Dissertation against the Nestorian Heresy

OF JOHN OF DAMASCUS ON THE HERESY OF THE NESTORIANS, A MOST ACCURATE DISSERTATION.

^A One must begin the argument against those who think with Nestorius in this way: Tell us, O men, whom did the holy Theotokos conceive? Was it the Son of God by nature, and God, or a man? For if they say it was the Son of God by nature, and God, they are orthodox; for of necessity they will also confess the holy Virgin to be the Theotokos. For how is she not the Mother of God, who conceived God and brought him forth incarnate? But if they say "a man," then we shall receive them as heretics in this way: Do you say that he who is the Son of God and the Father, and the Word before the ages, is the Son of God by nature, and God by nature, and consubstantial with God and the Father? "Certainly," they will say. Then we shall answer: Is the Son of the Virgin, then, the Son of God by nature and God by nature? "By no means," they will say. Then we shall press them: Therefore you confess two sons of God, one by nature and the other by grace, and you worship two sons; and in your opinion the Trinity has ^B turned into a quaternity. Tell us, then, from whom did you learn to preach two hypostases? Do you not hear the Gospel saying explicitly: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"? And after a little: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." And from where do you claim that, after the conception of animate flesh, there was an "indwelling" of the Word of God granted to him? Is it not written that the Angel, having entered unto Mary, said: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." But she, when she heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her: "Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found grace with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." And Mary said unto the angel: "How shall this be, [seeing I know not a man?]" ^C And the angel answering said unto her: The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power

^A of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Behold, it is clearly demonstrated that when Mary inquired about the mode of the conception, the angel did not say: "Thou shalt conceive first, and then the indwelling of God shall be," but rather that by the arrival and operation of the Holy Spirit, and by the indwelling of the Word of God, the conception would take place, so that there should first be the overshadowing of the power of the Highest—that is, the conception of the Word—and then the existence of the flesh subsisting in that very Word. But that the Word Himself became man, John the Theologian cries aloud, saying: "And the Word was God... and the Word was made flesh." And He was made so ^B in a changeless and immutable manner; for the Godhead is immutable and unalterable.

2. The Word, therefore, was made flesh, not having changed His nature nor having imagined an incarnation in mere appearance; but, being one of the hypostases of the Godhead, He sustained by His own hypostasis the flesh from the undefiled Virgin—flesh animated by a rational and intelligent soul—and became a hypostasis to it. For just as a sword fashioned from iron is one of the hypostases of the nature of iron, and when it is brought to fire it is ignited—yet it does not take on the hypostasis of the fire that pre-existed, but, having received certain first-fruits as it were of the nature of fire, it becomes a hypostasis to them also—and thus the sword, which was previously a simple hypostasis of the nature of iron alone, has become a composite hypostasis, having become also a hypostasis of the nature of fire, and possesses the nature of the iron ^C unalterably, and the nature of the fire taken on by it without diminution; in the same way, Christ, being one hypostasis of the divine nature and possessing within Himself the entire nature of the Godhead lacking nothing, assumed from the holy Virgin flesh that would subsist (not a hypostasis, I say, but flesh subsisting rather in Him), the first-fruits of our nature. Wherefore, that which was before simple, subsequently became composite; not, indeed, a composite nature, but a composite hypostasis, consisting of the Godhead that pre-existed in itself and of the flesh that was subsequently assumed, being animated by a rational and intelligent soul.

3. But if you say that, just as "sin and a curse were made," so also was the flesh, we reply: If indeed sin and a curse were made for the removal of sin and a curse, then in the same way flesh was made for the removal of flesh. But sin and a curse were not made ^D for the establishment and renewal of sin and a curse. However, sin and a curse are not a substance, nor are they a creature of God; but flesh is a creature of God. Therefore, flesh was not made as sin and a curse were made. And since sin and a curse are in no wise substances, nor anything created by God, whereas flesh is a creature of God, it was not made as they were.

4. Who is he who "partook of flesh and blood, being made like unto us"? For mere man is flesh and blood.

Since he is, he is not said to partake of flesh and blood. For if "he was made like unto us in all things," who is he who was made like? For that which is made like to all things must necessarily be distinct.

5. "How did God send forth his Son, made of a woman?" For he who is not, is not sent. What then was he, and what was made of a woman, tell me.

6. If he who was born of the Virgin is not by nature God, why ^A does he sit at the right hand of God the Father? It is clear that either he who is by nature God has been thrust out, or we worship a quaternity, and all the spiritual powers and we ourselves are man-worshippers.

7. "I will not give my glory to another," says God. How then, if he who is from the Virgin is some other than the Son of God by nature and God, is he worshipped and adored?

