... it is sin, because it has no fixed place where it may persist, but is quickly turned and dissolved. For sin has no root, nor does it have fruit. It vanishes quickly and is dissolved, being cut by the sword of repentance. A For repentance is an axe, cutting away every evil. Repentance, however, is not the bending of the knees, but the abstaining from evil, and the laboring, and the weeping, and the beseeching of God for the remission of past sins. For therefore it is called repentance, because it transfers the mind from evil to good.
NOTICE ON OTHER QUESTIONS
In these Questions, Felckmann has this in the various Commeline readings, p. 90: These, because in the codex II, which we used in Volume I, they were found plainly (the Symbol excepted) at the end of the works of St. Athanasius, they are therefore placed here; although they lacked both the name of the author and a title. If it is permitted to guess, I would think that their author lived after the arising of the conflicts between the Latin and Greek Church, as is evident from page 353, a. Where Felckmann, a man who is otherwise most accurate, errs, when he says at page 353 of the Commeline edition that some controversies appear between the Greeks and the Latins. For nothing of the sort exists there; nor does the page pertain to these Questions, but to the preceding one. I think Felckmann wished to note what is said about the Franks, not in these Questions, but in the preceding question 76. Furthermore, these Questions are found in two royal codices, namely 2358, where they are placed consecutively after the Questions to Antiochus, and vary much from the published ones, and in 2450. Otherwise, there will be no one who suspects Athanasius to be the father of such trifles.
OTHER QUESTIONS OF OUR HOLY FATHER ATHANASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA
C Question I. What is God? Response. God is an intelligent essence, which neither falls under observation nor can be explained by words. God is Spirit lacking matter, an eye that does not sleep, and an immovable mind. God is the creative essence of all invisible and visible creatures.
Quest. II. Why is God called God? Resp. God is called so because He sees all things. For that word in Greek is from seeing, as if you were to say the contemplator of all things. Again, God is called so from the fact that He runs and traverses all things intelligibly and without time. For God is always present everywhere.
Quest. III. How many gods are there? Resp. There is one God of gods, and Lord of lords, and besides Him there is no other god. But men are also called gods by grace: as, "I said, Ye are gods, and all sons of the Most High" (Ps. LXXXI, 6).
Question IV. If He is one, A how do we profess that one God to consist of three hypostases—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Behold, for we say three, and not one. But teach us how God is one, and how, on the other hand, we speak of three persons concerning God. This seems wondrous to us: how God is one, and yet there are three persons of Him.
Response. Pay diligent attention, and you will understand the mystery of the holy Trinity, as far as the human mind can know it. Except that, as it seems to me, this is stated only so far as the power of words allows. For God cannot be explained, and therefore we cannot comprehend His nature; nor is He a single person like us. For if He were a single person, we would know Him just as we know one another. But God is one, yet His persons are three. And see now what is said. B Just as the sun is one, yet the sun possesses a ray and light, and there are in the sun three persons—the orb, the ray, and the light; the orb is indeed the vessel of the sun, the ray is that which descends like a torch and strikes the earth, while the light is that which shines even in shaded places without the ray. And behold, the persons are three: the orb, the ray, and the light. Yet we do not say three suns, but one sun; nor do we say one person, but three. For if you are asked how many suns there are in heaven, you would say that the sun is one; but if you are asked how many persons of the sun there are, you would say that there are three: the orb, the ray, and the light. Thus, think also concerning God. God is one, but the persons of the one God are three: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And from this recognize that, just as the sun has three persons, so also is the one God trispomonous [trihypostatic]. For C the solar orb is a type of the Father; the ray is a type of the Son; the light of the sun is a type of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, speak thus: In the sun there are the orb, the ray, and the light; but we do not say three suns, but one and only. Similarly also with God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God, and not three. And again, speak thus: In the sun the orb, the ray, and the light are inseparable, for they are not separated from one another; for this reason it is said to be one God and not three, because the three persons—of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit of the one God—are not separated from one another. And just as the solar orb begets the ray and emits the light, so also the God and Father begets the Son and emits the Holy Spirit. Consider diligently D how the ray of the sun descends from heaven to the earth, and is neither separated from the solar orb, nor absent from heaven, nor from the earth, but is in the solar orb, and in heaven, and on the earth, and everywhere; yet it does not fail in the things above, nor in the things below. So also the Son and Word of God descended to the earth, and neither left the Father, nor heaven, nor the earth, but was in the bosom of the Father, inseparable, and above, and below, and everywhere; and was nowhere lacking. And just as the solar light is both in the solar orb, and in the ray, and in heaven, and on the earth, and enters houses, and everywhere gives light;
