternal.

Those, however, who say that there was a time when the Son was not, or that there was a time when the Holy Spirit was not; or that He was made out of things that were not, or who hold that the Son of God or the Holy Spirit is of another hypostasis or essence, or is mutable or variable—these, I say, our Catholic Mother and Apostolic Church condemns with anathema. And we also anathematize all who do not confess the resurrection of the flesh, and every heresy—that is, all who do not hold this faith of the holy and only Catholic Church.

WARNING CONCERNING THE FOLLOWING FRAGMENT

We do not publish the following fragment among the works of Athanasius without some hesitation; for although it is not unworthy of Athanasius, and the heresy of the Apollinarists is refuted here—as it is in the Epistle to Epictetus and elsewhere—it nevertheless has a somewhat foreign ring, and seems especially to attack the heresy of the Eutychians toward the end, whence a suspicion might arise that it was written in the fifth century. Since, however, it was transmitted to us from Rome along with the preceding exposition of faith, let it have a place here and be submitted to the examination of the learned. This fragment was furthermore edited above among the fragments of Euthymius from the version of Zinus, but more is contained here, and certain mutilated passages are restored.

OF THE SAME ATHANASIUS ON THE EXAMPLE DRAWN FROM THE NATURE OF MAN

^A Having observed the great diligence of our opponents in fostering evil, we too are under great necessity to oppose them with fuller refutations. Let no one, therefore, blame us for not bringing the disputation to an end; rather, let them blame the men who drive us into this necessity. Behold, for they have spawned another deceptive argument against the truth. "Just as," he says, "man, consisting of two parts, is called one nature, so too the Lord Christ, consisting of the Word and flesh, is shown to be one substance." Now, that things so different from one another and so perfect can form one substance without undergoing change has been briefly stated above; but that this example does not serve their purpose will be shown immediately. For man is rightly recognized as an animal consisting of an intelligent soul and a sensible body, because neither has a pre-existing hypostasis apart from the other, nor can they maintain the definition of their nature by themselves. For both receive the beginning of their existence together from the womb, and thus both enter upon life and effect the constitution of a single animal. But the Lord Jesus does not receive existence from imperfect ^B things, but exhibits in Himself a conjunction of perfect natures. And there, indeed, soul and body are parts of a man; but here, neither is the flesh a part of the Word, nor is the Word a part of the flesh. For each of them, even before the union, exhibits a perfect nature, so that nothing at all is lacking, neither to the divinity in its own reason, nor to the humanity: for it is one thing to be completed as a substance out of two parts, and another to have two substances joined together, both of which possess perfection; which is why he is called both the "form of God" and the "form of a servant." But in the case of man, neither the soul...

alone is man, nor the flesh. For if either of these were a nature perfect in its operation, it would perform some act even without the other. But when one of these is mentioned, the whole is usually signified by the part; yet neither part alone possesses a nature perfect in the power of acting. And indeed, this is held to be man not only in divine law, but also in human writings. ^A Therefore, those who are skilled in these matters define man as a rational, mortal animal, and they explain the thing in such a way that they seek "rational" from the soul, and define "mortal" from the body. In the same way, Holy Scripture deems that both parts belong to one person, not to two; for it affirms the same man to be in the image of God according to the excellence of his person, while according to the property of the flesh it calls him male and female, in order to show that the soul and body are parts of one and the same person, and not two persons. What reason, ^B therefore, is there for them to use this example, to which nothing is similar? If they were demonstrating two perfect persons composed into one substance, they would rightly use that example; but since they mention two parts of one person, they are by no means speaking of two persons. Just as soul and body are by no means two perfect animals, yet Christ is called two, namely divine and human, because of the perfection of each nature. Thus, therefore, the name of the Savior Christ sometimes signifies only his divinity, as being perfect and in need of nothing (in the manner of his humanity), ^C and sometimes it signifies both, so that the distinction and perfection of the two natures might be made manifest, and the person of that stupendous union might be shown to be undivided: "One," he says, "Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things"—this signification itself pertains to the divinity, for he did not create all things while he was with flesh. Again, if Christ is called "passible," he is indeed spoken of in such a way that the perfection of the human nature that suffered is demonstrated. For he does not say that the part is passible, as those new dogmatists do; nor does he say: "The Word is passible in the flesh." Indeed, by such a phrase both are declared, as was said above: "Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, the same also for the ages." It is not that a part of the substance is "yesterday and today," and a part "for the ages," but the same one is "yesterday and today" according to his perfect humanity, and "for the ages" according to his perfect divinity; and finally, he is immortal according to both, ^D because the flesh, from the union with the Immortal, received impassibility and endlessness. Thus, those men indeed used the example and speculation of man for the conversion of the divinity, and for the overthrow of those things which pertain to the natures, and for trifles and absurdities. We, however, use it as an argument and testimony that it is possible for the conjunction of two things to be understood, and for one person to be seen through both. For if the nature of man was not prevented from having two parts, from which the person exists, while showing the man thus constituted to be one person, how much more is divine grace able to show it is possible and consequent that two perfect natures should come together into an unconfused union, and in no way disregard the oneness of the person? For soul and body, when joined together, produce one living being; but two natures of different substances being conjoined do not, as they hastily conceive, unchangeably fashion one Sonship. For just as when hearing: "One"...

Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things," we attribute the craftsmanship of all things to the divinity alone—and rightly so—even so, when we hear, "The Christ is impassible," we recognize the passion to belong to the united flesh. For in what way shall we understand the weakness and the power of the same nature at once? "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak"—neither part of the spirit, nor part of the flesh. And again: "For if he was crucified out of weakness, yet he lives by power." Different are the names, different are the things: spirit and flesh, power and weakness, cross and life, that which raises and that which is raised, that which exalts and that which is exalted. Yet they are in one person, not according to a composition of parts, but according to a union of perfect natures. It is not that the two constitute one substance, but that they signify one dignity and glory. Thus we do not deny the union, but we refuse [to accept] a substantialization. For that it is impossible for two substances to become one, the law of nature teaches, the word of [Gospel] preaching teaches, the experience of every generation persuades, and the Lord openly ordains. Since, therefore, the disciples still disbelieved in the resurrection, he says, "Handle me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see me having." Handle [me] first, so that it might be shown not to be a deceptive phantasy of a spirit beguiling those who looked on, but the very form of a body bringing certainty to those who touched it. Who then does not see the properties of the natures? That it is for the spirit neither to have flesh nor bones, but for the body to have them; and for the one to be visible, but for the other not to be seen; for the latter to be subject to touch, but for the former to admit no touch. How then is there one substance, given such a difference? If it is only spirit, whence the flesh? If only body, whence the glory? But the spirit is indeed incorporeal, by nature God; the body is ensouled, adorned with rational beauty, yet known to the touch through bones and flesh. Thus is demonstrated the difference of the two natures, and the unconfused character of the union, and the inseparability of the adoration.

OTHER FRAGMENTS OF THE SAME ST. ATHANASIUS, TAKEN FROM THE VARIOUS WORKS OF VARIOUS AUTHORS BY FELCKMANN.

Theodoretus, in his first Dialogue ^C on the Immutable, cites these things from the discourse ^D *On the Faith* of the greater Athanasius, which are nowhere to be found in the editions.

"That which is written, 'In the beginning was the Word,' openly signifies the divinity; but that which says, 'The Word became flesh,' indicates the Lord’s humanity."

^A From the same Oration. And that: "He shall wash His robe in wine," [*] that is, the body, which is the vestment of the divinity, in His own blood.

From the same Oration. For that, "was," is referred to His divinity, etc., as in the Greater Discourse on Faith, infra col. 1264.

Item Theodoret, Dial. [II], citing the same

Discourse on Faith the Greater

"But what we have added concerning 'Sit at my right hand,' [*] has been said regarding the Lordly body. For if I fill heaven and earth, says the Lord, as Jeremiah says, and God contains all things, but is contained by none: on what throne does He sit? It is the body, therefore, to which He says: Sit at my right hand."

^B And again: "It is the body, therefore, to which He says: Sit at my right hand. To which also the devil became an enemy, along with the evil powers, and the Jews, and the Greeks. Through which body He became, and was called, high priest and apostle; through which also He delivered unto us the mystery, saying: 'This is my body, which is broken for you, and the blood of the New Testament, not the Old, which is shed for you.' [*] But the Divinity has neither body nor blood; but the man whom He wore from Mary is the cause of these things: of whom the apostles spoke: 'Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God unto you.' [*]"

Similarly, [Dial. II], citing from the same work.

"That which is raised from the dead, was it a human being, or God?" etc. See in the Greater Discourse on Faith, infra col. 1266 ^A.

Again, Theodoret and Gelasius, in the book *Concerning the Two Natures against Nestor and Eutyches*, ^C these things: "Life, therefore, does not die," etc. See ibid. ^C.

And again the following: "He who lives cannot die," etc. Ibid.

And further: "It happened as with Lazarus," etc. Ibid.

The same Theodoret, in *Ecclesiastical History*, book II, chapter 4, makes mention of Athanasius himself, from which he brings this excerpt.

"Wherefore, let no one among you be so exceedingly saddened, even if those impious ones begrudge you even when buried, and prevent your funerals; for to such a degree has the destructive catastrophe of the Arians reached, that they even close the gates, ^D and sit like demons around the sepulchres of the dead, to prevent anyone of those who have passed away from being committed to the earth."

The VI Oecumenical Synod, act. 14 [(42)], at the end, brings forward this fragment from the treatise of Athanasius on that, "Now my soul is troubled" [*].

[(43)] "The benefit of the Lord’s assimilation to us is great, in that we also are assimilated to Him. For if He himself had not been assimilated to human beings, humans could not have been assimilated to God. But to God made man, humans are assimilated. It was necessary, therefore, that He who descended to become like us should be made most similar in that wherein we stood in need of being transformed."

^A For we needed to be changed with respect to the passions, that these might be converted into impassibility. Let no one, therefore, be faithless concerning the passions, supposing the divinity to be changed, but let him consider the passion as having come upon Him from the carnal and animal motion, and as having come upon Him and having been conquered. For it was for this reason that He came, that it might be conquered; and it has been conquered by Him, that the whole human nature, through kinship, might receive the benefit. For starting from thence, we are all transformed from being subject to passion into being impassible, and are established as living from being dead. Therefore, let no one be troubled into faithlessness if the Lord, being God and at the same time man, says: "Now my soul is troubled." For this happened with the divinity yielding ^B and the flesh rising up; it was possible for the divinity to hinder the perturbation, but it did not wish to, lest it should dissolve the likeness which It had toward us. Something of the sort must be understood from things around us: when honey is mixed with water, the honey is not changed, but the water abounds. When, therefore, there is some motion of the flesh in the Lord, let us take such a likeness, as of the superabundance of water in a honey-mixture. But when, again, the divine is revealed, and He works miracles, and shows His authority, let us take such a likeness as of honey overcoming the water. For this is possible for the divinity, at one time indeed to yield to the flesh so that it may abound, and at another time to overcome it, destroying the passion and the weakness of the flesh. A proof of this is that for forty whole days He abstained from bodily food and the body did not hunger. For after these, as it is written, He hungered. Here is the superabundance of the flesh; then He hungered after so much time. ^C The flesh's [need] superabounded for this reason: that temptation might be brought, and the tempter might be put to shame, and man, who from the beginning fell through food, might rise again through the abstinence of food. Moreover, He bears the perturbation of the flesh as death approaches. For how was He going to be obedient, fulfilling our obedience for our sake, unless He also had an adversity, and conquered that adversity? For with us, when some adversity arises from the flesh, if we disobey the commandment, having been conquered by the flesh, in this way sin occurs. Therefore, it was necessary for the adversity from the flesh ^D to come about in the Lord, but for obedience to conquer. For even if He is God, yet in the flesh and according to the flesh He fulfills the obedience, and overcomes the will of the flesh with the will of the divinity, just as He said: "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me," calling the will of the flesh His own will. For the flesh also had become His own; for the divine will of the Son is not separated from the will of God. It was necessary for the will of the flesh to be moved, and to be subjected to the divine will. And thus the disobediences of men are dissolved through this wondrous obedience, which Christ obeyed

^A for our sake. Observe, then, when the fleshly movement occurred, what He says: "And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause I came to this hour. Father, glorify thy name." That which He says, "What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour," He uttered according to the movement of the flesh; but that which He says, "For this cause I came to this hour," He declares as the Godhead prevailing, the divine will barely permitting the fleshly will even to appear. For this expression, "What shall I say?" is as it were a word that checks [the movement], so that it might appear to us that He truly had flesh, yet it was flesh that was subjected and unable to pull away, like a horse with a rider, nor even to bend the hand of the one guiding it. And indeed, how does He consider the passion? Not as dishonor, not as shame, but as the glory of Himself and of the Father. And He hastens the passion ^B rather than averts it. "Father, glorify thy name." There shall not be, He says, any refusal from me; but that which refuses shall yield, and that which does not refuse shall prevail. For the fleshly nature does indeed refuse death, and this was in Christ, since the Word truly became flesh; but the divine will chooses the salvation of the world, which death has wrought. Thereafter, it is seen to be fulfilled: "That I may do the will of Him who sent me." Christ says: "Father, glorify thy name." And the answer came from heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again," so that we might know that there is no distance, nor separation, between the Father and the Son; but rather that we might gain our conjunction with God, which has been brought to pass in Christ. For there is no man who has not at some time or in some respect drawn himself away from the will of God, whether in deed or in time. But in Christ alone was the inseparable will preserved, by following whom we gain the conjunction with God, and the saving union according to the likeness of the divine union, just as He Himself said: "I and the Father are one, that they also may be one in us." ^C

Of Saint Athanasius on the text: "And having said these things, He breathed His last."

So indeed was the death brought to pass, with the body receiving it according to nature, but the Word accepting it according to His will, and as one having authority, He surrendered His own body to death, that He might both suffer naturally for us, and rise divinely for us. And the whole economy of the generation and of the death is seen to be for our inquiry and recall. ^D

Perhaps this book still lies hidden somewhere in its entirety, since the Cypriot bishops in the same act a little earlier say that they have a certain copy of it at home, and another one at Constantinople, of very great age. However, it is evident from this fragment that this treatise was written against the Arians, who abused that saying of Christ, "Now is my soul troubled," to overturn the same essence of God the Father and the Son, as may be seen from the fourth oration against the Arians.

