glorify the Spirit, if He were not from God through the Son, and if the thing were created by God, as they themselves say. For a created thing is not glorified together with its Creator, nor is a servant with his Lord: nor could the participation of a substance alien to God be the participation of God. "For in this we know," says John, "that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given to us."
ADMONITION CONCERNING THE EPISTLE ON THE INCARNATION OF THE WORD OF GOD
Many learned men suspect that the Epistle on the Incarnation of the Word of God is not by Athanasius, and we are moved to agree with their opinion by arguments that are far from light. For it was written in the age when heretics were openly and with the greatest vehemence contending that there are two persons in Christ, as is mentioned in number 2; a fact which no learned man would attribute to the age of Athanasius, but rather to the times of the Nestorians, whose heresy is refuted here. And indeed, concerning the passage of Scripture which we read here at number 1, "God was manifest in the flesh," etc., if Athanasius had read it in that very way, he would clearly have used it to assert the divinity of the Son against the Arians. But he seems to have used copies that had "which was manifest in the flesh," etc., as does the modern Vulgate, in which it is read thus: "Which was manifest in the flesh," etc., where that "which" refers to the preceding word, "mystery." If Athanasius had read it in the former way, he would not have omitted so distinguished a passage, being a man most learned in the Scriptures. Finally, if it were by Athanasius, it would have been cited by Cyril or by the Synod of Ephesus; for it is more suited for refuting the Nestorian heresy than the Epistle to Epictetus, which is most frequently cited by them. For in this present epistle, as we have said, the very heresy of Nestorius is impugned, as even the scholiast of the Basel codex noted in the margin.
OF OUR HOLY FATHER ATHANASIUS ON THE INCARNATION OF THE WORD OF GOD
A 1. The innovation of Paul of Samosata, which attempted to overturn the great mystery concerning Christ, once grieved the holy Synod; but now that innovation likewise causes grief to those who hold fast to the holy faith, or rather, it harms many by its identical blasphemies, especially those who are deficient in understanding. For great and hard-to-grasp matters are perceived only by faith in God; hence those who are unable to attain knowledge fall away, if they are not persuaded to remain in the faith and to turn away from curious questionings. Wherefore the blessed Paul said: "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed in the world, taken up in glory."
2. Since, therefore, we have heard that some among you are troubled, and are seeking letters from us concerning B the commonly received faith handed down from the Apostles, and are inquiring about the profane...
A expressions of any new teaching. We write that to seek the precise accuracy of this is for the few, but to hold the faith is for all who are obedient to God, who in fact derive great praise for their longing. For he who seeks things beyond his own powers is in peril; but he who remains in what has been handed down is without peril. We advise you, therefore—just as we advise ourselves—to keep the faith that has been handed down, to avoid profane innovations, and to urge everyone to fear inquiry into so great a mystery; and to confess that God has been manifested in the flesh according to the apostolic tradition, and that the righteousness which the Lord possessed in the Spirit—that is to say, not through human change, but by divine purity—was His. For it is impossible for human nature to be shown pure and without sin, unless it is believed that God is in the flesh, who has brought into the world the righteousness that is without sin, of which, when we become partakers, we shall live and be saved. For that which is said, "There is no righteous person on earth who will do good and not sin," [Eccles. VII, 20] is said in common of all men; whence, "From heaven it has come down," he says, "the Word giving from himself the immaculate righteousness." And he says clearly, "No one has ascended into heaven unless he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man." [John III, 13] And again, "If you see the Son of Man ascending where He was before," [John VI, 63] and, "I am the living bread that has descended from heaven, and which gives life to the world." By these things He openly teaches us His own divinity, yet without removing that which He had assumed according to the flesh, but B uniting Himself to the flesh; since, according to Paul, "He became in the likeness of men, and being found in stature as a man." [Philipp. II, 7] Now a man is one person and one living being, composed from spirit and flesh; and according to this same likeness, we must understand Christ to be one person, and not two, as the present disbelief struggles to maintain, clearly falling short of the greatness of divine grace and stumbling into the scandal of the Gentiles. For because it does not believe it possible for God to become man according to the word of John at the beginning, saying that "The Word was made flesh," [John I, 14] for this reason it says that He is a man indeed, born of the Virgin, and having nothing divine by nature, but that God descended into this person. Now those who say these things are contradicting themselves, as if opposing the Word, while they say that the Son of Man did not descend from heaven, but rather that a man arising from the earth received into himself the God who descended from heaven. C D
3. Therefore, it is fitting for us to hold fast to the divine words and—
not betray to the exercises of logic those things which have been so clearly proclaimed. A When, therefore, the followers of Samosatensis say that one is merely man and another is God, let us not accept it. For even if they should say that God indwells in the man, let us not accept it; for He indwells in us, as it is written: "I will dwell in them, and move among them" (Levit. xxvi, 12). Therefore, according to their logic, He in no way differs from us; so that if you worship the man together with God the Word on account of the indwelling, worship the saints also on account of Him who indwells in them. And how is that not absurd? But to say that a man was glorified before the Holy Spirit, that is, before God, is of extreme impiety. We, therefore, believe that by the Spirit He is God, and by the flesh He is our Lord, even if those unbelievers mock the birth from a woman, for this belongs to the flesh, and not to the deity. We say, therefore, that God was united to the flesh, and to that extent formed and born from a woman, being one, as the Apostle taught: "God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law" (Galat. iv, 4, 5). And the divine cross they mock similarly to the Greeks. But we say this for the sake of the flesh, which is neither separated from God nor divided into another person; B for it is impossible that the Lord of glory should be a mere man. For, "The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory" (Psal. xxiii, 10). Fearing to call the Lord of hosts a man—who has the same nature as we do and nothing greater—we confess, according to the apostolic voice, that the Lord of glory who was crucified is God; and we use the cross as a trophy against the devil; and our seal is the power of Christ unto salvation. And to be crucified with Christ is something saving, more than the law and more than the righteousness of the law: this sanctifies the world. And for this reason we are baptized into His death, because His death was not a penalty for sin, nor was it equal to the death of Adam, but it was a redemption from sin and from the death introduced through it.
4. Let the preaching of the apostles therefore be set forth, as you wish, which also has been handed down by the holy Fathers: concerning the deity, that the Trinity is one nature, and according to this one essence—which the synods of this time also write in an apostolic manner. D But the Word of God, since He is the creator of all things, after He had created man from the beginning according to His own likeness,