so too the Holy Spirit is both with the Father and with the Son, and above and below, and illuminates every man, and is never lacking. "For the Holy Spirit," says the apostle Paul, "searches all things, even the deep things of God." A Behold then, just as we did not know one whom we could not even know, what kind he was; but when we see his image, then we perceive in part the character of his person; so you, think likewise concerning God. "For no man has seen God at any time." How then can anyone comprehend him? But since God is and is named light, from this sensible light we take a likeness of God, so that hereafter, as we said above, we may liken the Holy Trinity to the form of the sun, saying that the Father is the orb, the Son the ray, and the Holy Spirit the light from the light. And just as the orb and the ray and the light are one and are three, divided without division, so also God is the Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is one and is three, divided indeed in persons according to the sun, but remaining undivided in nature. And B just as the orb of the sun alone is the cause and unbegotten, but the ray is caused and begotten from the orb, and the light is proceeding from the orb alone, through the ray sent forth, and illuminating earthly things: so also God and Father is himself alone the cause to the two, and unbegotten; but the Son is caused and begotten from the Father alone; and the Spirit himself is caused and proceeding from the Father alone, but is sent into the world through the Son. And hold this in your mind, and ponder it, and believe regarding God.
If the example of the sun is not sufficient for you for the knowledge of the Deity constant in three hypostases, look also at another image of God; and this is the soul of man. For when God was about to form man, he said: "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness." C Behold then, man is the image of God, namely the soul of man. But the soul of man is indeed one, yet it consists of three subsistences: the soul has three persons; and how? Listen. The soul is one person; but the soul generates the word (ratio), and behold the word is another person. The soul sends forth and the breath (spiritus), and behold the breath is another person. Behold three persons: soul, word, and breath. For indeed the word and the breath are of the soul, not of the body, since, when the soul has departed from the body, neither does the word remain in the body, nor the breath, but the body lies both breathless and irrational. But the word and the breath are with the soul; and from this it is evident that, since both the word and the breath are from the soul, they are also persons of the soul; and behold then, the soul is one person, and the word another person, and the breath a third person. D Behold three persons of the soul, but the soul is one, and not three. For if you are asked, how many souls has man, you ought to say, that he has one. But if you are asked how many persons of the soul there are, it is fitting to re-
Aspond that there are three; since soul, reason, and breath, are one soul, and three persons. And indeed the soul is in the image of the Father; but the reason of the soul is in the image of the Son and Word of God; and the breath of the soul is in the image of the Holy Spirit. For just as the soul is unbegotten, so too God and Father is unbegotten; and just as the reason is begotten from the soul, so too the Word of God is begotten from the Father; and just as the breath proceeds from the soul, so too the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. And say it thus: Soul, reason, and breath, are one soul, and not three; for the reason and the breath are inseparable from the soul. Similarly, the Father, and the Son (that is, the Word), and the Spirit, are one God, and not three; for the Word and the divine Spirit are inseparable from the Father. And just as the soul is invisible, so also God is invisible. And thus when you hesitate B in your mind and say, "How can God be one, and yet also tri-hypostatic?" consider your soul, and say: "Just as my soul is one, but consists of three hypostases—soul, reason, and breath—so too God is one, but also tri-hypostatic: Father, Word, and Holy Spirit." And say in your mind that if the soul, the handiwork of God, is tri-hypostatic—and the sun as well—while their nature is one, how much more so God, the maker of them! Does it not follow by necessity that God is one in nature and consists of three persons? Indeed, it does follow. For just as the soul, reason, and breath are three persons, and there is one nature of the soul, and not three souls, so too the Father, Word, and Holy Spirit are three persons, and one in nature as God, and not three gods. Thus, if you reason in this way always, you will not blaspheme against the holy Trinity.