There is in the illustrious Archipalatine library a very old manuscript codex containing a Catena of expositions collected by an uncertain author from the Greek Fathers on the Gospel of St. Luke, in which at chapter 23, fol. 216, these words are solidly read:

"Saint Athanasius on that text of the Gospel, 'After He had said these things, He breathed His last': Such was the death of our Savior, which indeed His body underwent according to nature, but the Word accepted according to His will, as one who freely surrendered His body to death, that He might suffer for us according to the condition of His nature, and likewise rise again divinely for us: in which matter the whole hinge of human condition turns, namely, our call to life and our raising from death."

That this fragment is indeed by our Athanasius is evidenced by the fact that the same Codex, on fol. [number], says similarly, citing this of ours from the second oration against the Arians, and on the verso of fol. [number], similarly from the epistle *On the Decrees of the Synod of Nicaea*, as we note in its proper place. These things by Felckmann.

VARIOUS FRAGMENTS

And since we have made mention of this codex, I shall also transcribe another passage from the same. Thus, therefore, 15, fol. 20, A, to ch. 1 of Luke.

^A Athanasius. In which He who is before the ages from the Father, in the last times is born of the Virgin, and He who before was invisible even to the holy powers in heaven, becomes visible on account of his union with the visible human being. I say visible, not according to the invisible divinity, but according to the energy of the divinity through the human body and the whole man, whom he renewed by his appropriation to himself. For the Word, being Creator, himself at the consummation of the ages put on the created thing, so that he might restore it again; for there was need for the recall of that which the God-Word had made from the beginning out of non-existence. For this reason, the incorporeal one arrives in our realm, and takes to himself a body not foreign to our own, from the immaculate Virgin, formed by the Holy Spirit; and it became an adorable garment of the Word, so that in it the law against the corruption of humans might be abolished, and he who from the beginning had created man in his own likeness, by being made like his own creation, might lead man back again into the likeness of himself. ^B

THESE ALSO FOLLOW FROM FELCKMANN.

And indeed there are some passages similar to this, as in tom. I, pages 45, 48, 127, 128, 347, 348; but one that is identical in as many words with this, I have not been able to observe thus far. And for this reason I chose to have this distinguished passage twice (if indeed it be so) rather than omit it entirely.

Jerome, in his *Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers*, reports that two books of Athanasius *Against the Gentiles* existed in his time: but today we have only one. Unless perhaps Jerome meant the second to be that which is *On the Incarnation* (45), which the beginning of this work itself seems to imply, where he repeats a brief summary of the preceding work.

The same Jerome in the same place commemorates a certain book of his *Against Ursacius and Valens*. And indeed Athanasius mentions them very often, and attacks them in his *Apologies*, as in the work *On the Synods of Ariminum and Seleucia*, and in the *Epistle to the Africans*, and elsewhere: but a book written by him against them specifically, no such work exists today.

Regarding the book *On the Titles of the Psalms*, which Jerome claims was written by the same (46), and which Photius names *Notes on the Psalms*, if it is not the one which is held in tom. I, under the title *On the Interpretation of the Psalms to Marcellinus*, it would be probable that it is the one which, in the fourth act of the seventh ecumenical synod, Nicaea II, Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, in his epistle to Thomas, Bishop of Claudiopolis, cites—while expounding these words of Psalm LXXIX, according to the Greek, or LXXX according to the Hebrew codices: "You who sit upon the Cherubim, appear"—in these words: "For the cherubim, their exemplary forms, existing unknown to all men according to their nature, are spirit and fire; and, being alien to any corporeal figuration and nature, those things which are spoken of them by the prophet more corporally, hold a symbolic and deeper meaning. For one ought not to understand them according to the literal and—for incorporeal beings—unbecoming manner." Thus far there. Fronto Ducæus of Bordeaux, a man of note, marks in certain of his collections on Athanasius, which we have from the library of Commelinus, that there is a work of Athanasius *On the Psalms* in the possession of Politian. Similarly, M. Crasius, in a certain index of manuscript books that still exist at Constantinople, reports that in the possession of the most illustrious prince Jacobus Marmoreta there is an *Explication of the Davidic Psalter* by the holy Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria: whether however this is the one we are discussing, I would not rashly say.

The same synod, act 6, cites this fragment from the *Epistle of Athanasius to Eupsychius*, the beginning of which is: "Insofar as you thought of us..."

Athanasius indeed, in the aforementioned epistle, the beginning of which is: "Insofar as you thought of us, most reverent one," says among other things: "The common fruit of the sheep is this, I say, the summer fleece, the wool for..."

common use, available to everyone. But when it is dyed with the dye taken from the sea, it is called purple, with its name changed and its use, on account of its excellence, reserved for kings alone. And it is wool, and it is not; its nature remains what it was before, but its use no longer is. For it avoids commonality because of the dignity of the wearer; so, in the same way, the flesh, taken from our common nature, since it has become the garment of a King, has been deemed worthy of the same glory as the One who used it, even if it did not become such by nature. Thus, He is rightly called Lord of glory, even inasmuch as He is man; for while His nature as such admits of suffering, the reproach passes over to Him who used the flesh as a garment. ^A For just as he who tears the purple robe, as if he had attacked the King himself, incurs punishment—even though the King himself has suffered nothing, yet the injury to the purple is referred to him—so too is the suffering of the flesh, while the Word remains impassible, said to have come upon Him through this reproach. And for this reason Paul declares the Lord Christ, inasmuch as He is human, to be the Son of God; and before him, Gabriel the archangel, announcing the strange birth to Mary, says, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus; he will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest.' Thus, Jesus is called the Son of God, not because the flesh was changed into the divine nature, but because it received the dignity of the homonymous title through its union with God the Word.

This is where the synod is, where it also says that Eupsychius the presbyter was of Caesarea. And Athanasius himself makes mention, in his Epistle to Palladius, of a certain epistle of his to the monks of Caesarea: of whose number whether this Eupsychius was, who could easily say? Unless perhaps you would prefer that this Eupsychius be incorrectly called a presbyter, when in fact he was a bishop of Caesarea. For in his orations against the Arians, he makes mention of Eupsychius, bishop of Cappadocia, who wrote against the Arians.

Moreover, Theodoret also, in his Dialogue on the Inseparable, makes mention of an epistle to Eupsychius, ^B of which mention is also made in the last acts of the Council of Chalcedon, though it is attributed not to Athanasius, but to Atticus of Constantinople, who succeeded Chrysostom.

Gelasius the Roman, too, in the fragments of his books on the two natures in Christ against Nestorius and Eutyches, among other things brings forward these extracts from Athanasius, which—because we have not yet been able to find them in our own works (I say "not yet," because there are many similar things)—we have wished to add here.

Of Athanasius, he says, bishop of Alexandria, in his books against the Arians: "Since, therefore, some—or rather, a great many, who have not yet become disciples—have come to teaching with such shamelessness, knowing neither what they say nor of what they affirm, with the eyes of their minds blinded, not having an intellect that perceives God, as Jacob did, nor a heart that perceives God, they attribute the things written on account of the man of our Savior, whom He put on for our sake, and the humble works and poor utterances, to the divinity of the Word; they err and cause the less learned and the weak to err, so that they think lowly of the Lord. We have the necessity to explain, as Judas writes by his Epistle, which words are fitting to the divinity of the Word, and which are to be understood according to the man of the Savior. For just as in a purse, gold coins and silver are placed, both bearing the image and inscription of the name of one emperor, but the money-changer who is their guard knows the excellence of the gold beyond the honor of the inferior silver; ^C so too, though it is written in one Scripture concerning the divinity of the Son and the body from Mary which He put on for our sake, we know the individual parts, like disciples wise in one and the true Master. Whatever, therefore, are humble words and acts, understand them written for the body of the Son; whatever are glorious, for the divinity of the Word."

Then he adds: "Of the same against the same, 'Most certainly, therefore, let all the house of Israel know that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.' And thus this crucified one, the Lord... ^D

is the beginning of the ways, says he, the beginning of all the saints who have been called the Way, and He is both Lord and Christ, who was made and crucified.

And a little later, the same Gelasius says: In the books of Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, *Against the Heretics*, it is said: "Therefore, whatsoever words and deeds are humble, understand them as written relative to the body of Jesus; but whatsoever are glorious letters, relate to the divinity of the Word. When He hungered after fasting, it was a passion of the body; but when, from five loaves, He feeds five thousand men, besides women and children, and twelve baskets of fragments remain, it is a work of the Word’s divinity. When He sleeps on a pillow in the boat, it is a work of bodily rest; when, walking upon the sea, He commands the waves and the winds—‘Be quiet, be still’—and immediately He is heard by those in the boat who confess with an oath: ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’ When, standing at the sepulchre of Lazarus, He weeps, and being about to come to the passion, says: ‘My soul is sorrowful even unto death,’ and is anxious: He calls the spirit indeed, by divinity, ready for every dispensation; but the flesh, weak. For it is the weakness of the flesh to be sorrowful and downcast. When He says imperatively: ‘Lazarus, come forth,’ and the dead man of four days rose up living—a thing which had not happened from the beginning of the world—it is a sign of divinity." Thus far Gelasius.

Damascene also, in the book *On the Two Wills in Christ* (Basil edition, p. 484), cites this passage from Athanasius: ^A For when in the beginning God had fashioned man, He made him by nature impeccable and master of his own will; as the holy Athanasius says.

The same, in his *Oration on the Departed*, toward the end, speaks thus: Therefore, that man, conspicuous in life and character, and the solid foundation of the Church of God, Athanasius, among other things regarding those who die in the Lord, says this: that for this reason God has granted to those who obtain salvation, until the common resurrection of all shall arrive, that their souls, gathering together in one place, may rejoice together, having the hope that they shall finally enjoy the possession of future goods.

The same, in the same sermon, toward the middle, brings forward these things from the *Logos* (as he calls it) of Athanasius: ^B For even if he who is perfected in piety should be laid even to the stars, do not refuse to bring oil and tapers, having invoked Christ God, to the tomb. For these things are acceptable to God, and bring forth a great reward from Him. For the oil and the wax are like a whole burnt offering. The unbloody sacrifice is propitiation. And the act of charity toward the poor is an addition to every good reward.

Fronto Ducæus of Bordeaux, in the collections we have already mentioned, notes that in St. Thomas Aquinas, in the book *Against the Errors of the Greeks*, mention is made of a repository or volume of Athanasius *On John*. And the same adds: "In Gesner’s *Epitome Bibliothecæ*, a book *On the Catholic Faith* is said to exist in Vienna, in the possession of Lazius." These are the words of Felckmann. But we have already edited many of Athanasius’s booklets *On the Catholic Faith*, one of which is perhaps the one mentioned by Fronto Ducæus.

Notice

^A The following fragments, transmitted to us by the most distinguished man, James Milius, Principal of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford—namely, mingled with dross—we have taken care to edit as they were offered to us. The first small work, concerning the nine diseases of Herod, if not openly spurious, seems highly suspect, in which there are most things that are fabulous. Concerning the nine diseases of Herod, see volume I [IV]. The second labors under no less suspicion.

Of Athanasius of Alexandria, from the Interpretation on Matthew

Concerning the nine incurable diseases by which Herod was afflicted and perished

When Herod was dead, behold the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the child's life 19. For those who sought to kill Jesus were Herod the king and his son Antipater. Now Antipater died run through with a sword in prison, having been convicted of being a poisoner and of having oppressed his own brothers, Alexander and Aristobulus, with deceptions. Herod himself also brought his life to an end, his body having been given over to various and diverse diseases. First, a fever was in him hotter than a furnace. Second, an intolerable itching over his whole body. Third, frequent pains of the bowels. Fourth, swellings of the feet as if they had been distended by water beneath the skin. Fifth, a swollen inflammation of the stomach. Sixth, a rot in his private parts generating worms. Seventh, in addition to these, orthopnoea, so that he could not breathe unless with neck erect. Eighth, difficulty of breathing. Ninth, convulsions of all his members. These diseases are nine in number. There was a fever in him hotter than a furnace, because he burned with the disease of lust and fornication. He labored with intolerable itching, because he obeyed teachers who had itching ears. He was tormented ^B by continual pains of the bowels, because he did not sing that: *Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name* 20. He was distended with swellings of the feet as if with water beneath the skin, because he despised the pure and untroubled water of the fountain springing up into life eternal. A swollen inflammation of the stomach, because he was powerless against anger and merciless to his subjects. His private parts generated worms, because in his intemperance he imitated the stallion. He was held with orthopnoea, because he did not rise early to worship the Lord who had handed over to him the royal dignity. He labored with difficulty of breathing, because he had not breathed in the fragrance of charity, but the stench of implacable war. And all his members were affected by convulsions, because he himself had convulsed all the children who were in Bethlehem: by what measure any man has measured, by the same is it justly measured back to him from heaven. For by what things a man has sinned, by these he is also punished 21. This one therefore

sins, and is punished by them. Josephus says that this Herod was by his father of the Idumæan race, but by his mother an Arab. Africanus, however, and those who have written diligently after his manner, say that he was the son of Antipater, and that Antipater had for a father Herod the Ascalonite, an attendant of the temple of Apollo; and that Antipater, his son, while yet a boy, was captured by Idumæan robbers, and since his father Herod could not pay the price of his ransom, having been brought up according to the customs of the Idumæans, he was considered an Idumæan, although he was an Ascalonite. Augustus was at that time in the forty-fifth year of his reign, in the consulship of Silvanus, on the eighth day before the Kalends of January. ^A

Athanasius of Alexandria, On False Prophets.

^B The Lord said: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits." If, therefore, you see anyone, O brother, who has a modest appearance, do not pay attention [to it], even if he is clothed in a sheep's skin, and has the title of presbyter, or bishop, or deacon, or ascetic, but inquire more curiously into his works: whether he is temperate, whether he is hospitable, whether he is merciful; whether he has charity, whether he perseveres in prayers, whether he is patient. If he has a belly for a god, and a throat for a hell, suffering from the disease of hoarding riches, and trafficking in piety, let him go; for he is not a skilled shepherd, but a ravening wolf. But if you know how to judge trees by their fruits—what they are in their nature, taste, and richness—much more, through their works, ought you to make an examination of those who use Christ for gain, because, while they pretend to some reputation for holiness, they possess a diabolical soul. But if you do not gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles, what do you suppose, that you can hear anything ^C good from prevaricators, or learn anything useful from traitors? Avert yourself, therefore, from them as from Arabian wolves, and thorns of disobedience, and thistles of iniquity, and evil trees. If you see some wise man, according to the counsel of Wisdom, watch for him in the morning, and let your foot wear out the thresholds of his doors, that you may learn from him the shadows of the law and the gifts of graces. For neither sophistic speech nor a modest habit introduce one into the kingdom of heaven; but a perfect and guileless faith, with a virtue-filled and conspicuous prudence. ^D

Athanasius of Alexandria. How it should be understood: "He who looks upon a woman," etc.