8. If Jesus the Son of the Virgin is not by nature the Son of God and God, ^B how shall "every knee bow in the name of Jesus, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth?" If every knee bows only to the Son who is by nature, how is that which is "above every name" granted to God himself, unless he himself also is man? For as God, he does not receive it, since he possesses it from eternity.

9. If "Christ is from the Jews according to the flesh," it remains that he is understood, and is, and is called such from another according to another. For by saying "according to the flesh," he indicated that he is from another according to another. From whom, or according to what, if not from God ^C according to what he is God? For by calling him God, and blessed, and over all, he signifies these things. For the being who is God blessed over all is before the ages from the Father. For God from God, indeed, it will be that "according to the flesh" he was from the Jews, when he became man.

10. Blessed Paul says: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 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, being made in the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father." Tell me then, who is he "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?" Man is not in the form of God, for man is not in the nature of God. It is clear that, ^D

the entire company of the saints understands "form" as nature. Nor, again, does a servant empty himself by taking the form of a servant. For how does he acquire that which he already is? How does man become like other men, and by becoming obedient to God, humble himself? For man is rather exalted by becoming obedient to God, and by becoming equal to God, he considers it robbery. Thus ^A these things were spoken concerning the Son of God by nature and God, when he became man. For he was not first man and later accounted God; for thus he would have considered it robbery. Rather, being God from the beginning, he later became man. And as he was God by nature, he humbles himself by becoming man; but as he became man, he is superexalted above every name, receiving the name of the Son of God. For he, the very same, was and is the Son of God and God by nature, just as the divine Apostle declared; for he did not say, "being man, he became God," but "who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal to God." For the Most High is not exalted, but he humbles himself, willingly becoming man. Therefore, he did not speak of the humiliation concerning one, ^B and the exaltation concerning another, but concerning the same person. For he is one who received both this and that: insofar as he was God, he became man; and insofar as he became man, he made his own those things which were proper to human nature, and in this way is said to have been superexalted.

11. The Lord says to the Father: "Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." If he is God alone, how is he glorified? And if he is only man, how did he have the glory before the ages?

12. "There shall be no new god in thee." How then, according to you, is a man deified by a relative conjunction with the Word, and shown to be a partaker of the glory and dignity of the Father? We, however, do not say that a man is recently deified, but that the Son of God, being God before the ages, has become incarnate without change. ^C For he remained God no less, even when he became man.

13. The blessed Paul says: "For although there are many so-called gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him." He says there is one Christ through whom are all things; which one do you say this is? If you mean him who is from the Virgin, you must necessarily say that he is the same as the one who is from God before the ages, through whom are all things. But if you mean the one from God, as being someone other than the one from the Virgin, then according to you, Christ is not from the Virgin; for he said there is one through whom are all things. If, however, you say that he who is from the Virgin is someone ^D other than he who is from God, you will either introduce two creators of the universe, or he who is from God will not be Christ, nor the Creator of all things.

^A 14. Scripture says: "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." It did not say simply "a Son of God" (without the article), but "the Son of God" (with the article), He who is the unique Son of God.

15. Do you confess two natures in Christ, or one? Two, they say. But what, then, are these? Plainly, divinity and humanity. How, then, is He not God by nature and man by nature, if He has two natures? You will certainly point to a union of the Word and flesh based on relationship. But where, then, is the emptying (kenosis)? Where is the incarnation? Where is the becoming-man? For if you explain all these things as a union according to relationship, you will introduce many incarnations of God and assumptions of humanity, however particular they may be. For God was united by relationship and affection to many God-bearing men, just men, patriarchs, and prophets; and thus, according to your opinion, He has undergone an incarnation and a becoming-man in each one of them.

^B 16. The prophet Micah, concerning Him who was born of the Virgin in Bethlehem, says: "And his goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity." How are His goings forth from of old, from the days of eternity, if He himself was not God before the ages?