But now, beloved, listen to another image of God. Behold, fire is one thing, yet it consists of three hypostases. For the fire itself, as an underlying substance, is one, C but the power of burning is a second person, and the power of shining is yet another person. Behold, then, three persons of one fire: namely, the underlying fire, the burning power, and the shining power; yet the nature of the fire is one, and not three. Similarly, it is so in God; for the Father is the fire, the Son is the burning power, and the Holy Spirit is the illuminating power. And just as in the case of fire, we say that the fire, the burning power, and the shining power—and the underlying fire itself—are one, and not three, so too in God we speak of the three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as one God, and not three. And as far as the knowledge of the holy Trinity is concerned, these things should suffice for the believer.
Moreover, listen to another mystery alongside these. The word of man has a dual generation, and he is generated in two ways: one generation comes from the soul, the other D from the lips. The word of man is generated from the soul when someone contemplates saying something; for the contemplation is called the first generation of the word, since one contemplates speaking that word, yet does not speak it through the lips; but the soul guards the word inside its bosom; and the contemplation exists out of...
the soul A as the first generation of the word. However, even if the word is generated by the soul, when the soul contemplates it as its first generation, it does not yet make it manifest, but still guards it. But when it wishes to make the word manifest, then it generates it from the lips. This is the second generation of the word from the lips; it makes the word manifest to all, and the word is no longer called hidden, but manifest. When the word is generated through the lips, then all hear it, and it becomes manifest to all; and this generation through the lips is called the second generation of the word. So there are two generations of our word: one from the soul, when it contemplates speaking the word, which is also called the first generation; and another from the lips, which makes the word manifest to all men, which is also called the second generation. Learn therefore accurately, that just as the word of man has two B generations, one from the soul and another from the lips, so also the Word of God has two generations: one from God and the Father, which is also called the first generation; and another from the flesh, which is also called the second generation. And just as our word, even if it is generated by the first generation from the soul, is nonetheless hidden and is not manifested, but remains after the generation in the psychic bosom; so also the Word of God, even if He was generated before the ages from God and the Father, He was not manifested to men; He remained again in the paternal bosom. And just as our word, when we wish, is generated from our lips and is manifested to all those who associate with us; so also the Word of God, when it pleased Him, was generated from the lips of the prophets and from the all-pure Mary, and then He became manifest in the whole world. For just as our word is manifested when generated from our lips, so indeed is the Word of God, generated from C the flesh of the ever-virgin Mary, made manifest to every creature, and those who believe in Him are saved. And just as our word, generated from our lips, when it is generated from the lips themselves, does not leave the soul, nor its own lips, nor the ears of the hearers, but exists both in the soul and in our lips, and in the ears of the hearers, and does not fail anywhere—even if ten thousand thousands hear the word, the word is not diminished, but it was always most full in us; so also the Word of God, even if He was generated from the Virgin Mary and from the lips of the prophets, nonetheless He did not depart from the Father, nor from the flesh, nor from all men, nor from the whole creation, but was present everywhere, and was not diminished, but was most full. And thus think concerning God and the Word, that He has a double generation: one from God and the Father, and one from the flesh; and the one D from the Father is before the ages, but the one from the flesh is in the last of the days; just as our word is first generated from the soul, and then from the lips. And these things are concerning the two generations of the Word of God.
DUBIA
Quest. V. What is common to the Holy Trinity? Resp. Common is the essence; common is to be without beginning; common is the power, the goodness, the wisdom, the justice. For the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit possess all things equally, except for their own properties. For the property of the Father is to be unbegotten, that of the Son is to be begotten, and that of the Holy Spirit is to proceed A.
Quest. VI. In God, how many essences do you confess? Resp. I speak of one essence, one nature, one form, one genus, one glory, one dignity and lordship.
Quest. VII. But how many hypostases do you confess in God? Resp. I confess three hypostases, three persons, three properties, three individuals, and three characters B.
Quest. VIII. Why is the Father called Father? Resp. God is called Father as keeping all things; as if one should say the conservator of all things.
Quest. IX. And the Son, why is he called Son? Resp. He is called Son (Υἱὸς) from the term *oios* (οἷος), that is, *such* and *equal*. For such as the Father is, such is the Son; and by the turning of *o* into *u*, it becomes *huios* (Son). For the Son is equal to the Father.
Quest. X. And why is the Spirit called Spirit? Resp. He is called Spirit because he acutely understands every nod, that is, every inclination is understood swiftly through him. "For the Holy Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God C."