He commits adultery in his heart with the woman who has consented to the deed, but whom either place, or time, or the fear of Roman laws has restrained from an illicit and wicked union. That many, moreover, who have not outwardly committed the sin, have been punished as adulterers, it is easy for all to make manifest from

^A Holophernes. For when he was eager to perpetrate his wickedness, Judith, as a kind of law of justice, drawing her sword, cut off his head, after having invoked for help and protection God, the giver of the laws, and the helper of temperance. In the same way, the two elders, when they had said to Susanna: "We are in desire for you," even though they had not performed the deed, were punished as adulterers and suffered the penalty of death. If, therefore, there be any person at the present time who is intemperate in this manner, lascivious, desiring the wives of others, he commits adultery in his mind. For he who has command over his affects, being pure from any transgression and from obscene words, he is not an adulterer, but one who masters his passions, restraining the weight of pleasure by fear of the divine, even as a great wave of the sea is held back by a solid and powerful rock.

Athanasius of Alexandria. Interpretation of the text: "Praise the Lord from the earth, you dragons and all abysses."

After the Holy Spirit has commanded the heavenly orders to celebrate the Lord with praises, ^B he transfers the discourse to earthly things, and commands the same. Now since there are three orders—the heavenly, the earthly, and the infernal—who bow the knee to Jesus, the heavenly orders indeed use the preceding words for the hymn: but the earthly, by the saying: "Princes and all judges of the earth; young men and virgins." But before he makes mention of these, he turns to the infernal, which he signifies through the dragons and the abysses. For those souls also of those ancient giants, who had once been disobedient and waged war against God, are signified by the dragons. Indeed, even the whole multitude of men in the entire world, who existed in the first ages and had been held by death, bow the knee, inasmuch as they have been liberated from it; for He said to those who were in bonds, "Go forth," and to those who were in darkness... Wherefore they also are called to the hymn along with their princes and with notable men. That those, however, who had once been disobedient and had resisted God have been liberated, Peter hinted ^C in his Catholic Epistles, saying: "In which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who were sometimes disobedient."

[A manuscript copy of a Greek volume from the Vatican Library, number 790, in thick 12mo and on papyrus paper, appears to be four hundred years old; it is written in an elegant hand and in minuscule letters. It is a collection of various fragments of the works of the holy Fathers. Such a fragment is found among others:]

Of the Great Athanasius, from a sermon against heresies.

"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." He has two forms; hold fast to both, do not adulterate either. For neither, when the Son of God is man and God, did He destroy the form of God; nor, when He is God, did He refuse the human form. Since, therefore, He has two forms, namely that of the master and that of the servant: the one divine by nature, the other ^D by nature

human; one before the ages, the other in the most recent times; one from the Father, the other from the Virgin; one from the only (Father), the other from the only (Mother); since these two things have subsisted in Him, they are two in one. For we neither divide God the Word from the body, nor do we know two Sons and Christs, but the Son of God before the ages, made perfect man in later times from the very womb of the Virgin. For as the Father who begat Him begat a perfect Son, so He Himself, being one Son and Word of the Father, wishing to save man who had been utterly destroyed, became perfect man; so that while saving the exterior, He might not neglect the interior. For having assumed a body, He did not leave behind the soul ^B and mind, but assumed these as well.

MONITUM IN SEQUENS FRAGMENTUM

Let the learned reader remember that Athanasius, in his *History of the Arians to the Monks*, frequently speaks of the Meletian, Simoniac, and Arian bishops, and indeed pagans and others guilty of great crimes, who occupied all of Egypt during the final persecution of Constantius. So much so that there was hardly anyone in the Alexandrian patriarchate who was not either an Arian or a Meletian, or who did not at least pretend to adhere to the Arian party. Athanasius bids the Catholics avoid these and cast them out from their assembly, if indeed this is his (writing), which is probable: for we believe these things to correspond to his time, although the brevity of the excerpt removes the ability to define the matter. We see, indeed, that the Catholic citizens of Oxyrhynchus, because their bishop Theodorus had cast himself into the camp of the Arians, withdrew from his communion, and Athanasius says that all the peoples throughout Egypt abhorred such wicked prelates (54). This fragment comes from the Vatican Codex, number 392, a parchment of excellent quality, and transmitted to us by our brothers in Rome.

St. Athanasius the Great

^C Walking, then, along the unswerving and life-giving path, let us pluck out the eye if it is an occasion of stumbling to us; not indeed the sensible eye, but the spiritual one: as, for instance, if a bishop or presbyter, who are the eyes of the Church, conduct themselves wickedly and cause the people to stumble, they must be cast out. For it is better to gather in the house of prayer without them, than to be cast together with them, as with Annas and Caiaphas, into the gehenna of fire. Similarly, if the deacon, who is considered as the hand, does something unworthy, let him be separated from the altar.

From the Paschal Chronicle, page 4 of the latest edition

And Athanasius, that great luminary of the Alexandrian Church, in the aforementioned letter to Bishop Epiphanius, teaches, saying thus: ^D Therefore, just as you have shared in the struggles and the joy, so too put an end to the complaints; or rather, pray that henceforth the Church may enjoy firm peace, and that heresies may be restrained from their wicked purpose; and may they cease their quarreling, those who have devised questions for themselves under the pretext of the salutary Pascha, but in reality for the sake of mere contention; because, while they seem to be of our number and boast of being called Christians, they emulate those traitors, the Jews. For what plausible defense could they have, when it is written: “On the first day of the Unleavened Bread, and as it was necessary...”

to sacrifice the Passover. But it happened well then; now, however, according to that which is written: They always go astray in their heart.” There exists also a fragment of an Epistle to the Antiochenes, distinct from that which we published above, in the Lateran Council, vol. VI of the Councils, page 301.

Of the same (Athanasius) from the dogmatic Epistle to the Antiochenes.

^A Wherefore the Word is indeed termed God, but the man is presented in a genealogy, so that the same One may exist naturally and truly as both: God, indeed, as regards eternity and the work of creation; man, as regards the birth from a woman and the growth of stature and age; and God, indeed, in His lifegiving operations, but man in sympathies similar to our own, and in the weaknesses that affect us.

^A 1029 There exist also in Facundus of Hermiane, book II, p. 468 of the first edition, from the Epistle to the Antiochenes, the same, as we conjecture, in these words:

...born of the Father: and concerning Jesus indeed, who is of Mary, he writes to Timothy: “Remember that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, from the seed of David, according to my Gospel.” Regarding God the Word, however, that He is always with the Father, he said that He is all things.

What, therefore, the holy Athanasius also says in the Epistle to the Antiochenes we ought to look into. For, being learned in the ancients and a teacher of the law, and reading the Proverbs of Solomon, and finding two persons concerning the Lord, one indeed regarding the man whom He was about to assume for us from Mary, the other ^B regarding the Word, who is eternally before all ages with the Father...

There follows thence a passage from the Epistle of Peter, who held the Alexandrian see after Athanasius. In it, this Epistle of Athanasius to the Antiochenes is praised. But along with Sirmond, we judge this Epistle to the Antiochenes to be extremely suspect, being such as contains a doctrine utterly abhorrent to that of Athanasius. And if it is praised by Peter, the successor of Athanasius, that was perhaps done with an equal fraud of the Nestorians, that they might more easily defend their fabrication. Furthermore, another fragment of the same Epistle to the Antiochenes occurs shortly after in the same book, page 469, as follows:

In the same Epistle, therefore, to the Antiochenes, in which his successor Peter asserted that the bishop of blessed memory, Athanasius, had diligently explained all things, this also is contained:

“Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, the same is for the ages.” Yesterday, indeed, signifies before the ages, eternity: today, however, the earthly age; for the ages, however, after the passing of this life. But Jesus Christ, who is understood according to the man of the Savior, is not the same. For he who assumed the advancement of age, being at one time an infant and at another time a man, beginning as if he were thirty years of age, as Luke says, cannot be the same.

And a little further down these are added, page 470:

...the operation of the body of the Lord, and how some refer to him that which was said: “The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works,” as Scripture says, before the mountains and hills, before the fountains, and before the age was begotten and created? Those who say these things are thought to be praised by some, not distinguishing which person cries out through the prophetic spirit concerning the body of the Lord, and which teaches concerning his eternal generation from the Father.

And a little further down:

Again in the same Epistle: The Holy Spirit of life, he says, is with the Father and the Son, passing through each of the prophets in their generations, who indicates what will be and what has been, having eyes before and behind, that is, as we have said, the knowledge of future and past things, which he narrates in Solomon from the person of the son of man from Mary, and of the Son of God the Word who was from the beginning with the Father: and signifying two persons, concerning the man indeed who was created and fashioned from Mary: but concerning that One who is before the ages without beginning and of eternal birth. Since, therefore, the seducers of words, and those not learned in the spirit, cause the unlearned to err by observing these things and saying: “A four-hundred-year-old is...”

Facundus follows: There are many similar things in this Epistle, which were said against the Apollinarists, which the Nestorians also assume for the assertion of their own error.

Truly, this repetition of two persons in Christ increases the suspicion of fabrication. For what similar thing does Athanasius have, or rather, does he not always imply one person in his books against the Apollinarists? Thus page 747: "ἵνα εἷς ᾖ τὰ ἑκάτερα, τέλειος κατὰ πάντα, Θεὸς καὶ ἄνθρωπος ὁ αὐτός." That is: “That both may be one in all things perfect, the same identical God and man.” He repudiates the fabrication more openly, page 756: "Οὐκ ἐν διαιρέσει προσώπων, ἀλλ' ἐν ὑπάρξει θεότητος καὶ ἀνθρωπότητος." Id est: “Not in a division of persons, but in the existence of deity and humanity.”

And lower down, page 506, he presents another doubtful fragment, which reads as follows: “What was,” he says, “voluntary and non-voluntary in Christ? From the Jews: dishonor, detractions, injuries, blows, and beyond these, slanders, and what in all things is the ultimate, the death of the body. But if it had been possible for Him, being without suffering, to obtain for us what He strove for, He would not have wished to suffer. But since the Jews were to be altogether and inexcusably such as to presume those things which were done to Him, He took upon Himself to suffer, and made voluntary that which was not voluntary, through the utility derived from the passion.”

From Facundus of Hermiane, another passage of better note is added to the commendation of Diodorus of Tarsus, and it is an excerpt from a letter of a certain Athanasius to Diodorus, from the beginning, in these words: “The blessed Athanasius therefore writes to the aforementioned holy Diodorus: To my lord, my son, and most beloved fellow-priest, Diodorus, bishop of Tarsus, Athanasius, greetings in the Lord. I give thanks to my Lord, who everywhere establishes His doctrine, and especially through His own sons, such as you yourself are, as the matter itself demonstrates. For even before your reverence wrote, we knew how much grace was accorded in Tyre through your perseverance, and we rejoice with you because through you Tyre has also known the right word of piety. And I, taking the occasion, have written to you, most beloved and most loving one. But as for you, I have wondered how you have not replied to my writing. Therefore, do not be sluggish in writing continually, knowing that just as a son, you make me, your father, rest, and as a herald of truth, you greatly gladden me. And do not contend against heretics, but by silence overcome their verbosity, and by gentleness their malice. For thus your speech, seasoned with salt, will have grace; but they will be so to the conscience of all. . . .”

In Volume V of the Councils, in the *Hispania* collection 11, page 1673, these two fragments are presented: The holy Athanasius, in the Treatise which he wrote on the Nativity of Christ, says thus: “In this, therefore, most beloved brothers, let our faith be, in this let our whole salvation and life consist, that we believe in God, the Son of God, generated invisibly by God the Father before all ages: then, that He was born of the Virgin Mary according to man, and according to this man, suffered, died, was buried, rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven.”

Item, the same in the *Exposition of the Faith*: “The Word,” he says, “is born of the Virgin Mary, taking an animal body; but the Word is not consumed by the flesh; but is in the flesh and above the flesh. And just as God is said to be, so also is the power of God, the truth of God; but He suffered in human flesh; yet the Word of God is impassible. In the passion indeed the man dies, so that He might vivify the protoplast who had fallen through disobedience.”

THE LEGATION OF EUGENIUS THE DEACON TO ATHANASIUS

MONITUM ON THE GREATER SERMON OF ATHANASIUS ON THE FAITH

since we see far longer works called by the name of a *libellus*, such as the *Libellus precum* of Faustinus and Marcellinus—should deter us from this opinion, for it may appear to indicate a small work. Why, then, should Rufinus not have called this work a *libellus* as well?

To return to that "Dominical man," or *Κυριακὸς ἄνθρωπος*, which is frequently employed in this work by Athanasius; this was certainly a source of suspicion for many. For Rufinus relates, in the same place, that when Damasus was dealing with the reception of the Apollinarists into the Church, he had entrusted to Jerome the task of writing a confession of faith, in which these words, "Dominical man," were present. But they, being moved by the unusual nature of the term, refused to give their assent to such a confession. What happened subsequently in this matter, he recounts at greater length, and we have already taken the opportunity to note it in the *Admonitio* to the *Expositio fidei* in volume I of the works of Athanasius, p. 78. Likewise, when Augustine, in book II of *De sermone Domini in monte*, c. 6, n. 20, had called Christ a "Dominical man," he later testified in his book of *Retractationes*, c. 19, n. 8, that he did not wish to have said this, although it might be defended on some grounds.

Since, therefore, these words, "Dominical man," labored under suspicion among some, it came to pass that some have doubted the *Expositio fidei*, which appears among the works of Athanasius, vol. I, pag. 79, and which is as it were a compendium of this discourse, because in that little work, *τὸ Κυριακὸς ἄνθρωπος* is read twice. But this is an injustice; for this formula of speech is considered to be of that class of terms which can be used in a good or a bad sense, according to each person's intention and belief. The term *τὸ Κυριακὸς ἄνθρωπος* sounds bad if one posits a man in Christ who is distinct from the Word, who is a person by himself, as certain Dimeritae did, who impiously said that the Word came into Jesus Christ just as He formerly came into the prophets. However, they think and speak correctly who understand the "Dominical man" as the human nature in Christ. Athanasius used these words in this sense, not only in the *Expositio*, but also throughout this *Sermo major de fide*, as anyone may see, and in the *Expositiones in Psalmos*, on verse 6 of Psalm XL. Nor is it only Athanasius, but Epiphanius also says, in vol. II of the Petavius edition, p. 84: *Τοῦτο γὰρ εἰς τὸν Κυριακὸν ἄνθρωπον πληροῦται*, that is, "For this is fulfilled in the Dominical man." And Pseudo-Athanasius in the *Disputatio contra Arium*, vol. II [now IV], p. 1115, uses the same formula of speech. From which you may see that the effort of those who wished to exile such a term from the genuine works of Athanasius has not succeeded well, as it is certainly undeserved.