17. The Lord, testifying to His own pre-eternal existence, says: "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." And again: "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven." How was He, who was from the seed of David and the son of Abraham, in existence before Abraham was, unless He was God? And how was He the Son of Abraham, unless He became man in the last times? "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven." And how does He who is in heaven ascend into heaven, unless because He is the same ^C God and man? As God, He descends by condescension, and is incarnate, and becomes man; and He departs neither from the heavens nor from the Father's bosom. But insofar as He has become man, "He ascends where He was before" as God, just as the same Truth, who is utterly removed from falsehood and is the subsistent Truth, has said: "You will see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before." For as God, He is pre-eternal and uncircumscribed, even if He is said to have descended. For we interpret His descent as His condescension, and humiliation, and manifestation upon earth; but as He has appeared as man, He was circumscribed and subject to time. ^D

18. John the Forerunner and Baptist says: "This is He of whom I said: After me comes a man, who

has become before me, because He was prior to me; and I did not know Him, but that He might be manifested to Israel, for this reason I came baptizing in water." And: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Consider how, when he calls him a man and names him a lamb, he does not say that he who takes away the sin of the world is someone else; rather, he attributes to Him this truly great, extraordinary, and God-befitting excellence. He declares him to be before himself and prior, even though He came after, according to the time, I say, of His birth in the flesh. For even if Emmanuel was recently born, yet He existed before all ages as God. Therefore, it is His to be recent in the human manner, and eternal in the divine manner. On this account Zechariah, being John’s father, prophesying to his own child, said: ^A "And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways."

19. The Son from the Virgin asked His disciples: "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" And when others said one thing, and others conjectured that He was one of the prophets, since He did not accept these as speaking the truth, He asked again: "But you (who know more than others), whom do you say that I am?" Then the most excellent Peter, that supreme leader of the apostles, ^B looking not upon a naked word devoid of flesh, nor a bare and God-bearing man, but rather upon Him who is by nature the Son of God and God, and who by nature became man, and who is one, being both this and that, Christ, said: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." He did not say "A Son," but "The Son," the only-begotten, the one, the pre-eternal. He heard: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. For no one knows the Son, except the Father." ^C

20. Likewise, the disciples, astonished at the miracle of the walking upon the sea, said: "Truly You are the Son of God." But if He be bastard and adopted, then not truly. Let the blessed disciples therefore be accused by you.

21. If there is one nature of the Trinity and one energy, and all things are common to it, except subsistence, yet by relation and operation the God Word was united to the flesh, which is animated by a rational and intellectual soul, and not according to subsistence; then no less ought the Father and the Holy Spirit ^D to have been united to Him. But if the union of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to the flesh is equal and one, then let Him who was born of the Virgin, God and man, be called Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For who assigned this lot to the Word alone, that He alone should be named the Son of God?

^A Suppose, however, the Son is united to Him [the Father] merely by relation and operation; then He will be of a different nature [heterogeneous] from the Father and the Holy Spirit, which is absurd. But if the union is said to be by hypostasis, no absurdity will follow; for the Son has a distinct hypostasis from the Father.

22. The blessed Paul says: "One God the Father, of whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things." Why is Jesus Christ joined directly to the Father, with no intermediary? Where then shall we place the Only-Begotten, if we are promoting a man to the same rank? And, as you say, [we make Him out to be] one moved by Him [the Word], and honored through Him. If you say that, just as Christ was born in Bethlehem, but was called a Nazarene because of his residence in Nazareth, so also the God Word was called man because of His [God's] dwelling in him, it follows that He has not become flesh, nor has He become man; nor would He rightly be called man, but rather Christ would be called fleshly and human, just as "Nazarene" [is a descriptive term]. For Christ is not called "Nazareth," but "Nazarene."

23. If, because of His dwelling in man and a relative union, the Word of God is called man, then let the Father and the Holy Spirit also be called men; for the fullness of the Holy Trinity dwells in us through the Spirit. Indeed, the all-wise Paul says: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" And Christ Himself says: "If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him." But the Father is nowhere called a man, nor indeed is the Holy Spirit, because They dwell in us. Therefore, neither is the Son called man because of His dwelling in man, but because He became man in essence.

24. If, since the Word was in Christ, He became the doer of signs because He [the Word] was in him, then you perhaps count Him as one of the holy prophets; for He worked signs even through the hands of the holy ones.

25. It is written that Christ was sanctified by the Father and received the advent of the Spirit. How then does He baptize in the Holy Spirit, and fulfill and execute those things which befit the divine nature alone? For He Himself supplies holiness, signifying it to be His own proper gift, when He says: "Receive ye the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." He is sanctified, therefore, insofar as He is man, but He sanctifies insofar as He is God, being the same one.

26. It is written concerning Christ: "Who in the days of his flesh, with a strong cry and tears, offering up prayers and supplications to him that was able to save him from death, was heard for

^A his reverence. Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered: and being made perfect, he became the cause of eternal salvation to all that obey him."