Quest. XI. In God, how many causes are there? Resp. I speak of one cause in God, and this is the Father. For the Father himself begets the Son, and sends forth the Spirit. Therefore, learn that the Father alone is the cause; but the Son is not a cause, but caused. Thus, then, the Father alone is the cause. The caused, however, are two: the Son and the Spirit. The Father is called the cause because he begets and is not begotten; because he sends forth and does not proceed. For he begets the Son and sends forth the Holy Spirit. And on this account the Father is called the cause D.
Quest. XII. And how many are the caused? Resp. Two, the Son and the Spirit. The Son does not beget, but is begotten, and on this account he is called caused. Therefore, if anyone asks you, "How many causes do you confess in God?" say, "I speak of one cause." And what is this? "The Father." And why is the Father called the cause? "Because he begets the Son and sends forth the Spirit." But if anyone asks you, "How many caused do you speak of in God?" say, "Two." And what are these? "The Son and the Spirit." And why are they called caused? Because the Son is begotten, and
A does not beget; the Spirit proceeds, but does not emit.
QUEST. XIII. In the holy Trinity, who is first? RESP. In the holy Trinity no one is first, and no one is last: but the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit are together. And for this reason they are called co-eternal [synarchoi], and without beginning [anarchoi]. He is said to be without beginning who is before the beginning. Therefore, the Father is without beginning, the Son is without beginning, the holy Spirit is without beginning. And the three are not one first and another last, but together—Father, Son, and holy Spirit. For this reason, they both are and are called co-eternal.
QUEST. XIV. Explain this to us also, how the Son and Word of God is begotten of the Father; for this astounds us. RESP. Since God is invisible and ineffable, we cannot explain this either. For how can someone explain what he himself has never seen, nor heard from anyone else? Nevertheless, from His works—I mean, the Word and God—let us speak figuratively, as far as it is possible. It must be understood that, just as the word of a man is generated from the soul without seed and incomprehensibly, so also is the Word generated from the Father. And as fire is generated from fire, and light from light, so is the Son and Word of God generated from the Father.
QUEST. XV. And how does the holy Spirit proceed from the Father? RESP. You ought not to ask about this either. For this too is inexplicable. B Yet, learn this about it as well. Just as the breath of a man proceeds from the soul, so also the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. And as Eve was neither begotten nor unbegotten, but held a middle state, so also the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. For Adam was unbegotten, Seth was begotten, and Eve was proceeding. For Eve was neither begotten, as Seth was begotten, nor was she unbegotten, as Adam was; but she came forth from the side of Adam. And thus Adam, unbegotten, was a type of the unbegotten Father; Seth, begotten, was a type of the begotten Son; and Eve, coming forth from the side of Adam, was a type of the all-holy Spirit. For in our forefathers the holy Trinity was prefigured. But Adam, Seth, and Eve were bodies, and were separable from one another; whereas God the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit are neither bodies, nor are they C separable from one another. Only the type of the unbegotten nature of the Father is observed in the unbegotten Adam; the type of the generation of the Son in the begotten Seth; and the type of the procession of the holy Spirit is observed in the proceeding Eve. And thus understand it regarding this matter as well.
QUEST. XVI. Is God contained in one place, or not? RESP. Apply your mind, and consider that God is light, invisible and incomprehensible; neither is God seen, nor is He contained in a place. And since He is not contained in the whole, how can it be possible that He should appear to D
A any? He whom even Moses, who saw God, and the disciples of His Word on the mount of the Transfiguration, and no one else ever could see in His naked divinity. So it is evident that God is not contained in one place, but is present everywhere. And these things are concerning theology—that is, concerning God. Now we shall begin to speak also concerning His economy, namely, the incarnation of the Son and Word of God.
QUEST. XVII. Behold, I propose a question to you, and do you answer me. You have taught us concerning the Holy Trinity, that God consists of three hypostases, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, however, I ask of you: Who is that Christ? I wish to be instructed about this.
RESP. Surely you have heard regarding the Holy Trinity, B that one person is called the Father, another the Son, and another person is called the Holy Spirit. Behold then, know that this Son and Word of God and of the Father was clothed in the flesh of man, and walked as a man on the earth. He was therefore called Christ, because He was anointed, or rather because He assumed the flesh of man. And for this reason, the incarnate God is called Christ, the Son and Word of God and God, because He bore the form of man.