Furthermore, Athanasius proceeds here in a syllogistic manner, and defends the deity of Christ, having borrowed his arguments from the Scriptures. He refutes the arguments of the Arians—whom, however, he nowhere mentions—with the testimonies of those same Scriptures. And he defeats not only Arians, but also any other heretics who might attack the incarnation of Christ for any reason, with the same weapons, namely, the utterances of the Scriptures. And he brings forth his syllogisms so clearly and perspicuously that the grief for the truncated state of the work is thereby even increased; for I judge it to be mutilated in the greatest part of itself, and lost by some chance I know not what.

However, no indication of the time appears here. Indeed, Athanasius touches on nothing that relates to the circumstances of the times. Yet perhaps it might have been possible to detect this, if the work had come down to us complete and perfect in all its parts. For it was habitual for Athanasius, especially at the beginning of his books, both to indicate not obscurely what the cause was for undertaking the work, and who the adversaries were that had impelled him to take up the matter. But here the entire beginning is missing, and in the course of the work you may detect frequent gaps.

[A fragment of the same discourse, which does not appear here, we have subjoined from the *Bibliotheca nova* of Cardinal Mai (vol. II, p. 583). ED.]

OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS, ATHANASIUS: THE LARGER DISCOURSE ON FAITH.

S. P. N. ATHANASII SERMO MAJOR DE FIDE.

1. For that, it is referred to His deity; but that, *the Word was made flesh*, to the body. John 1, 1.

14. ^A *The Word was made flesh*, not resolved into flesh, but bearing flesh; just as if one were to say: "So-and-so has become an old man," not having been born as such from the beginning; or, "The soldier has become a veteran," not having been such before, as he has now become. John says, "I was,"—*I became*, he says, "in the island of Patmos, on the Lord's day;" not that he was generated there, or born there; but he said, "I was in Patmos," meaning, "I arrived." So also the Word arrived in the flesh, as it is written: *The Word was made flesh*. Hear Him saying: *I became as a vessel that is lost*, and, *I was made as a man without help, free among the dead*.

2. Was He man, or God? The apostle Peter explains this, knowing it better than we do, and says: *Taking Him down from the tree, they laid Him in a tomb; but God raised Him from the dead*. The dead body of Jesus, then, having been taken down from the tree and laid in a tomb, and having been buried by Joseph of Arimathea, was raised by the Word Himself, who said: *Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up*. For He who gives life to all the dead, also gave life to the man born of Mary, Christ Jesus, whom He assumed. For if, being on the cross, He raised the previously dissolved bodies of the saints, much more was He able to raise the body which He Himself bore, He who is the ever-living God the Word, as Paul says: *For the Word of God is living and effectual*.

3. Life, therefore, cannot die, but rather gives life to the dead. ^C He is, then, a fountain of life by His deity from the Father; but He who died, and who was raised from the dead, and who also intercedes for us, is man, born of the Virgin Mary, whom the deity of the Word assumed for our sake. The fact, therefore, that it is written, *In the beginning was the Word*, clearly indicates His deity. But that, *The Word was made flesh*, shows the Lord's humanity.

1031 4. It happened that Lazarus died, having been affected by disease; ^D but the Lord's humanity did not die because of some preceding illness, nor against His will; but of His own accord He approached the economy of death, being strengthened by the God the Word who dwelt within Him, who said: *No one takes my soul from me. I lay it down of myself; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up*. It is, therefore, the deity of the Son that lays down and takes up the soul of the man He bore. For He assumed the complete man, so that He might give life to him completely, and with him to the dead.

5. For He Himself, being powerful and the Creator of all things, in the Virgin prepares for Himself a temple, the body, and makes it His own as an instrument, being known in it and dwelling in it. For this reason He takes to Himself a body capable of dying; so that the same body of the Word of God

^A partaking of the Word, might be sufficient for death on behalf of all, and because of the indwelling Word, might remain incorruptible.

6. For the Word of God, being above all, ^B by offering His own temple and bodily instrument as a substitute for all, fulfilled the debt which was due in death. And because He, the incorruptible Son of God, was united with all by the likeness of the body, He naturally clothed all with incorruptibility in the promise of the resurrection. And the very corruption which follows death, according to man, no longer has a place, because of the Word that has dwelt in them through the one body. And just as when a great king enters a city and resides in one of the houses within it, such a city is undoubtedly rendered worthy of great honor, and no enemy or robber any longer dares to attack or destroy it, but rather it is accounted worthy of all care because of the king who has made his abode in one of its houses; so has it happened with our Savior. For since He came into our region and took up a dwelling in one of the bodies similar to ours, henceforth every ^C plot against man [has ceased].

7. For He was not circumscribed by the body, nor was He in the body in such a way that He was not elsewhere; nor was He moving the body while other things were deprived of His providence. But, what is most paradoxical, being the Word, He was not contained by anything, but rather He Himself contained all things. By the entry of the Word into the body, the body was no longer corrupted according to its own nature, but because of the indwelling Word of God, it became exempt from corruption. For the body indeed suffered, as it suffered according to the nature of bodies; but it had the nature of incorruptibility from the Word who dwelt within it.

8. The Son of God Himself ^D showed that the body which had become dead was deathless and incorruptible; and it was shown to all that the body did not die through any weakness of the nature of the indwelling Word, but in order that death might be destroyed in it by the power of the Savior.

9. What end was there to be for the body, when the Word had come upon it? It could not die, for it was mortal, and was being offered to death on behalf of all, for which reason the Savior had prepared it for Himself; yet it could not remain dead, as it was the temple of life. Wherefore, as mortal, it died; but because of the life that was in it, it rose again.

10. What incredible thing is said by us, when we say that the Word of God took His seat upon straying and fallen human nature, and became man, so that by His governance and goodness He might bring salvation to it when it was tossed by a storm? ***

11. To the soul, indeed, it pertains to contemplate the things within its own body by thought; but yet not [the things] externally.

to act upon those things ^A which are outside the body, nor to move those things which consist far from the body by its presence. Never, therefore, does a man, placed far away, move or transfer those things: for neither does anyone sitting at home, while thinking of things in heaven, move the sun or revolve the heaven; but he sees that those things are moved and created; yet not so that he is able to effect anything of them. But the Word of God is not of this kind in man; for it was not bound to the body, but rather itself occupied it with authority; so that it was at once in the body and in all things; and yet was outside all things, and in the Father alone.

12. Observe, I pray, ^B if they do not move laughter against themselves, who are accounted wise among the Greeks; while they say the world is a great body, and they speak truly while saying these things: for we perceive it and its individual parts, since they fall under the senses. If, therefore, the Word of God exists in the world itself, which is a body, and at the same time has pervaded all things and the parts of it as well; what is wonderful or what is absurd if we say that it has also arrived in man? And if, while the whole nature of created things exists, it is not absurd for the Word to be in it, it will not be absurd equally for it to be in man. It is not, therefore, unbecoming for the Word to be in man, and for all things to be illuminated and moved by it and in it.

13. Seeing, therefore, that Adam was deceived by the devil ^C and transgressed the commandment of his Maker, and had fallen under the curse and the hold of death, the Word of God, the Creator of all, having fashioned for Himself from the Virgin Mary, who drew her origin from Adam, a most pure body capable of containing the whole fullness of the Divinity bodily, and to bear human passions, that is to say, sufferings, He voluntarily delivered it up for the whole world; so that He might kill the devil, who once held the empire of death, by the death of His own body. But the blood does not flow from the spirit of the divinity of the Word; but from the man whom He assumed.

14. Illud. *I am the vine*; and, *My Father is greater than I*; item, *He created me*; and, *I am a worm and no man*; and whatever ^D things He said in the Gospels and in the prophets concerning Himself that were humble and abject, look to the body which He took for our sake. Nor do we ascribe the passible body, which He took for the salvation of the universe, to the Father: for all things were created by the Father through the Son. But the Son alone was begotten of the Father: wherefore the Word of God is the firstborn of all creation; for He is immutable from the immutable; therefore the body which He took for us is a created thing.

15. For having assumed Adam with his affections in all things except sin, [namely] Him who is called Jesus, so that through Him the lost sheep might be brought back to the Father.

^A as a sheep led to the slaughter, and as a lamb silent before the shearer; ^A concerning whom Paul writes: "The man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for us." And in another place he says: "By a man [came] death, and by a man [came] the resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be brought to life."

16. For through Him the Word all things were made and created, but He Himself was not made; rather, the Scriptures declare that the man Himself whom He assumed for our sake was made and created. For the Lord says: "Every branch remaining in me brings forth fruit"; and in the man whom He assumed, who was of the lineage of Adam, He brought to life that which was of the lineage of Adam.

17. Consider, I pray, that no one has hitherto known the Son of God as He is, until He manifested Himself to us. But the Son of man whom He assumed for our sake, we know, of whom Paul said: "Consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus, who is faithful to Him who made Him." Of whom also Stephen says: "I see the Son of man standing at the right hand of God"; ^B he did not say that he saw the Word or the Wisdom of the Father, but the Son of man, the Lordly body born of Mary.

18. As concerns what is written, "Jesus increased in age, and wisdom, and grace"; this is indeed said of the man who is understood to exist in the Savior, who at one time was an infant, and at one time progressed in age, and in wisdom and grace, beginning as it were at thirty years of age, as the evangelist Luke says. The body, indeed, which admits of both progress and age, is a created and fashioned thing. But Jesus Christ, who is understood as the man in the Savior, He it is who admits of the progression of age, at one time being an infant, at one time a man, beginning as it were at thirty years of age, as Luke says. ^C He, therefore, the man Christ Jesus who admits the succession of ages, who became a faithful apostle and high priest to Him who made Him, He it is who undergoes this progress.

19. Stephen says: "I see the Son of man standing at the right hand of the power of God"; he did not say that he saw the Word or the Wisdom of the Father, but the Son of man, the Lordly body taken from Mary, which Paul says sits at the right hand of God. Concerning which body David says prophetically from the person of the Father: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." Since He foresaw that the enemies would be the devil and his ministering opposing powers, who were hostile to the Lordly man, ^D knowing also that the devil, who has the power of death, would be destroyed through His death. For those who diminish the deity of the Word, as if the Lord could not by Himself avenge Himself of His enemies—because, forsooth, the Father said to the Son: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool"—let those ignorant men know, that this word was spoken concerning the man according to the flesh

For in David’s own words, it is written concerning the Lord’s man: "No enemy shall profit against him." The body, therefore, is that to which He says: "Sit at my right hand," whose enemy was the devil with the evil powers, as well as the Jews and Greeks. ^B

20. When the blessed Paul had said that all things were created in Him, he affirmed that He alone is before all things. For, being educated by the ancients—since he was learned in the law, and having diligently studied the proverbs of Solomon, and having discerned two modes of speaking regarding the Lord: one concerning the man whom He was about to assume from Mary, and another concerning the Word who was begotten eternally from the Father before all ages—he writes to Timothy concerning Jesus who was born of Mary: "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, from the seed of David according to the flesh." But concerning the Word of God who is always with the Father, he said that He is before all things. Let those, therefore, who say that the Word of God was created as the beginning of works be refuted by all the saints, and let them hear from David that He is not a work, but the Creator of works, as he says: "The heavens are the works of your hands: they shall perish, but you shall remain." ^C

21. "Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, and the same for the ages," is said of the man who is understood in the Savior. He is the same who was once an infant, then advanced in age and grace, and was then beginning to be about thirty years old, as the evangelist Luke says. Now that body which admits of advancement and stature, that is, is a created thing and a work. Let those, therefore, who are refuted by the saints, and who say that the Word born of the Father is a created thing, either cease from their impious blasphemies, or be proclaimed by all as enemies of Christ. For where they feel themselves defeated, they confidently take refuge in the passage in Proverbs which says: "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works." But they stumble; for Solomon, prophesying by the inspiration of the Spirit concerning Him who was to come for the benefit of the whole world, to be created from Mary as the Lord’s man, said from His person: "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works." ^D

22. Therefore, let every house of Israel know most assuredly, that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. The apostles, pointing with their finger to the very man of the Lord who was crucified, said: "God has made this Jesus both Christ and Lord." This very man of the Lord was openly created as the beginning of the ways written beforehand for our benefit, the prince of all the saints and of those who are called ways, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who was made and crucified.

^A Concerning whom Jeremiah also said, according to the edition of the Septuagint translators: "The Lord created me as a new plantation of salvation, in which salvation men shall walk round about"; but according to Aquila, regarding the same passage, it says: "The Lord created a new thing in a woman." He calls this salvation "new" and not "old," created for us, and not before us. But whom he calls the new [thing] created in a woman, understand to be the man Jesus who is in the Savior. For Jesus is explained at one time as Savior, at another as salvation; salvation from the Savior, just as illumination is from light: him whom he says is the Lord Jesus, created for us as salvation, [as a] new [thing] in a woman, that is to say, in Mary, or rather, from Mary. Therefore, he whom Solomon says was created as the beginning of the ways, and whom Jeremiah says was created as a new salvation, and [a] new [thing] in a woman, him whom Wisdom built for herself as a house, namely Christ Jesus, we have proven by the testimony of the Scriptures. Now let us follow the rest, which some, either out of ignorance or out of a prejudiced opinion, persisting in error, neither wish to teach correctly nor to be taught.

25. If all were able to understand the divine oracles ^B in a spiritual manner, he would by no means desire to impart spiritual grace to them; nor would he give them milk to drink, if all were able to partake of solid food. But for those who are, as it were, infants in the word of divine knowledge, he ensures that they are imbued with the rudiments of primary instruction, as infants to be nourished with milk; inasmuch as they cannot yet be fed with the bread of the angels, that is, with God the Word, who lies hidden in human flesh.