Furthermore, the Lord himself says, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Were these things said as though of a mere man, as of one who might lose heart, and for whom the incursion of temptations was intolerable, and who was overcome by fear? For these are the words of one failing through faintheartedness: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." And: "Now is my soul troubled." And: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." These are the words either of one who is ignorant of the divine will, or of one who opposes the divine will. But if one were to take these as uttered concerning God stripped of humanity, they are altogether incongruous and absurd ^B. But if interpreted of the incarnate God, who has become man, and who by the passions cognate to his own flesh cures our own passions and leaves us an example, they are extremely appropriate. For this is what is meant by: "In the days of his flesh, although he was the Son."

The Spirit-filled Paul stood in awe of the mystery, and of God’s dealing with us, and of his benevolent condescension towards us; that, although he was the Son, in the days of his flesh he endured all these things in our nature, so that he might strengthen it to look towards God, and to call upon him for aid, and to show how much endurance and obedience in the face of sufferings conduce to perfection, and to what rewards they lead. Wherefore the blessed Peter also wrote ^C: "For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted, ye take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God; forasmuch as Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps." Christ, therefore, is not man only, nor God stripped of flesh, but God incarnate, who, "in the days of his flesh," both suffered and did these things, "leaving us an example." Hence he rebukes Peter, who said, "Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee," because the passion was being foretold to them.

27. If it be said that Jesus "advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace," do not surmise that he was a mere man, but God who became man and took flesh, allowing his own flesh to experience the things of its own nature, so that the incarnation might not be deemed a prodigy ^D.

28. Paul dares even to call Jesus not man—not as if he were not man, but as one who is also God. He writes, therefore, to the Galatians: "Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ." And again: "I make known to you"

the Gospel which was preached by me, that it is not according to man; for neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." It is written: "Not an angel, nor an ambassador, but the Lord himself saved us." Paul says: "Be followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us." ^A He who was sorrowful and refused the cup, how did he give himself up, unless he was not man only?

29. How does the blessed Peter say: "Christ therefore having suffered in the flesh"? For what reason did he add "in the flesh," unless because he knew that he was God, impassible in his divinity? If a mere man suffered for us, how is "the word of the cross the power of God"? And how is it that "he who has deemed his blood common is condemned," as one who has trampled upon the Son of God?

30. How does Christ say he is ascending "where he was before"? For he does not ascend as God, since he is uncircumscribed; ^B but ascending and descending are attributes of a circumscribed nature. Nor, on the other hand, was he as man in heaven before he ascended; but he ascends as man where he was before as God; for he is simultaneously the same, both God and man.

31. It is written: "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that everyone who believes in him should have eternal life." What an exuberance of love, if for us he gave a common man made a son by the grace of adoption? But how is he also the Only-begotten, if he is honored only by adoption, and is not Son by nature, when the Scripture says: "I have said, you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High"? And: ^C "As many as received him, he gave them power to become the children of God"? But just as, while there are many gods by adoption and grace, one is God by nature, so while many are honored by the adoption of sons, one is the Son of God by nature, the Only-begotten, whom he gave for us.

32. Divine John cries out, saying: "No one has seen God at any time. The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has revealed him." Who then is the one who reveals, if not he who was born of the Virgin and lived among men? "This is our God; no other shall be reckoned in comparison with him. He has found out all the way of knowledge. ^D Afterward he was seen on earth and lived with men." How was he seen on earth and lived with men? For he himself said: "No one has seen God at any time. The only-begotten Son," and the rest.

33. The Apostle says: "The first man is of the earth, earthly; the second man, the Lord from hea

^Aven." For the body was not brought down from heaven, but he who is God and the Son of God descended from heaven and became man, the second Adam, as a second beginning for those who are being reshaped and transformed through the resurrection unto incorruptible life. Wherefore he says: "The first Adam was made a living soul; the second Adam into a quickening spirit."

34. The Lord says to His own disciples: "Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." And the most divine Paul says: "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have been baptized into his death." The Lord made mention of one Son when He said, "And of the Son," and not "and of the sons." But the Apostle says we have been baptized into Christ and into his death. On your view, then, the Son by nature has been cast out, and a son by grace has been brought in; or else you have been baptized into a quaternary. But far be it that we should have been baptized into that; for we have been baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, into a consubstantial and indivisible Trinity. For He has remained no less consubstantial with the Father, even having become man, the Son of God by nature and God, the Only-Begotten, just as the Creed of the Church teaches.

35. "We believe in one God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ^C worlds, light of light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation descended from the heavens, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and Mary the Virgin, and was made man; and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and ascended into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, of whose kingdom there shall be no end." See how the company of the holy and divinely inspired Fathers has declared one Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Father before the worlds and not made, consubstantial with the Father, ^D light of light, true God of true God, who was incarnate and suffered in the flesh, and rose again, and ascended into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again, as He has already come from the heavens when, by a voluntary union, He assumed flesh and became man. For they did not posit one whom the Father begat before the worlds, and another who was born of the Virgin, but one and the same.