QUEST. XVIII. What reason or what utility did God, or the Son and Word of God, propose to Himself, that He should be incarnate and walk as a man on the earth?
RESP. God had no need of incarnation, but human nature was in need of healing. For after God created the heaven and the earth, and all things that are in them, He fashioned man and placed him in the midst of Paradise, and established him as king of all creatures, so that all might serve him, C and that he himself might dwell in Paradise as the image of God. When the devil knew this, envying man such dignity, he gave counsel to man not to obey God, so that through disobedience God might cast him out from Paradise, and deprive him of divine dignity, and render the immortal mortal. But man, as one who had no experience of the malice of that evil one, obeyed the counsel of the devil, and did not follow God, and from that time he was made subject to the death of sin; and likewise all men born from him, as if deriving sin into themselves from their ancestors, were subject to it, and D sin prevailed against men. But God sent prophets and teachers into the world, that they might teach the world—that is, men—and that they might be converted from sin; yet the prophets were not able to convert them. Therefore, God said in Himself: "I will descend, and, having assumed flesh, I will become hominiform, and I will teach my creation, and it will be turned from the counsel of the devil, and every man shall be as God, not according to nature, but according to adoption." When these things pleased God the Father, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, the Son and Word of God descended and entered the immaculate virgin woman
and having taken flesh from her, He became man; and again, having gone forth from the woman, and having left her a pure and sealed virgin, undefiled as she was before, He walked in the world with men as a man, and then He was called Christ, because He was anointed and put on the flesh of man. And this is Christ, the Son and Word of God, who bears flesh. A
Quest. XIX. And how is it possible for a virgin to give birth to flesh, and yet remain a virgin? This seems to us wonderful and altogether absurd; instruct us also concerning this matter, we beseech you.
Resp. Even if this seems wonderful to us, it is not the work of man, but of God; for where God wills, the order of nature is overcome. And again: "God is wonderful," and "His works are wonderful." But hear also regarding the Virgin who bore Him, various and most evident symbols. Remember that Adam, being a virgin, brought forth Eve, and again remained a virgin, just as before. And as Adam, being a virgin, generated and remained a virgin, so also the Theotokos Mary, being a virgin, bore Christ and yet remained a virgin. But hear also another mystery concerning this. As a house circumscribed on all sides, which has on the eastern side a pure and very thin window of glass—when the sun rises, its rays penetrate the glass and enter, illuminating the whole house; and again, when the sun passes by and its rays go out, the glass is not broken, but remains unharmed B by the coming in and going out of the sun's rays—so understand for yourself also concerning the ever-virgin Mary. For she, being most chaste, as a house circumscribed, the Son and Word of God, as a divine ray descending from the Sun of Righteousness, the Father, entered through the glass window of her ears and illuminated her most holy house, and again, as He Himself knew, He went forth, not having harmed her virginity in the least; but as He preserved her a chaste virgin before the birth, so also in the birth and after the birth. In addition to these things, hear also another illustrious and most wonderful comparison, similar to those. A pearl is generated in the Red Sea; and it is generated in this way. The extremities of the Red Sea are dry, having a small flow of water. C There are found there certain marine shells, in all that Red Sea, called *pinnae*. Therefore, those *pinnae* stay always open, awaiting food for their nourishment. While they are thus standing open and awaiting their nourishment, and a great abundance of lightning D occurs there, the lightning descends toward the *pinna*, and finding the shells of the *pinna* open, it enters into it; and the *pinna*, immediately contracted and tightened, shuts the lightning within itself. The lightning, indeed, being wrapped up in the globes of the eyes of the *pinna*, illuminates them, and changes them into
A pearls. And when the pearls come out from the *pinna*, they fall upon the shore of that sea, and thus those who seek them find them. In this way understand for me also the incarnation of the Word. The sea is the world, and the Virgin is the shell. The Virgin stood like a *pinna* in the temple, receiving the heavenly bread, Christ the God, who, having descended and entered into her like lightning, and being wrapped up in the womb of her virginity, fashioned the all-holy flesh, which He assumed, being incarnate; and thus he was born from her as a pure and most precious pearl without the union of a male. And just as a pearl is both heavenly and earthly: heavenly, indeed, according to the lightning; but earthly according to the union of the eyes of the *pinna*; so also Christ is both heavenly and earthly: heavenly indeed according to His divinity, but earthly according to His humanity. And just as the pearl is generated without the union of male and female, from the lightning and the *pinna*, so also Christ was born without the union of male and female, from the divinity, and from the flesh of the Virgin. And B just as when the pearl is bruised, the matter of the eyes of the *pinna* is bruised and dissolved, and yet the splendor of the lightning does not suffer, but the splendor of the lightning remains impassible, while only the matter of the eyes of the *pinna* is bruised and suffers; so also you must understand this in the case of Christ. For while our Savior was being scourged and suffering at the hands of the unbelieving Jews upon the cross, the matter of the flesh, that is, the humanity, alone suffered, but the divinity remained impassible. And by saying these things, you refute the Theopaschites, and you teach the incarnate dispensation. Hence for you, beloved, the doubt is removed by the grace of Christ.