24. It is proper, therefore, for us, as skilled dispensers of divine mysteries, to impart the word according to the capacity and ability of each. For old wineskins burst when they are unable to contain the new wine of the true vine, that is, the word of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since, therefore, some—or rather, many—who cannot yet be numbered among the disciples have, out of a certain rashness and petulance, approached the task of teaching, knowing neither what they say nor whereof they affirm, ^C being blinded in the eyes of their mind, and not endowed with a mind dedicated to the contemplation of God, as Jacob was, nor having a clean heart to see God; these, when they attribute to the deity of the Word the humble works and the voices testifying to poverty written concerning the man of the Savior, whom he bore for us, fall into error, and together drag the unskilled and the weak into error; for us, a necessity arises, as Judas writes, to explain through this letter what sayings belong to the deity of the Word, and which, conversely, to the human nature assumed for our sake. For just as gold coins and silver ones are kept together in one and the same purse, ^D and both bear the image of one king and the inscription of his name; yet the money-changer, with whom these things are, well knows how much the gold excels, and at what price [it is valued] in comparison to the lesser value of the silver; so also, if in one Scripture [you find passages] concerning the deity of the Son and concerning the [humanity] from

the body which he assumed for us from Mary; yet we shall recognize each of these things as discerning disciples of the one true Teacher. As many, therefore, as are the humble words and similar works, consider them written concerning the body of Jesus: and as many as are glorious and sublime, refer them to the deity of the Word. When after the fast he is pressed by hunger, it is the infirmity of the body; but when with five loaves he feeds five thousand, besides children and women, and twelve baskets of fragments remain over, it is the work of the deity of the Word. When he sleeps on a cushion in the boat, it is corporeal rest. When, walking upon the sea, he threatens the waves and the winds: "Peace, be still," he immediately hears those in the boat confessing with an oath: "Truly, you are the Son of God." When, standing at the tomb of Lazarus, he weeps, and when he was about to suffer, he says: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death," and is troubled, and the Spirit of the deity is indeed ready, ^B speaking for the whole economy, but the flesh is weak: it is the infirmity of the body to be sorrowful and to be troubled. When with the authority of one commanding he says: "Lazarus, come forth," and the dead man of four days, already decayed, arises, which had not happened since the beginning of creation: it is a sign of his deity. When, tired from his journey for our sake, he sits at the well, it is the body that is fatigued. When he says: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest"; it is the work of his deity to deliver from both bodily diseases and labors, and from dangers of the soul. When he is baptized by John, who committed no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth, it is the propitiation of the body for our sake; but when he commands the apostles to baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, it pertains to his divine power. When he bends his knees and prays as a man, it is the confession of the body for our sake; but when, as he is ^C transfigured on the mount, Peter and James and John, not being able to bear his glory, incline their faces and knees to the earth before the glory of the deity: it is the power of the Word. When he strengthens the apostles by saying: "Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul," this is the hidden and powerful exhortation of the deity; when he prays that he might not die, it is the fear of the body. For before Adam transgressed, there was neither sorrow, nor fear, nor labor, nor hunger, nor death.

25. "I am," he says, "the way" of those who are being saved, and "the life" of the dead, and the "truth" of those who flee from falsehood, saying to those who are in darkness: "Be revealed." "I am the light of the world." For having clothed himself with Adam, together with his affections—sin apart—namely, him who was called Jesus, through him he offered the lost sheep to the Father, as a sheep upon

^A the slaughter brought, or as a lamb before the shearer is dumb. Regarding whom Paul writes: *There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for us and for our sins.* And in another place the Apostle says: *By man came death, and by man came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.* And again, in another place, he writes: *The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.* By the first Adam, therefore, he denotes the first-formed man of the world; but by the second Adam, the man understood in the Savior, who is called Son of man, sheep, vine, bread, tree, grain of wheat, and things similar to these. He is also called Adam, even though the second differs greatly from the first. For the former was made from the earth, while the latter, being the Word of the Father, became flesh—not becoming emptied of being the Word because he bore flesh, just as gold is not deprived of its own beauty because it is enclosed in a shapeless purse.

26. When, however, our teacher says in another place, *Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus, who is faithful to him who made him*, ^B beware of thinking that the Word of God is a created thing, who is from the beginning with God the Father. For he does not say that the invisible deity is to be considered, but the Lord’s humanity, which Paul called the mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for us. Whom he said we should consider—Jesus, that is, who is faithful to him who made him—as the Lord says: *Consider the ravens, that they neither sow*, etc., and again: *Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.* He says that those things which are manifest are to be considered, and not angels or other invisible creations. For even if Habakkuk the prophet said: *I considered thy works, and was afraid*, he says that he considered the works, and not the creator of the works. And similarly, the Apostle says that the body of the Lord, which falls under ^C sight, ought to be considered, but not the invisible deity of the Word; *for no man has seen God at any time, neither can he see him*, although the Word was and is God, as the theologian John says. Him, therefore, whom we are taught to consider—the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for us, whom he calls apostle and faithful high priest—he bids us consider insofar as he is a created thing. All things, therefore, were indeed created; but the Word of God is not a creature, seeing he is the Son of God, but is begotten according to nature; for the Father created all things through the Word, as Paul says: *In him were all things created*; and as John says: *All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made.* But God does not create the Word himself, but begets him; for ^D through the Word all things were made and created; he himself, however, was not made, but the Scriptures indicate that he became man for our sake and was created.

^A 27. The Lord says, "Every branch in me that bears no fruit..." and in the man whom He bore from the earth-born Adam, He will make alive the race of Adam, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, as Peter writes; for he says that He was put to death in the flesh for our sake, and not in His immortal and life-giving divinity. For the Lord says: "I am the life." Life, therefore, neither dies, but rather makes the dead alive. For just as light is not harmed in a dark place, nor can life suffer anything when it visits mortal nature; for the divinity of the Word is immutable and unchangeable.

28. "Who," he says, "has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor who will instruct him?" The Son alone is the counselor of the Father, and He has known His mind, He who says: "No one knows the Father except the Son, and no one knows the Son ^B except the Father, and to whom the Son reveals him." John says, therefore, concerning the Lord: "When he appears, we shall be like him, and we shall see him as he is." Observe that until now no one has seen the Son of God as He is, until He should manifest Himself to us; but we have seen the man He bore for our sake, of whom Paul said: "Consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus, who is faithful to the one who made him." Whom Stephen also mentions: "I see the Son of man standing at the right hand of the power of God." He did not say he saw the Word or the Wisdom of the Father, but the Son of man, the Lord's body from Mary; which Paul also says: "Who sits ^C at the right hand of God." Concerning this body David speaks prophetically from the person of the Father: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"; whom He foreknew would be enemies, the devil and the opposing powers that were working with him, which were hostile to the Lord's man, knowing through His death that they were to be brought to naught, and the devil who had the power of death, and the Jews who were His enemies, in whom that which is written is fulfilled: "Because they hated me without cause." For though they were being taught by Him things most useful for themselves, they dared to scourge and crucify Him, calling Him a Samaritan and possessed by a demon and a sinful man, ^D even though sin had been condemned by Him. Of whom it is written: "They shall look on him whom they pierced." When they see Him in the day of judgment judging the living and the dead, as John says concerning the Son: "As he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man," moved by repentance, tribe by tribe they shall say: "This is he whom we once held in derision," saying to Him: "You saved others, but you cannot save yourself." Therefore, the Lord's

^A body is that which is written of through David: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." For before this prophecy of David, the Word was in the bosom of the Father, and He had no enemies in heaven. For no one was with the Father before the creation except the Son and the Holy Spirit. For the Father, through the Son, made the infinite ages, the principalities, the powers, and every creature. Since, therefore, the God Word, who is the Lord of all, has nothing in common with anyone—neither property nor wealth—and no one is able to resist Him, how could He have enemies? For those who diminish the divinity of the Word, as if the Lord could not avenge Himself upon His enemies, suppose that the Father said to the Son: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." But let the ignorant realize, even now, that this was written concerning the Savior insofar as He is viewed as a man. For it is written in the same David concerning the Lord's ^B man: "An enemy shall not prevail against you," and again: "The scourge shall not draw near your tabernacle."

29. "The Lord," he says, "has prepared His throne in heaven." It is one thing to say, "Heaven is my throne," and another for a throne to be prepared in heaven as if in some specific place. A great many words are required for the exposition of these things at present; but the aforementioned thrones denote the obedience of all created things. We have prefaced these remarks to the passage, "Sit at my right hand," because it was spoken concerning the Lord's body. For if, "I fill heaven and earth," says the Lord, as Jeremiah says, and God contains all things and is contained by none, upon what throne will He sit? It is therefore the body to which He says, "Sit at my right hand," of which the devil, along with the wicked powers, was also an enemy, as well as the Jews and Greeks who opposed the preachings of Christ; it is through this body that He became and is called High Priest and Apostle, through the mystery which He delivered to us, saying: "This is my body, which is given for you, and the blood of the New Covenant, not the Old, which is poured out for you." Yet the Divinity possesses neither body nor blood, but the man whom He took from Mary became the cause of these things, concerning whom the apostles said: "Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God." ^D By Nazareth he means the earthly city, not the heavenly one. And they call Him a man, not God, before the Jews and others who, like them, think according to the flesh even now. Both the apostles and the Lord Himself answered concerning Himself in a human manner, saying: "Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you?" He did not say, "You seek to kill me, who am God." For God, being impassible and immortal, abolishes death and vivifies the dead; for He says, "I am the life." And to Philip, as he heard—

and the believer, he teaches along with the rest of the apostles, and those similarly able to grasp it spiritually, saying: "He who has seen me has seen the Father; I and the Father are one," and, "I am in the Father and the Father in me." ^A

30. You have, therefore, from this very demonstration of the Scriptures, that it is the man of the Savior whom we are taught to consider as a created thing, but not the invisible divinity of the Word, which is hidden in the Father's bosom, and which no one has seen up to this time. And Paul knew this better than we do, saying: "A great light shone around me, and I fell to the ground. And I heard a voice saying to me: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said: Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said to me: I am Jesus, whom you persecute." He confesses that he was blinded by the glory and brilliance of the Lord's light, and that after three days, by his revelation and command, he recovered his sight. But if Paul, the vessel of election, was blinded because he could not bear the sight of the Lord's glory, who can teach us how we might consider and discern the divinity of the Word himself? But what I have often said, I will now repeat: he told us to consider the man of the Savior, Jesus, who is faithful to Him who made him. ^B

31. "Be imitators of me," he says, "as I am of Christ"; speaking, of course, of the man who is set as the foundation. For of the divinity of the Word, neither Paul nor anyone else can be an imitator, nor can we imitate Christ except in his sufferings and meekness, regarding which Peter says that we should follow in his footsteps; just as Paul also said that he was filling up what was lacking in the tribulations of Christ in his own flesh. Without controversy, therefore, he was in the foreknowledge, founded before the ages in the secrets of the Father's mind, whom the Father was to bring forth as the Lord’s man from Mary. And concerning the Lord’s body, it was openly prophesied to Judah: "Out of you shall come forth to me a ruler; and his beginning is from the beginning, from the days of eternity"; since in the consummation of the ages, God the Word assumed the man from the tribe of Judah. ^C

52. "When," he says, "all things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to Him who subjected all things to him." Let us ask, therefore, who it is that is not subjected to God, unless all things are first subjected to him. For what did the Word who is from the Father not have subjected to him, before the economy of the man assumed for our sake? For all works are subjected to their Maker. But to the man who was assumed, not all things have been subjected even up to this time; for Paul says: "We do not yet see all things subjected to him." For to the Jews it is a scandal, and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to us who believe in him, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. When, therefore, every creature ^D

^A in the clouds shall meet the Son, and be subjected to him; then the Son himself shall be subjected to the Father, having become for all creation a faithful apostle and high priest, so that God may be all in all: that is, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one lordship, divinity, and kingdom. But if anyone says that it was not Jesus who was said to be subjected, but the Word, let him learn that Jesus is called and is the Son of God on account of the Word hidden within him; as Luke, when recording the genealogy, said: "And Jesus himself was beginning about the age of thirty, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph." And having gone through those who follow in the genealogy as far as Adam, he said: "Adam, who was of God"; in order to show that he wore both the body derived from Adam, and the divinity which he has from the Father.

33. Moreover, the Father brings this about and shows it, that he himself knows the day and hour of the judgment, and has delivered all judgment to him; so that, just as they honor the Father, they may honor the Son. But if he has delivered all judgment to him, that he might exercise it, it is clear indeed that the knowledge of it also—namely, when and how it may come to pass—has been delivered to him. He who does not know the day of judgment is Jesus, born of Mary; for the God the Word, who is from the heart of the Father, is ignorant of nothing, who knows all things before they come into being.

34. If, therefore, Jesus says: "My Father is greater than I," and yet says that he is equal to God; let us learn what the cause is, why he calls the Father both greater than himself and equal: the Father is greater than the Son on account of the ^B passible body which the Son bore; but he is equal, insofar as the Father, who is whole, eternally begat the Son who is whole and perfect.

35. Just as Esdras in a prophetic spirit speaks ^C as the person of Zorobabel, and that concerning the Son of God: "The truth lives, and prevails, and is strengthened, and remains unto the ages of ages"; he understands, of course, the body which he was about to bear for our sake, which was to be delivered to death; but not the truth hidden within him, that is, the Word of the Father. Indeed, when Jesus died, the truth descended into the heart of the earth; so that he, being the truth, might liberate those who had been deceived and circumvented by falsehood: just as if some king should go to a prison to visit those who are in bonds; for while he enters he is harmed in no way, but he assists those who are in custody; so God the Word, harmed in no way by the mortal body which he bore for our sake, brought help in the spirit of divinity to those who were dwelling in the prison of hell.

36. ^D When Jacob blesses Judah, from whom the Lord was to take on a human body, he says: "He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape." And he did not do this in a historical sense at all; for he did not wash his own robe in wine. What, then, after he said he would wash his robe in wine, does he add: "And in the blood of the grape"? Is the wine one thing, and the blood of the grape another? Isaiah knows this better

^A than we, who says: "His clothing is as one that treads the winepress. Full of the trodden." Therefore, the clothing that He prophesies to be washed in wine and in the blood of the grape is the garment. For He is the Artificer; since it would be irrational and disorderly for Him to wash His clothing in wine, a thing which it is not recorded that even any of the foolish among men has done. But because He knew beforehand by the Holy Spirit that the Son of God was about to bear a body for us from the Jewish people, which is named the vine and the vineyard, for this reason He said: "From a shoot you have ascended, my son Judah." And the washing of the stole in blood signifies the body of the clothing, by which body and blood, having washed away the sins of men, He clothed all men with His own body.

37. Therefore, let those be put to shame who separate the Son from the Father, just as the vine is separated from the vine-dresser, when they are informed by the holy Scriptures that that parable refers to the body of the Lord, and not to the Godhead. ^B For when He was performing the holy mystery, having given thanks, He said: "Drink from it, all of you; this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you"; even though the wine is not the blood of the Lord, but of the vine. Wherefore the Lord said concerning His own body: "I am the vine." But the blood does not proceed from the spirit of the divinity of the Word, but from the man whom He bore.