36. But you will say: Do we then affirm that He who was born of the

^A Word of the Father suffered for us? We truly confess it; yet in the flesh, not in the deity. For if Paul is telling the truth when he says of Him: «Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for in Him were all things created, visible and invisible: whether Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers: all things were created by Him and in Him: and He is before all, and by Him all things consist; and He is the head of the body of the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He may hold the primacy: because in Him, it hath well pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell; and through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in heaven» (Col. I, 15-20).

^A And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist; and He is the head of the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence. Lo, indeed, lo, how well and clearly he calls Him the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, visible and invisible: through whom all things are, and in whom all things consist, the head given to the Church; and that He is also the firstborn from the dead, «who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.» For we do not say that a man merely, adorned by I know not what sort of conjunction with Him, was given for us; but it is the Lord of glory who was crucified. «For had they known it,» He says, «they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.»

^B 37. How then did He suffer? For if He did not suffer at all as God, and yet is said to have suffered, how could He be God? Therefore, one might consider that only He suffered who was of the seed of David. But how is it not an indication of a feeble mind to say such things? For the Father did not deliver up for us a common man, honored by a relative conjunction and adoption; for it is written thus: «God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.» Since, therefore, He willed to suffer for the salvation of the world, and it was impossible for this to come to pass without flesh, because of His being impassible by nature as God, He assumed flesh subject to suffering; and being God, He also became man, that He might be able to suffer. Wherefore both were present in Him: in the flesh, to suffer; ^C but in the Godhead, not to suffer; for the same One was at once God and man. Therefore, every conception of examples is weak to represent this mystery clearly; yet, to provide a slight explanation of it, we will offer this: As iron, or some other similar material, upon coming into contact with fire, receives the heat of the fire and produces a flame, yet if it happens to be struck by someone striking it, the material indeed suffers harm, but the nature of the fire remains entirely uninjured by the one who strikes it; so you shall understand what is said: the Son suffers in the flesh, but does not suffer in His Godhead.

^D 38. Since we find both the prophetic and apostolic voices concerning Christ speaking now as of a man, now as of God, and sometimes as of God and man together, by what way shall we argue that these are not in conflict with one another, unless we say that the Son of God by nature, being God, was made man by nature, and that, after the incarnation, the same One is both God and man together? For thus, «Even if He was crucified through the weakness of the flesh,» according to the Apostle, «yet He lives by the power of God.» And He was raised by the Father, and raised Himself, and was taken up, and of His own authority ascends, and has sat «at the right hand of God in the heavenly places, far above all Principality and Power and Dominion, and every name that is named.»

^A 39. If the flesh that has been ineffably united to the Word is not the Word’s own, how is it understood to be life-giving? «I,» He says, «am the living bread which came down from heaven and gives life to the world. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.» If these things were not spoken by Him who descended, we would certainly grant that they were said as of a man who had been adopted as a son. But since He says, «I am the living bread which came down from heaven,» how could His flesh be of another than Himself? And even though it is written: «Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves,» we understand the same person to be the Son of God and the Son of Man: the former, ^B inasmuch as He is from eternity as God; the latter, because He became man in these last times. Otherwise, in what way is He both man and descended from heaven?

40. Blessed Paul writes: «God having spoken of old to the fathers in the prophets, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.» Observe how the prophets were indeed accounted worthy of adoption, but this one is the Son, in whom God has spoken to us in these last days—not an adopted son, but Son by nature; and for this reason He is distinguished from the prophets. And it is clear, for he says: «Whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.» By what logic is He made heir of all things, through whom He made the worlds, unless He were both God and man? Inasmuch as He is God, He is the creator of the worlds; inasmuch as He is man, He is appointed heir. «Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His substance, and upholding all things by the word of His power, having made purification of sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, becoming so much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.» ^C Observe how He Himself is the brightness of His glory and the image of the paternal substance, who upholds all things by the word of His power; He it is who is appointed heir of all things, and has inherited a name higher than that of the angels. How then is the same person the brightness of His glory, and upholds all things, and becomes heir of all things and of the name, unless He is Himself God and has become man? For these things are not said of one person and another, ^D but of one and the same Son of God, in whom He has spoken to us in these last days.

41. To all these things, what is great and new and hidden, which was not made known to the generations? Or what riches, what hidden wisdom, what excess of love, if salvation has been brought about through man?