Quest. XX.
Since, divine Father, you have instructed us fittingly in all these things. We ask you to interpret for us also this point about which we still doubt: why did the divinity not instruct man alone, and save him without flesh? For why did He desire to bear flesh?Resp.
You ask well also about this: therefore hear also the response well. In the beginning, when God created man, and man was led astray by the devil, the devil did not conquer the divinity, C but the humanity. Wherefore it was also fitting that the humanity which was overcome should in turn conquer its enemy, the devil, and that it should again receive the divine paradise lost through him. For if the divinity had approached naked, and had conquered the devil, the devil would have boasted, saying that it was nothing wonderful if he were conquered by the divinity; for it was by the divinity that he had been defeated: and for this reason it did not seem good to God that the divinity should fight the devil alone, but He wished that the humanity, which had been conquered by the devil, should itself and alone conquer him who had conquered it, D the devil. Since, therefore, the wise God foresaw thatit was not possible for humanity alone to conquer without the divinity, the divinity was hidden in that very flesh, so that the devil, seeing the flesh and not knowing that the divinity was hidden within that flesh, might approach and struggle with Christ, and thus be conquered by the hidden divinity. And this is what happened. A
OTHER QUESTIONS
Just as a fisherman, wishing to catch a fish, does not cast the bare hook into the sea, but craftily attaches a worm to the hook from the outside, and thus throws it into the sea covered by the worm; and the fish, seeing only the worm and not knowing that the hook lies within it, but thinking the worm is entirely without a hook, is deceived and caught by the hook: so also did Christ. For wishing to catch the venomous fish, or rather the great dragon the devil, lurking in the infinite waters of the abyss, He did not offer Himself to the devil with His divinity bare, but by a ruse covered the hook with the worm—His own most holy flesh, which He assumed from the ever-virgin Mary, that most holy earth, without stain—according to what the divine David says: “I am a worm and no man” (Ps. xxii, 6). He covered the most holy hook, His own world-saving cross, by being fastened to it, and through it He wished to hide His divinity, by which that venomous and serpent-bitten fish, that great dragon the devil—who had cast man out of paradise and killed him—was deceived and caught, and being conquered, perished. B Thus, the divinity is the type of the hook, and the humanity is the type of the worm. The devil, therefore, seeing the human form on the outside and not perceiving the divinity hidden within, was deceived, and approaching the humanity, was caught by the unperceived and invincible hook of the divinity; and thus the great dragon the devil was conquered. For this reason, the Son and Word of God did not come to catch the devil with His naked divinity, but He wore the flesh, and thus entered in. And this is the reason for the incarnation. And just as the devil himself, wishing once to deceive man and cast him out of paradise, did not approach Eve with his own naked diabolic nature, but wore the flesh of the serpent, and thus approached and deceived her—for that crafty one knew that if he had approached her with his naked diabolic nature, he would never have been able to deceive her, and for this reason he was clothed with the flesh of the serpent, and through the flesh-bearing serpent deceived Eve; and the serpent appeared, but the devil did not appear; and through the visible serpent, the invisible serpent-devil worked—for two natures in one person C brought about the fall in the case of our first ancestors then. And just as at that time, diabolic nature and serpentine nature, two natures, were united in one person, and one nature, namely the serpentine, appeared, while the other, the diabolic, did not appear, and cast man out of paradise: so also...