38. God says by the prophet Ezekiel: "Pastors, pastors! Do the pastors not feed themselves, and not the sheep? But you have not brought back that which had wandered, you have not sought that which had perished, you have not strengthened that which was weak, you have not bound up that which was lame; nay, you have even oppressed that which was strong with labor. For this reason I will raise up for Myself a faithful shepherd, My servant David; and he shall be shepherd and prince forever." ^C When Ezekiel was prophesying these things in Babylon, David had already been asleep for fourteen generations. But he prophesied the Lord-man, who was to be raised up from the seed of David, of whom Paul writes to Timothy: "Remember that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead from the seed of David according to the flesh."

39. If those who are carnal were unwilling to be taught by the spiritual, who have reached the knowledge of the Scriptures fully and perfectly; yet since they seem to teach the simpler and cruder men, they drag them into the pit. ^D Whereby that which is written is fulfilled: "If the blind leads the blind, both shall fall into the pit," that is, into Hades. If it were taken in a historical sense, the blind could indeed lead the blind; but it is understood of him who is blind concerning the knowledge of divine mysteries. For such men speak thus to each of the unlearned in these matters: "Did He not Himself say through Solomon: 'The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works'? And through Himself and by His own mouth the Son says: 'The Father who sent Me is greater than I'; and again He said: 'I speak nothing of Myself; the Father has commanded Me what I should say and what I should speak.'"

'" ^A Another will, then, does the Father have, and another the Son, as they themselves suppose. For if they have a divided will, why does He say, "Let us make man," and the rest? But they do not distinguish which sayings befit the Godhead, and in turn which befit the man whom He bore.

Fragment from the Coislin Library, p. 112.

Of Blessed Athanasius, from the discourse On Faith.

Synaxes are established by the holy apostles to be celebrated on the fourth day of the week and on the day before the Sabbath, with fasting until the ninth hour, since it was at the dawning of the fourth day that the Lord was seized, and on the day before the Sabbath He was crucified. The apostles delivered that we should fast on these days, so that the saying might be fulfilled: "When the bridegroom shall be taken from them, then shall they fast in those days." And this is not so that we might confer any favor upon Him who suffered for our sake (the fasting was commanded for us), but so that we might acknowledge the Lord's passion to be for our salvation—which He undertook for us—and so that our fasts might be profitable to God for our own sins.

Throughout the whole year, indeed, a fast is observed in the same holy and catholic Church, namely on the fourth day and the day before the Sabbath until the ninth hour, with the sole exception of the whole of Pentecost, which consists of fifty days, during which no genuflections are made, nor is fasting commanded; and in place of the synaxes which were held at the ninth hour on Wednesdays and the day before the Sabbath, morning synaxes are celebrated as on the Lord's Day. Furthermore, during those fifty days of Pentecost mentioned above, neither fasts are observed nor genuflections. And after the ordinance of the holy Quadragesima, he says again that for the six days before Easter, all the people live on dry food, namely using bread, salt, and water at eventide. Indeed, some who are more fervent fast for two, three, and four days; nay, some even persevere through the whole week, for the six days, in vigils until the cock-crowing of the dawning Lord's Day.

Fragment from the new Library of Cardinal Angelo Mai, vol. II, p. 583.

Of Saint Athanasius, from the greater discourse On Faith.

Thus, therefore, Arius, while making the Word of God a creature, did not know that he was making the Father irrational. For everything in which by nature there is no reason is absolutely irrational by nature. Furthermore, by attributing to the Word a flesh devoid of a rational soul, he shows Him to be naturally passible and mortal, and subject to passion against His will, since inanimate flesh has no voluntary movement. For a soul that is without a mind is estranged from every natural will; since will is nothing other than the mind moved toward something, or the spontaneous movement of an intelligent soul; of which, since He stripped the Lord's flesh, he makes it of some bird or beast...

or, to speak more clearly, not even of any of these, since no animal's flesh is lacking a soul.

ADMONITION CONCERNING TWO HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS

^A These two historical fragments we have borrowed from a certain codex of the 14th century belonging to the most illustrious and friendly Monsieur Baluze. The first is about Paul of Samosata, who, according to Athanasius (De Synod. no. 45, p. 606), used to say: If Christ was not made God from a man, then He is not consubstantial with the Father, and it is necessary that there be three substances: the Antiochene Fathers, in order to avoid this sophism, rejected the term ὁμοούσιος (consubstantial): nor, as this Athanasius says, did they attain to the perfect interpretation of the consubstantial: not that he accuses the Antiochene Fathers of ignorance or rashness—for he defends them as best he can in his epistle De Synodis—but to make it plain that the Antiochene Fathers condemned the term not regarding the whole meaning which it bears, but only insofar as it was being twisted by Paul into a perverse usage. Moreover, these things are found in the book De Synodis, p. 606, except for those things which are told concerning Zenobia, for the sake of which it seemed necessary to publish this fragment: for it was excerpted from another book; for Athanasius is accustomed to repeat the same things in various works, with a few additions.

The second fragment, excerpted from a certain work of Athanasius, as is reported in the same codex, presents the history of the wickedness of Stephen of Antioch, who, by the help of a certain woman having been led into a trap by an onager, strove to stir up a calumny against the bishops Euphratas and Vincentius, the legates of the Emperor Constans. This matter is recounted by Athanasius on p. 281 and by Theodoret, lib. II, c. 9. But in Nicephorus, lib. IX, cap. 23, a narrative similar to this is so reported that it is not unreasonable to suspect that the passage was taken from there. But since very many of Athanasius’s works have perished, and the Baluze codex bears the name of Athanasius, nothing prevents one from believing that what is narrated there was borrowed from the writings of Athanasius.

OF THE GREAT ATHANASIUS

^B For because Paul of Samosata thought that the Son was not before Mary, but had received from her the beginning of existence; therefore the bishops, who had gathered in great number at that time, condemned and deposed him and declared him a heretic. But when they dealt more simply with the divinity of the Son, they did not reach the perfect interpretation of the Homoousios, or Consubstantial; but they used words concerning the term Homoousios as it first came to mind. Paul, however, was sheltered by the patronage of Zenobia the Jewess: but her patronage profited him nothing. For all the care of the prelates was bent upon this: to dissipate the inventions of the Samosatene, and to demonstrate that the Son was before all things, and that He was not made God from men, but that, being God, He clothed Himself in the form of a servant, and the Word was made flesh, as John says. And thus was it done against the blasphemous sayings of Paul.

OF THE GREAT ATHANASIUS

Fortified by these letters, Athanasius crossed into the East and made for the city of Antioch in Syria, where Constantius was staying at that time. At that period, Leontius presided over the sacred reins of that church. For after Eustathius was compelled to turn to exile, as is recounted above, Euphronius first ascended the throne, whom Placitus succeeded, and him Stephen. Who, having an evil...

^A way of acting and a cruel soul—his name was Onager—conspired by means of one of his household, a man inhuman in his habits and most cruel in spirit, against the legates sent from Rome by Constans for the sake of Athanasius, who had labored and suffered just as Constantius had. These were named Euphratas and Vincentius, bishops in the dominion of Constans, who had delivered the judgment that Athanasius had been cast out of his episcopal throne by an unjust verdict. For Stephen, being an enemy to the truth, afflicted and beset with every kind of calamity all those who held fast to the dogmas of the right faith. He was driving them through the market-place, beating and mocking them, entering their homes; and not only men, but also women adorned with modesty and probity of life. ^B Indeed, the single crime against the legates is sufficient to declare the character of the man. For, fearing that Athanasius—for whose sake the legation had primarily been sent—might obtain the churches, he bribed a young woman from a brothel by means of the aforementioned Onager and introduced her into the house of the bishops; then, having set up his ruse from a distance, he arranged for them to burst into the residence of these holy men immediately upon a given signal. But one of them, when he sensed the noise of the shameless woman who had entered, thinking it was a demon, began to sing a psalm softly. When, by the judgment of the ruler, the author of the story and the manner in which it had been brought about were uncovered, Stephen was deposed as the author of the nefarious crime, and Leontius was chosen to rule the Antiochene Church. Athanasius, however, turned away from him as one corrupt in doctrine and opinion, and he held communion with the followers of Eustathius, who were holding their assemblies in private houses.

In the same Baluzian codex, this segment is attributed to Athanasius of Mount Athos, as he calls him, that is, one dwelling on the Holy Mountain of Athos, and much later in age than ours. This note precedes the fragment: In the year 6469, which is to say, according to the reckoning of the Greeks, in the year of the world 6469, or 961 of Christ, the year in which the codex from which the Baluzian copy was taken appears to have been transcribed.

Of Saint Athanasius of the Holy Mountain

MONITUM ON THE SERMON ON PATIENCE

1039 This sermon is to be judged as of a better quality than the preceding one, even though both proceed from one and the same Ambrosian codex. This one, in truth, bears clear signs of the Athanasian age. For it is said to have been written at the time when, a tumult having arisen among the Christians, a slaughter was being carried out against the upright, and the true successors of the bishops were unable to perform the offices of their duty. By the example of everyone, both men and women, who are recorded as most holy in the Old and New Testaments, Athanasius—or whoever else may have edited this sermon—exhorts the people entrusted to him to patience. Furthermore, while he recounts the torments of the martyrs, some

^A of those who lost an eye for Christ. From this you may immediately infer that Paphnutius and Potammon, friends of Athanasius, are indicated, who, having undergone such punishment, also suffered much from the Arians in the office of their ministry. But these arguments for authenticity are not such as to remove all doubt for me: for the style is clearly far more humble than Athanasius’, it seems to smell of deceit, and argues for a writer far inferior to Athanasius, unless it be said that Athanasius, in addressing the lowest sort of crowd, spoke to the capacity of the people. We leave the matter in doubt: one thing alone it is worth observing, that this oration was not delivered by word of mouth in a gathering of the people, but was transmitted in writing.

OF THE SAME ATHANASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, ON PATIENCE.

1. Our teacher Paul commands us to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God (Rom. XII, 1). This is a general command, but it promises more to those who profess and practice holiness. A virgin is by nature like other women, but by her resolve she transcends nature. And wishing to approach the Holy one in a holy manner, if she manages this affair properly, she performs ^B a truly wonderful achievement, worthy of spectacles; but if she does not complete what she has proposed, such a fall is disastrous: for it is heavier to fall from higher things than it is to fall while standing on the ground. And by how much greater the promise is, by so much worse is the fall. For the promise transcends nature, and carries her up into heaven, and makes her dance with the angels. Thence, according to the way of life—as the Savior himself says, testifying to this dignity, that after the resurrection of the dead [this] life is the expectation of men. And again he says, that those who are worthy of the resurrection to possess future goods neither marry nor are given in marriage (Marc. XII, 13). That which is stored up as a promise in the kingdom of heaven, then, some, in their ^C previous resolve, possess and hold here and now. For the saints, who have their mind fixed upon God and have tasted of the heavenly food, have considered this world as a prison, and have surrendered their bodies to martyrdom; and that God might dwell in them, they have kept their own soul chaste. They practiced patience, as our Lord says: He who has endured to the end, the same shall be saved (Marc. XIII, 13); and as the Psalmist says: He has labored unto eternity, and shall live unto the end (Psalm XLVIII, 9, 10). For as many just men as have their hope in God have not obtained a carnal rest to separate them from God, but persevered in labors, fearing nothing, nor doubting concerning the divine promises, ^D but welcoming tribulations cheerfully, they remembered him who says through the Apostle: And you accepted the plundering of your property with joy (Heb. X, 34). And he also testifies regarding those who did not accept redemption, that they did not want to return again to be in the heavens: but we must not remain in worldly things, but cross over, so that we may dwell with God.

2. For now you also, beloved brethren, do not grow weary, nor be made like unto the people who in the time of Moses transgressed in the short space of forty days, while he was ascending to receive the divine law, and by this became guilty, and fell in the desert; but imitate Moses...

who passed forty days and nights, fasting without food or drink. And not only these, but another forty, having his heart and eyes and his very flesh suspended toward God. Let us not lust as those seekers of meat once did, who fell in the desert, while their food was yet in their mouths, as the psalm says ^A, and the wrath of God rose up against them; but let us hold fast to the one who gave the commands, as did the sons of Jonadab, to whom God promised, saying: "There shall not lack a man of the sons of Jonadab, standing before me all the days of his life [**]"; who built no house for themselves, nor did they plant vineyards, and they have become a reproof to the people. And the people indeed, being a great multitude, were led away into captivity; but these, being few in number, were preserved by God. And you, therefore, who tread the path of the Fathers, are reckoned as the sons of the sons of Jonadab. Let us keep the inheritance of the Fathers, as did that noble Nabuthe, who, when Achab threatened him to obtain his vineyard and convert it into a garden of herbs, being unwilling to yield to him, struggled manfully and was slain; but God avenged him. For he did not wish for his own vineyard to become a garden where leeks and onions and garlic grow, from which he himself recoiled; but he preferred a vineyard of joy; or rather, he wished his own mind to be gladdened, and not dissolved, as is the mallow in a garden in the heat of Summer, or like a half-boiled beet—such as are these traitors today. For if he had been deprived of it, he would perhaps have been deprived also of that mind of ancestral religion; for he was called an Israelite, because he was a mind seeing God. But those now, who endure nothing harsh, have handed over their vineyard, full of true vines, to Achab, and it has been sown with such wretched vegetable species. ^C

3. Let us not become lovers of money like the servant of Elisha, who for this reason brought upon himself the leprosy of Naaman; but let us endure tribulations with patience, that we may obtain the relaxation and rest from our labors; for no one without affliction shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Let us imitate the holy men who preceded us in age. The first just man was Abel, who offered to God the firstlings of his sheep and of their fat, against whom his own brother was inflamed with envy. For what evil, I ask, had Abel done to Cain? But the cause of this envy was that he himself was not accepted by God, because he had not offered rightly. And he killed his body, thinking he could thereby extinguish the divine love toward him, not knowing that his soul cries out to God. And our Savior himself makes mention of him in the Gospel; but the memory of Cain has been extinguished. Today likewise the innocent Abel is slain; but his blood cries out to the Lord; and we hope that the blood of such and so great martyrs will not be passed over in silence. ^D The present time is indeed similar to that one.

^A 4. Let us remember the patience of Enoch, who spent three hundred sixty-five years keeping his mind fixed upon God, until he was translated. Do not, therefore, become faint-hearted; for we do not tarry long in this life. Noah, moreover, spent five hundred years as a just and perfect man in the time of transgression, before God spoke to him and commanded him to fashion the ark; and for another hundred years he labored at it, mocked by those opposing him. And while those who mocked him perished in the flood, he, having placed his hope in God, was saved with his household, and became the savior of the world.