^A If salvation has been won by a name, or by what reasoning may the mystery of the dispensation be called an emptying, an inhumanation, and an incarnation, if it was not the Son of God, God by nature, who saved us, but rather one of those subject to corruption, who obtained salvation by grace along with us? But if the Son of God by nature and very God did not truly become man and did not deign to suffer all things, where is the emptying? How did He humble Himself? What sort of incarnation is it, if He did not become flesh? And if at present the celestial powers also bow the knee alongside earthly ones to a mere man, how have matters not turned for the worse? For of old, men served the creature; but now, according to you, the celestial powers have passed into the same servitude along with the earthly and chthonic ones. But you, having your hope in a man and serving a man who has obtained salvation by grace, would rightly be called anthropolaters, that is, worshippers of man. ^B We, however, worship and serve and believe in one God the Father Almighty, and in one Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, the only-begotten, who was begotten of the Father before all ages; light from light, true God from true God; consubstantial with the Father; begotten of the Father before the ages, and in the last times incarnate by the Holy Spirit and Mary the Ever-Virgin, and made man, and crucified, and risen, and ascended into heaven, and seated at the right hand of the Father, and coming again to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end. And in the Holy Spirit. ^C

42. That He who was born of the holy Virgin and crucified is Himself the pre-eternal Son of God, the divine choir of the prophets witnesses first of all. For David cried aloud, saying: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." Behold, he speaks to God: "A rod of uprightness is the rod of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Behold, he clearly says that God, whose throne is for ever and ever, has been anointed by God and the Father; by the Father indeed as God, but by God [the Father] as His own, ^D as having become flesh and as being anointed as man. And Micah says: "And thou, Bethlehem, land of Judah, art by no means least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come forth a leader, who shall shepherd my people Israel, and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity." Whose goings forth were from the beginning, if not his of whom John the Theologian says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God"? And again David: "Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness to the king's son." And after a little: "And he shall humble the slanderer. And he shall remain with the sun and before the moon unto generation of generations." Do these things not clearly declare Christ's pre-eternal existence? Baruch also: "This is God

and no other shall be reckoned in comparison to him. He discovered all the way of understanding and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. Afterward he appeared on earth and conversed with men." ^A John the Theologian and evangelist says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was made nothing that was made." And after a little: "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." John bears witness of him, and cries saying: "This was he of whom I said: He who comes after me is made before me, because he was before me." He was first, as God, clearly; for as man, Christ was born after John. And again: "No man hath seen God at any time. The Only-Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Who, then, declared him, if not Christ? Therefore, he himself is the Only-Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father. And John the Forerunner: "And I saw and I bore witness that this is the Son of God." By saying *the* Son of God, and not just *a* Son of God—with the addition of the definite article—he signifies him clearly, that one, that Only-Begotten. And the Lord himself to Nathanael: "No man hath ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven, ^B the Son of man, who is in heaven." How did the Son of man descend from heaven, unless, since he was the Son of God and God by nature, he was made Son of man and humbled himself? For in this consists that descent. For the Divine is not by nature prone to move from place to place; for it is uncircumscribed. And again Christ: "For God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him. He that believeth in him is not judged; but he that doth not believe is already judged, because he hath not believed in the name of the Only-Begotten Son of God." And again John: "He that cometh from above is above all." And after a little: "The Father loveth the Son and he hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth in the Son hath life everlasting; but he that believeth not the Son ^C shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth upon him." All these things have been spoken concerning Christ. And again the Lord: "My Father worketh until now, and I work." On this account the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the Sabbath, but also said God was his own Father, making himself equal to God. And again the Lord: "The bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world." And after a little: "I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall not hunger; and he that believeth in me shall not thirst." And again: "Every one who seeth the Son and believeth in him hath life everlasting." If, therefore, ^D

^A Christ is God, how is he one other than the God Word, the Son of God? And if belief in him is eternal life, why is he not nature-God? For those who believe in a creature or in prophets do not have eternal life, but only those who believe in the true God. And again: "Not that any man hath seen the Father, but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father." And again: "I am the living bread, which came down from heaven." And again: "If then you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before." If the same one is not the Son of man and the pre-eternal Son of God, how did he ascend where he was before? For he ascended as man to where he was before as God; the same being at once God and man. And again: "I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it away from me; but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again." Who has power of life and death, if not God alone? And again: "I and the Father ^B are one." A man will never say, "I and God are one"; nor, "I and an angel are one." And neither would an angel say, "I and God are one," or even "I and man are one." In the first place, a creature will never say, "I and the Creator are one." For among creatures, a man might perhaps say: "I and an angel are one," in that they are created, in that they are servants; but a creature is in no way one with the Creator. And after a few words, comparing himself with those who are gods by adoption and not by nature, he says: "Is it not written in your law: I said, You are gods, and all of you the sons of the most High? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God was spoken, and the scripture cannot be broken: do you say that I blaspheme, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world; because I said, I am the Son of God?" And showing ^C that he is also consubstantial with the Father, from the likeness of their works, he says: "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you will not believe me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." As he also says above: "For as the Father raiseth up the dead and giveth life: so the Son also giveth life to whom he will," and added: "For he is the Son of man; wonder not at this, for the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that have heard shall live." Having said: "As the Father raiseth up the dead and giveth life," he added: "So the Son also giveth life to whom he will," showing that the Son is life-giving by his own authority and by nature, just as the Father, and not by grace. Then he adds: "That this Son of God, who by nature gives life, is the Son of man." He did not say, he is called the Son of man, but he is; ^D and do not wonder at this, he says, that the Son of man gives life. For this Son of man is the Son of God, not by name

not by grace, but by nature. Since the Son ^A vivifies by nature, just as the Father is by nature the vivifying God. And again to Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." And again: "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. Dost thou not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?" And again: "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." When Philip said: "Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us," the Lord, seeing that it is impossible for God to be seen with bodily eyes, and knowing that the knowledge of Him is the knowledge of the Father, as He is of the same substance with Him (for those of the same substance have one and the same knowledge), rebukes him slightly, saying: "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?" Indeed, he had known Him as a man; but he is rebuked because he had not recognized Him as God through faith and the eyes of his mind. For if he had known Him as God, he would have known the Father also; for he who only knows Him as man has not immediately known the Father, for the Father is not a man. Furthermore, this knowledge—namely, to know God the Father and Jesus Christ Himself—is eternal life. And indeed, to be ignorant of this is eternal death. Thomas also called Him who was touched "Lord and God." And he indeed is reproved, as one who had not believed before he saw; but blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed. Furthermore, the apostle Paul says: "When God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel," [who is] "God over all, blessed for ever." And in the Epistle to the Ephesians: "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under ^C the law." And in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we," by saying that Jesus was made as a man and comparing Him with Moses, he adds that He is worthy of greater glory than him; and furthermore, of such and so great glory as the Maker surpasses the work, and the son surpasses the servant. So that Moses was indeed a God-bearing servant, but Christ is God and Lord dwelling in His own house; whose house we are. "For we are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in us." Jesus, therefore, is God; God, I say, the Creator by nature. For those who are made like to God by the participation of grace are not also the creators of things.

^A Are not all these things which have been said concerning Him who was born of Mary and crucified, most clearly manifesting Him to be God and man, to those who possess understanding? But the darkness of vainglory, like a rheum settling upon the intellectual eyes of heretics, does not allow the illumination of the Gospel to shine through to them. For you cannot believe, who receive glory from men, and seek not the glory that is from God alone. But we, to whom it has been granted by God, having fled from superstitious delusion and come to be with God, thus think, thus reason, and thus preach—one God the Father, one God the Son, one God the Holy Spirit; one God, the three being conceived together, each God by Himself, one God the three, the one by reason of the monarchy, the three by reason of the properties. For there is one nature in the three hypostases, and the derivation of those things which are from Him is towards the One. Therefore, there is one God, the three, and the nature—that is, the divinity—is perfect in each of the hypostases; wherefore each by itself is perfect God. One God the three; for God is, and His Word is, and His Spirit is, one God; just as man, and his word, and his spirit, are not three men, but one. Each is perfect God; for the Word of God and His Holy Spirit are not powers without substance, nor poured out into the air, but each is subsistent and perfect, so that God would not be composite, [consisting] of imperfect things to become perfect; but one perfect [God] in three perfects, ^B more than perfect and pre-perfect.

43. We believe and unhesitatingly preach that the same One who was begotten of the Father before the ages, the only-begotten Son and Word, consubstantial with the Father, Son by nature, through whom all things were made, in the last times by the good pleasure of the Father was conceived in the all-immaculate and all-pure womb of the holy Virgin, as it were divine seed, and became incarnate without seed, without change, and without alteration; that is, He subsisted in Himself flesh animated by a rational and intellectual soul, and became perfect man, along with remaining what He was, perfect God. The holy Virgin conceived not a man, ^C but God by nature, the eternal Son and Word of God to be incarnate of her. For in every woman, conception takes place from seed cast by a man, and the conception is of the seed of the man, and the seed is the hypostasis, as at the moment of conception the woman provides her own blood, and as a result of the union and the subsistence of the [woman's] blood in the seed of the man, the seed itself becomes the hypostasis for them, both for itself and for the feminine blood, the seed becoming the source of their hypostasis. But it is not thus in the case of the holy Virgin; for the conception was not from the seed of a man, but after the consent of the holy Virgin, the Holy Spirit came upon her, according to the word of the Lord which the angel spoke, purifying her ^D and granting her the power, through which...