5. Abraham, again, by obeying the Lord, left his own dwellings until he should obtain the great promises; for he was tested even to the point of being commanded to offer his own beloved son as a sacrifice to God, and Abraham was deemed worthy of such a divine response that he was called the friend of God. The Philistines acted arrogantly against Isaac, and stopped up his wells, and contended with him over the water; but when eventually he withdrew from them, God enlarged him, and filled his mouth with blessing. Today, too, there are those who wish to stop up the wells of Isaac. But do not permit it; take with you the servants of Isaac, and dig, for they are the aids of the apostolic teaching, the champions of the truth. Jacob, in turn, was pursued by his own brother Esau, and he withdrew into Mesopotamia, and tended the flocks of Laban, keeping watch day and night, suffering hardships like a hired laborer; he endured with patience in his toil. ^B Through his own skill, he placed the rods in the troughs of the watering-places, so that all the variegated sheep became his own. And God enlarged him also in the end; for he had departed alone, but he returned with a great multitude; he acquired sons and flocks, and not only these, but even multitudes of angels lived familiarly with him. The true Jacob will therefore come with the heavenly angelic host, the Shepherd of the sheep, and will render to each according to his work. Moreover, the brothers of Joseph themselves were envious of him; those sons of his father sold him for money and divided his price among themselves. See the great injustice of these men! But the just man endured with patience in all these things; for he bore up not only against the envy of his brothers, but also against the lustful spirit of the woman. And this man, who had endured with such patience, God appointed king of the land of Egypt. ^C He became heir not only of the perceptible kingdom, but also of the heavenly one. And today, too, there are those who sell their own brothers and divide the money among themselves. Let us remember also the patience of Job, who, neither when he was prospering, nor when he was attacked by so many trials, departed from equity, but endured stoutly and for a long time, until he received double from God. And it is testified even until now that he suffered these things so that he might appear just to all. Moses, moreover, did not covet the wealth of that place; but he fled and became a sojourner in a foreign land, leaving behind the present goods so that he might share in the eternal ones. ^D Those men, then, forgot perhaps the kingdom.

6. Time would fail us if we were to attempt to make mention of each of the saints. But that we may speak the word briefly, we declare that Jezebel also persecuted Elijah, yet he, having endured in his struggle, was taken up. And Elisha, too, ate herbs with those who were with him, yet he had the living Word within him; and his bones, even after death, raised a dead man, giving a sign that the hope of the righteous person never perishes. They cast Jeremiah alive into a muddy pit, out of envy ^B of the false prophets. Ezechiel, moreover, remained lying on his side for one hundred and ninety days in total, eating bread and drinking wine by measure, nor was he turned from one side to the other until God commanded him. But those who abandon the Lord turn to the side of their own rest, who are ^C manifest, having received their portion from there. Remain, therefore, on the side until the Divinity commands. For those great bonds of Ezechiel are the most firm words of God. And the satraps accused Daniel, wishing to restrain him from prayers; but he did not cease, and was cast twice into the lions' pit, but God shut their mouths. And today also they accuse us, not wishing us to pray to God. It is evident from this that they persecute both us and our Fathers, the bishops. Blessed is the man who is blameless, and in whom no cause for accusation was found, except this alone: the praying to the Lord. This is what it means to endure to the end. Therefore, let no one among you lose heart. For consider those three holy youths who ^D were unwilling to bow down to the image of Nabuchodonosor, and who, through such holiness and way of life, quenched such a great furnace of fire, so that not even the smell of fire was found on their garments. Nor let the smell of the fire of Nabuchodonosor be on your garments—that is, the foul and extinguished thoughts of the devil. Let not food deceive you, nor let any say: "I am elderly, and I cannot fast"; but let him remember the aged Eleazar, who was not in any way deceived by the king’s artifices to taste or eat unclean things. But those among you who are younger should remember those seven most noble Maccabees, encouraging one another—brother aiding brother—until they are perfected in martyrdom, and become pillars of light in the temple of the Lord. And as many mothers as there are among you, let them be exhorters of their children, just as that mother of the Maccabees, who, deceived by no insane love or any error, was urging her sons, so that she might receive them in the kingdom of heaven and have them with her. Even if your adversaries persecute you, or even seize you, let it suffice for you that your body is a temple of God. Remember the apostles, who were once vexed and cast into prison; and yet they gave thanks with joy, because they were counted worthy to suffer ignominy for his name. Remember also so many holy martyrs, who endured blows to such an extent that even their eyes were gouged out, and they became one-eyed. But the knowledge of God remained in their hearts, to whom the...

^A and this saying of the Savior was applicable to them: *Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God*. There are, however, some today who openly declare that they can endure no hardships at all, and this for three reasons primarily: because of avarice, carnal pleasures—namely food and drink—and vain glory, ambition, and human fear.

7. We have written these things to exhort you; but there is a measure for everyone, according to the proper station of each. Therefore, let each of you procure friends for yourselves above; for which reason Scripture says: *In every time let a friend be ^B yours*. But let brothers be useful in necessities; for they are born for this purpose. Therefore, whoever are imitators of each of those mentioned above, they shall be co-heirs with them, and they shall have them as friends in the day of necessity. If someone is a presbyter, let him imitate Timothy who presided well, and acquired a degree for himself and much boldness in Christ. If someone is a deacon, let him imitate those seven who were entrusted to serve with Stephen, who also became faithful and full of the Holy Spirit. If someone is a reader, let him be a participant and imitator of him who says: *My tongue is the pen of a scribe writing rapidly*; ^C and as Peter said: *If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God*; and, *Silver refined by fire is the tongue of the righteous*. Let those who are perfect monks procure these holy men as friends: Elijah, Elisha, John; but those among them who are younger, let them imitate the three holy youths and the Maccabees. And let virgins expect that they will be crowned in heaven along with their companions, together with Mary, the sister of Aaron, and the Virgin Mary, and Thecla, who eradicated carnal desire from herself, and also with the four daughters of Philip ^D who prophesied. And let widows live their lives just as Deborah, who judged the people and was called a mother in Jerusalem, and as Judith, who by her prudence and holiness cut off the head of Holofernes; and as Anna the daughter of Phanuel, who, being eighty-four years old, was in the temple serving in fastings and prayers, and in the end gave thanks to the Lord.

8. As for those who are aged, let them be imitators of the good old age of Abraham in the exercise of hospitality, and likewise of Isaac, Jacob, Job, and Lot. And let the elderly women or widows emulate the widow of Serepta, and her who offered the two mites. But now, my beloved in the Lord, not to speak at length, it is a time to mourn. And it came to pass after Jerusalem was taken captive, and Israel was reduced to a desert, that Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented this lamentation over Jerusalem and said: *How does the city sit solitary that was full of people? She has become as a widow*; for the saints mourn over the fall of men. For behold, today the Church of God has become as a widow; behold, the ways of Sion mourn because there are none who come to the solemnity; behold, her priests groan, her virgins are led away, and shut is

our Sabbath, and the feast, and the new moon. And in another place the prophet laments, saying: "I will weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah; why have thy vintagers perished? The wine is in the press, needing vintagers who are worthy to contain it." ^B But many, on account of the multitude of the wounded at this time, have avoided the wounded. Therefore, let as many youths as have remained unharmed, preserved anew, draw near to partake. And again, in another place, he laments, saying: "Who shall give to my head water, and to my eyes a fountain of tears, that we may lament this people day and night, the wounded of the daughter of my people, who are wise to do evil, but have not known how to do good?" Thus do they act who weep for the falls of men. The prophet Ezekiel likewise lamented for everyone who fell, as it was commanded him: "Take up a lamentation over the prince of Tyre." And he laments not only for the prince of Tyre, but also for the many, as one may easily surmise from his very tears; for they are overseers of the whole, and leaders in mourning. And David also wept for the fall of the mighty, saying: "How have the mighty fallen, and the vessels of war perished? Tell it not in Gath, neither publish it in the streets of Ascalon, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice." ^C Behold, even today the mighty have fallen, and great vessels of war, over which one must lament. He himself also mourned for Absalom, not because he was dead, but because he had acted unlawfully. And so, let us not mourn for the departed, but for those who have denied their own faith. Let us receive the word of the prophet Joel and fulfill his commands, by which he exhorts us to mourn for those who are going to destruction, with these words: "Let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the altar, weep and say: Spare, O Lord, thy people, and give not thine inheritance to reproach, that the nations should rule over them, lest they should say among the nations, Where is their God?" Perhaps to us, too, that saying might be spoken: "The Lord has been jealous for his people, and has spared his people." And in Lamentations it is written again: "Let the walls of Sion send forth tears as torrents day and night." Does he speak to walls and stones, or rather to those who are truly the walls of the Church? ^D Certainly, in all these the description is fulfilled; for they have poured forth tears everywhere as torrents. "They went going and weeping, casting their seeds." Just as the prelates of today, who have nowhere to cast their seeds. Yet, coming, they shall come with exaltation, carrying their sheaves. For "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted"; and the saying, "At evening weeping shall tarry, and in the morning gladness." For the apostles, who then at evening

^A rejoicing, were glad in the morning. And Mary Magdalene stood by the tomb weeping; to whom the Lord appearing took away the tears from her eyes, and that which was foretold was fulfilled: "And God took away every tear from every face." Remember our Lord, that He suffered so many things for us: He was stripped of His garments, they clothed Him in a scarlet robe, they placed upon Him a crown of thorns, they spat upon Him, they mocked Him, and the Lord of all was struck with palms by a servant. He was hung upon the wood, they gave Him vinegar to drink mixed with gall, they divided His garments while He looked on, they pierced His side with a spear, He commended His spirit into the hands of the Father, His body was laid in a tomb, He rose on the third day, He was taken up with glory into the heavens, the holy angels heralded Him, saying: "Lift up the gates, O ye princes." ^B Consider therefore Him who showed such patience, that whoever becomes His imitator, may also become a co-sitter and co-heir with Him, as He Himself promised, in the kingdom of the heavens unto ages of ages. Amen.

ADMONITION REGARDING THE FOLLOWING SERMON

1042 This little work appears under the name of Athanasius in the Ambrosian and Ottobonian codices; its style progresses in a certain intermediate manner of speech between the eloquent and the common. But since whatever Athanasius published of homilies and popular sermons has long been overwhelmed by the injury of time and the antiquity of the ages, and if any in this genre remain, they are either openly spurious or are reckoned among those of doubtful authenticity; it is not easy to distinguish whether this little work should be judged to be by Athanasius. But if anyone should object that in this state of affairs it can never be defined whether any homily or sermon found is Athanasian, I would reply to him that homilies or orations under the name of Athanasius can be detected which at first sight bear the marks of the Athanasian style; but those remaining homilies which are marked with the name of Athanasius are either full of trifles and manifestly spurious, or are written in a style too humble to be ascribed to Athanasius without hesitation. In this latter class we believe this one should be judged.

SERMON OF OUR HOLY FATHER ATHANASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, ON PALM SUNDAY

A ^C tremendous mystery, beloved, has come to pass today in Jerusalem. A mystery, I say, which was heralded by the prophets and accomplished by Christ. For truly blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, according to the blessed David; and again the same one: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise." For, in order to convince the common resurrection of the human race, the Lord and creator Jesus Christ, who administered and did all things for our sake, before His saving passion raised Lazarus from the dead. Wherefore, having done this, as I said, He hastened to undergo the voluntary passion for us. He sends, says the evangelist, two of His own disciples, saying: Go into the village opposite us, you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them and bring them to me. Therefore the blessed ^D

patriarch Jacob, when he was distributing by lot the blessings to his children, and came to Judah, spoke thus: *Judah, your brothers shall praise you*; and after a few words: *And He is the expectation of the nations* (Gen. xlix, 8, 10). But of what nations was Judah an ^A expectation? Of none. Rather, the prophet signifies this, because the Sun has risen from Judah. Again, after a few other things, the same says: *Binding to the vine his ass, and to the choice vine the foal of his ass* (ibid. 11). By saying "ass and foal," he indicated the Church of the nations. For the Lord truly bound the nations to the vine and the choice vine—that is, to the Old and New Testaments—that they might bear the fruit of piety through faith. Then he adds: *He shall wash His robe in wine, and His garment in the blood of the grape* (ibid.). He calls Christ’s robe and garment His flesh. For He was of His own free will nailed to the cross in the flesh for our sake, in order that with His own blood He might wash away the filth of our sins, just as it is written in Isaiah: *Why are your garments red, and your clothing as of one that treads the wine press, full of what is trampled?* (Isa. lxiii, 2).

But let us return to our subject. The Lord therefore says to the disciples, speaking of the ass: *And if any one says to you, Why are you doing this? or why are you untying the foal? say: The Lord has need of it* (Luc. xix, 31). Do not doubt, He says, in any of those things that are done according to My dispensation; ^B no one among you shall oppose you, nor shall he speak against you in any matter. Say that the Lord has need of it; no one shall prevent you from doing what is commanded by Me: *For the world and its fullness are Mine* (Ps. xxiii, 1). Therefore, all things that have been written by Me must be brought to an end. Today I must enter Jerusalem riding upon a beast of burden. Search the Scriptures; behold, Zechariah the prophet cries out in these words: *Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion: a just and saving One shall be proclaimed to you. He is meek, riding upon a beast of burden and a young foal of an ass* (Zachar. ix, 9).

The present time is one of good pleasure; I must destroy the enemy and reconcile all things through the cross. It is necessary that this Jerusalem receive its end, and that the Church of the nations be established. Did not the psalmist David also prophesy about this calling of the nations? What indeed did he say? *All the nations, as many as You have made, shall come and worship before You, O Lord* (Ps. lxxxv, 9). These are the true worshipers, who received the Word through faith. Then the evangelist says: *And the disciples went and did as He commanded them, and brought the ass and the foal, and put their garments upon them, and made Jesus sit upon them* (Matth. xxi, 6, 7). ^C Oh, the great condescension of the Savior towards us! Who would not admire the greatness of His love towards us? Who would not be struck with amazement that He who sits upon the cherubim is now, for our sake, sitting upon a foal of an ass? Is He who is celebrated by the seraphim now praised by infants? For he says they were strewing the road with their garments; and others, cutting branches from the trees, were doing the same thing; and some indeed going before, and others following behind, were crying out together with the innocent children, uttering a triumphal hymn with these words: *Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest* (ibid. 9). Wherefore ^D

we ^A also, putting aside every filthy thought and banishing any sordid affection, casting off all guile and malice, and assuming an innocent frame of mind, let us, equipped with lamps like those children, go to meet the Saviour Christ, our true God; and by the carrying of branches let us proclaim Him the victor over death; laden with olive branches, let us beseech the merciful and good Lord, saying: *Blessed is He who comes and is to come in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest*. Blessed art Thou who, being rich, for our sake didst become poor by Thy dispensation, that we might be rich by Thy poverty; who art to come with glory to judge the living and the dead. To Him be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.