she could receive the Godhead of the Word. ^A And then the subsistent Wisdom and Power of God the Most High overshadowed her—the Son of God, who is consubstantial with the Father—and He formed for Himself, from her holy and most pure blood, a body animated by a rational and intelligent soul, having Himself become its hypostasis. And thus, being God by nature from the Father, He also became man by nature from His mother. And He is the selfsame one: truly perfect God, and truly perfect man without deceit, one hypostasis in two inseparable natures. For we do not confess a man who has been deified, but God who has become incarnate and has become man. * And the Word was made flesh. * We teach that He is both whole God and whole man, with His super-divine Godhead, and we declare one incarnate nature of God the Word. We also know and proclaim two births of Him who is by nature the Son of God and God: one from the Father, before the ages, bodiless and without cause; † ^B and one in the last times, for the sake of our salvation, incarnate and made man from the holy Virgin, bodily and temporal. Wherefore we proclaim the holy Virgin as Theotokos [Mother of God], since she gave birth in body and in truth to God who was incarnate from her. We know her also as Christotokos [Mother of Christ], for she gave birth to Christ. But because the God-hated Nestorius abused this word for the destruction of the name Theotokos, we do not name her Christotokos, but rather name her Theotokos by the better title. For there were other mothers of prophets and kings who were Christotokoi [Mothers of Christ], but the holy Virgin Mary alone is Theotokos. ^C Furthermore, we know the two natures of Christ, who is the one Son of God, and two natural wills and operations. For He works and wills in each form that which is proper to it to will, in communion with the other; and we worship the Trinity even after the incarnation of the Son of God: one Father, one Son of God and of the Virgin, the same who is God and man, and one Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

* John 1:14. † (2) Sine causa.

FRAGMENTS

In the manuscript of Saint Hilary, at the end of the dissertation of our John of Damascus concerning the two wills, which is the last of the works of this holy Doctor contained therein, there is an excerpt which follows here, and which like the rest is attributed to the same author. However, there appears to be some transposition in the title due to an error on the part of the scribes, and I think it should be read in this way: "If man is [composed of] two natures, it is necessary that in Christ, who is at once God and man, we say there are three natures and three operations, as Severus argued." Indeed, in book III of *De fide orthodoxa*, ch. 16, a similar title is read: "Against those who say: If man consists of two natures and operations, it is necessary that we speak of three natures and three operations in Christ." For when the Fathers of the Church, in explaining the faith regarding the union of a twofold nature in Christ, used the example of man, who is composed of body and soul, as if of two natures, Severus and his Monophysites took this as an occasion to raise an objection, [arguing] that it follows from this doctrine that three natures must be declared in Christ, namely body, soul, and deity. The author refutes this in that fragment, which was previously published by Combefis in volume II of the *Auctarium Bibliothecae Patrum Graecorum* after the dissertation *De duabus voluntatibus*.

ANSWER

For that miserable Severus, when he had invaded the See of Antioch, strove to avenge the heresy of Manes, Apollinaris, and Eutyches, disturbing the peace of the Churches as much as he could. Being driven from Antioch as guilty of sedition, he fell upon Alexandria like a storm. Where, as another tempest was rising against the people, a certain man named Julian, bishop of Halicarnassus in Asia, a most bitter defender of the Eutychian heresy, threw everything into confusion and turmoil. For while Severus professed one nature, he nevertheless admitted a difference in Christ, but Julian, while also saying there was one nature as Severus did, wished to have all difference removed; both of those impious men became the authors of every disturbance and tempest, "not understanding," as the Scripture says, "either what they say, or concerning what they affirm,"^B taking as an example of the divine union man, who consists of soul and body, and saying: "Therefore you admit three natures." But let those unlearned and ignorant men know that we speak of two natures, not of God and flesh, nor of God and soul, but of God and man. For the nature of a part is not strictly the nature of man. For the parts of man are indeed soul and body: but the parts of the parts are the divisions and subdivisions which exist in them. And the parts of Christ remain unconfused, namely Deity and humanity. But soul and body are not parts of Christ, but parts of a part. For the parts of the parts are [those] of man; in the soul, for instance, which is a rational substance and an incorporeal quality, endowed in itself with mind, and sense, and reason. From which other things of reason ^C