NOTICE ON THE FRAGMENT AGAINST THE MACEDONIANS.

The following fragment appears to be excerpted from a longer work. For when certain persons were spreading the errors of Macedonius under the false guise of the Catholic faith, Athanasius—during whose lifetime no one dared to attack the sound faith with impunity, whether secretly or publicly—provokes these crafty men to put off their mask, considering it more desirable that they should bring their errors into the light than that they should slip in under false pretenses and gradually lead away the unsuspecting minds of the simpler folk. Furthermore, this work was issued around the year 359, at which time the Macedonians were especially clamorous.

Fragment against the Macedonians. From the Colbert codex 5179, on cotton paper.

^B If, when no occasion for discussing the faith exists, they write, their attempt is idle and harmful; for they provide an opportunity for disputation where no question had arisen, shaking the hearts of innocent brethren and perversely sowing among them things that had never even entered their minds. But if the reason for their writing is that they wish to clear themselves of the heresy of Macedonius, they ought indeed to have first rooted out the seeds of the evil plants and denounced those who provide such things, and then written correctly against them, or else openly defended the opinion of Macedonius, so that they might not be shown to be hidden, but public Pneumatomachi—that is, enemies of the Holy Spirit—and so that all might flee from them as from the face of a serpent. But now, they conceal those matters and write disingenuously about other things, ^C just as physicians treating those suffering from decayed limbs might discourse about healthy ones, either through ignorance or by using their art craftily. For no one, when accused of adultery, excuses himself by speaking of theft; nor does one who brings a charge of murder allow the accused to prepare for himself this defense: "We did not commit perjury, but we have even kept the trust." For that is rather a game than a refutation of a charge or a demonstration of the truth.

WARNING CONCERNING THE FRAGMENTS AGAINST THE NOVATIANS

^A Athanasius frequently attacks in his writings those Novatians who remained in his time. That he published a work specifically against the Novatians, we discover from these fragments, and we find that at least two books were written by him on this subject, for an excerpt of the second is provided. The third fragment, however, which in an old manuscript bears the name of Athanasius, we assume by conjecture is excerpted from the books against the Novatians; it shows an excellent testimony regarding the confession to be made to a priest, as anyone may perceive.

Fragments of the books against the Novatians. From the Royal Codex 2398, an 11th-century manuscript. It is a catena on the Acts of the Apostles, fol. 32.

From the second book of St. Athanasius against the Novatians.

"Remaining," he says, "it remained yours, and when sold, it was in your power." Since, he says, you have attempted to test the Holy Spirit, and have agreed together in this, you shall have the experience you desired. "For others shall be brought to a sound mind, and shall be afraid to test, having taken the experience from you."

From the work of St. Athanasius against the Novatians.

Ibidem.

Here, furthermore, it must be considered that it was then the beginning of the preaching, and these men undertook a great crime, daring to test the Holy Spirit. But the punishment of these was of great utility to the other brethren, for they were instructed and taught that one must not dare anything against the Holy Spirit, nor attempt to test Him.

^B From the Colbert Codex 200, which is a catena on Jeremiah. It is, as it seems, a fragment from the books against the Novatians.

Just as a man baptized by a priest is illuminated by the grace of the Holy Spirit, so he who confesses in penance receives remission through the priest by the grace of Christ.

CHAP. VIII, v. 24. Pray to the Lord for me.

ATHANASIUS

From the third sermon against the Novatians.

Against this bitterness of his and insolent temerity, by which he was carried away against the gift of God, Peter was deservedly moved to great anger, and being moved, he said to him: "May your money perish with you." For although it might be possible for it to be better for you, nevertheless, on account of that insolence of yours—that you think the gratuitous gift of God can be purchased with money—there is for you no portion, nor

C [Note: (65) "Cathars" (Καθαροί) was the name the Novatians called themselves, and they were so called by others. See Beveridge on canon viii of the Council of Nicaea. See also B. Mayer’s Commentary on the Pietists of the Ancient Church, p. 99 seq. The most excellent Bernard de Montfaucon inserted three fragments of the sermons of Athanasius into his Collection of the Fathers, New Edition, Paris 1706, folio, Vol. II, p. 105; among which, however, you will look in vain for this one together with the following. And since the former one is brought forward from the third book against the Novatians, it is evident that not two books, as the learned Montfaucon suspected, but at least three books were written by Athanasius against the Novatians.]

in this discourse. For your heart is not ^A upright before God. And though he spoke so gravely and justly against him, yet thinking that none of these things were immedicable when repentance is brought to bear, but judging these to be cases for a remedy, he added: "Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray the Lord, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you." For this also is a great thing for you. And do not hasten to procure the gift of God so impurely and filthily with money. But for the time being, ceasing from your bitterness and this evil thought, repent, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you; not as though he were doubting, but because such passions are difficult to heal—not indeed incurable, but difficult to heal. For if it were incurable, the words "Repent of this your wickedness, and pray the Lord" would be superfluous. But because repentance is efficacious through these things, yet for those who have become hardened in wickedness there is need of much repentance and care, he appropriately added: "If perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see you are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." And so much did the exhortation to repentance of this great apostle prevail with so great a magician, one so filled with gall and bitterness and laden with so many sins, that he already began to take care for himself, and he himself confirmed the Scripture by saying to him: "Pray you for me to the Lord; for I have no boldness to ask that nothing of what you have spoken may come upon me." ^B Nor did the divine Apostle forbid these things to him, nor did he refute him. For how could he, having himself suggested and commanded it? And so much benefit did this great magician himself derive from this hope, which was given for the sake of repentance, that, being much changed from his malice and bitterness, he said: "I indeed am not worthy to pray for myself; but you pray for me to the Lord."

Of the same, from the second discourse Against the Novatians, who call themselves Cathari. ^C

CHAPTER XVI, 3. And taking him, he circumcised him.

In order that he might not be hindered from entering the synagogues, because Timothy was not circumcised, he permitted this to be done prudently, but did not command it ^D as a dogma.

NOTICE REGARDING THE FOLLOWING FRAGMENT

This fragment is entitled in the manuscript: *On Amulets* (Περὶ ἅπτων); because, for the sake of avoiding cacophony and repetition, and because of *periaptōn* (περιάπτων), it is abridged into a single word, that it might not be read as *periaptōn*. For amulets and sorceries, which are refuted and forbidden here, are called *periāpta* (περίαπτα), but not *āpta* (ἅπτα), as you may see here in the fragment and in Gregory Nazianzen, who uses that word.

From Manuscript Reg. 1993, fol. 317. Athanasius of Alexandria, On Amulets. ^A

If anyone has fallen into an illness difficult to cure, let him sing the psalm: *I said, O Lord, have mercy on me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You*, being intent, of course, upon prayer and pursuing mercy, obeying the heavenly wisdom which says: *My son, in the time of your infirmity do not be negligent; but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you*. For amulets and sorceries are vain helps. If anyone makes use of them, let him know clearly that he has made himself an infidel instead of a believer, an ethnic instead of a Christian, a foolish man instead of a prudent one, and irrational instead of rational. For an old woman draws forth for you, for twenty obols or a quarter-measure of wine, a serpent-charming incantation; and you stand there with gaping mouth like an ass, wearing upon your neck the filth of four-legged beasts, having pushed aside the seal of the saving cross. ^B This seal not only do diseases dread, but every cohort of demons also fears and shudders. Wherefore every sorcerer is devoid of this seal.

In the same manuscript that psalm passage is explained in p. 1206 of our edition, and on p. 1027, l. 11, instead of *is read*, at the end, after these words, *at some time disobedient*, these things are added:

Just as a king, therefore, having found a chieftain of robbers occupying cities by force, plundering on every side, and entering into caves in order that he might deposit the money collected there, binds the robber chieftain and hands him over for punishment, but transfers his treasure into the royal storehouses; so also did Christ. He bound the chieftain of thieves, the devil who is the jailer, and death; and their wealth, namely the race of all mankind, he transferred into the lordly storehouses. Therefore Paul also cries out, saying: *For He has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.* ^C

In the same manuscript, p. 150.

That the Son, however, is in the Father, and the Father in the Son, this is to be the Son of God, who is begotten of God, and is God by nature, just as the Father, representing the paternal form in Himself, and being exhibited in the paternal hypostasis. One, therefore, and one; and the dyad, or that duality, is not separated by nature, being in need of nothing for perfection. For the whole fullness of divinity is the Father as Father, and the whole fullness of divinity is the Son as Son. Since...

^A by both one nature is understood, represented whole and entire in both. You ask, however, how this is in that, and that in this: because both this is such as that is, and that is such as this is. Thus the two are one, precisely because they do not differ, nor are they separated, nor is the Son understood as being of another form or a strange character; but He is God, just as the Father is.

Likewise, in the beginning, had Adam and his consort, obeying His commandments, abstained from the pleasure of the tree, there would not have been lacking a way by which the human race could have been propagated. And how, you say, would so many myriads of humans have been produced? But I in turn ask you, since this fear continues to agitate you greatly, how were Adam and Eve brought forth, with no marriage intervening?

These are they who have spoken concerning the burial of Adam: Africanus and St. Athanasius.

^B In the same codex, in the *Catena* on Daniel, on these words, *And their sarabara were not changed, and the odor of fire was not upon them*:

Neither let there be an odor on our garments carried to Nebuchadnezzar: these are, to be sure, the corrupt thoughts cast in by the devil, which are extinguished.

^C *Of St. Athanasius of Alexandria.*

Every man, having received from God the power of discernment, shall be punished if he has followed an ignorant shepherd and embraced a false opinion as if it were true: *For what participation has light with darkness?*

*Of St. Athanasius.*

With many hands, so to speak, of those whose garments he was guarding, he stoned Stephen (it must be supposed).

*On that, "And taking, he circumcised him."*

^D So that Timothy might not be barred from entering the synagogues because he was uncircumcised, he arranged it in this way so that he could be present with them; yet he did not hand this down as a precept and a dogma.

That the Great Athanasius says the book of Psalms is adorned with every kind of figure: hyperbatons, apostrophes, ellipses, parables, metaphors, emphases, and prosopopoeiae.

That the Great Athanasius says the *diapsalma* is placed there because of changes in rhythm, not because of the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit, as some have imagined.

BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE FAITH

I believe in one God the Father almighty, who is always God the Father; and in the Word God, the only-begotten Son of God, because He co-exists with His own Father, and because from the essence of God the

Father; and because the Son is one with His own Father; and because the Son of God and His Father is equal in honor; and because the Son of God holds power and authority over all; and because He is present everywhere with the Father in deity; and because His substance contains all things; and because the Son of God is not contained by anyone, just as God His Father is not; and in the Holy Spirit, because He is of the substance of the Father; and the Holy Spirit is co-eternal with the Father and the Son, and is not separated in deity. ^A I say that the Word has become flesh.

*Of the same.* The Trinity indeed, even after the Word has assumed a body from Mary, is the Trinity, receiving neither addition nor diminution; ^B but it is always perfect. And in the Trinity one deity is acknowledged.

*In the same codex, fol. 61.* It is better for those who are in doubt to be silent and believe, than to disbelieve because of doubt.

*From the Christian Topology of Cosmas Indicopleustes, an Egyptian monk, or the opinion of Christians concerning the world. In the new collection of Greek Fathers and writers of Montfaucon, p. 316, et seq.*

*The fragments which Cosmas preserved in his Topology are excerpts from the festive letters numbers 2, 5, 6, 22, 24, 28, 29, 40, 42, 43, 45. Cardinal Angelo Mai inserted all of these into his own edition. See below, col. 1367, 1379, 1389, and et seq.*

OTHER FRAGMENTS OF SAINT ATHANASIUS

I. ^C *Of Saint Athanasius against those who change dogmas with the times.* Who, then, will still consider these to be Christians, among whom neither speech nor scripture is stable, but all things are changed according to the times?

II. *Of Athanasius the Bishop, from the sermon on the words: "The Word became flesh."* And just as when He spat, and stretched out His hand, and called Lazarus, we do not say these were the deeds of a man, even if they were performed through the instrument of the body, but of God; so, if human things are said about the Savior in the Gospel, looking in turn at the nature of the things mentioned, and considering them all foreign to God, let us not attribute these to the divinity of the Word, but to His humanity; ^D for although the Word became flesh, yet the passions are the property of the flesh.

III.

*For the dogma of the two natures united in Christ against the Eutychians, as defined in the Council of Chalcedon. (From the Dogmatic Panoply of an uncertain author.)* Moreover, these foolish men are ignorant that the synod is in harmony with the writings of the saints; and that Athanasius, that man full of the Spirit, wrote such things and testified to them, when he said in the sermon on those words, "The Word became flesh": "We have of necessity examined these matters beforehand, so that if we see Him by His own instrument...

^A of physical nature doing or saying something divine, we know that it is God who is working these things; and again, if we see Him by the instrument of His own body speaking or suffering in a human way, let us not be ignorant of Him, [knowing] that He became man, bearer of flesh; and thus He both does these things and speaks. For knowing that which is proper to each, and seeing and understanding both as being performed by the One, we shall correctly believe and never be led astray."

IV. Athanasius. God and man are the same, being one in subject, possessing both natures without deficiency. ^B

V. Athanasius in the explanation of the words: "Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." It is manifest impudence not to consider Christ by a twofold notion, that is, divinely and humanly.

VI. Of Saint Athanasius, from the discourse on the text: "The Lord created me," and against the Arians. Indeed, when He was about to come to the cross, He prayed earnestly and knelt down, saying: "Father, let this cup pass from me; yet not my will, but yours be done," calling His own will that of the flesh; for He had made our very own flesh His own. ^C

VII. Of the great Athanasius in the discourse to the baptized (69). You will see the Levites carrying the loaves and the cup of wine, and placing them upon the table; and as long as prayers and invocations have not yet been accomplished, the bread and the cup are nothing but bread and a cup. But when the great and marvelous prayers have been performed, then the bread becomes the Body, and the cup the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And again: "Let us come to the perfection of the mysteries; this bread and this cup, as long as prayers and supplications have not taken place, are common; but when the great prayers and holy supplications have been sent up, the Word descends ^D into the bread and the cup, and it becomes His body (70)."

VIII. Fragment from the epistle of Athanasius to Eusebius, Lucinianus, and companions (71). For the great Athanasius also judged it fair not to repel those who explain what they say in a right sense. For thus he himself teaches in his epistle to Eusebius, Lucinianus, and companions: "You, therefore, who profess all these things, I beseech you not to condemn those who profess the same things; but explain the terms used by them; and do not, because of these inconsiderate expressions, reject the authors; but rather entreat them, and persuade them that they wish to reconcile their opinions."