Church Fathers: Post-Nicene Fathers Vol 03: 23.01.33 The Impassible Part 4

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Church Fathers: Post-Nicene Fathers Vol 03: 23.01.33 The Impassible Part 4



TOPIC: Post-Nicene Fathers Vol 03 (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 23.01.33 The Impassible Part 4

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Testimony of the Holy Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and confessor.

From his letter to Epictetus:-

"Whoever reached such a pitch of impiety as to think and say that the Godhead itself of one substance with the Father was circumcised, and from perfect became imperfect; and to deny that what was crucified on the tree was the body, asserting it on the contrary to be the very creative substance of wisdom?"

Of the same from the same treatise:-

"The Word associated with Himself and brought upon Himself what the humanity of the Word suffered, that we might be able to share in the Godhead of the Word. And marvellous it was that the sufferer and He who did not suffer were the same; sufferer in that His own body suffered and He was in it while suffering, but not suffering because the Word, being by nature God, was impassible. And He Himself the incorporeal was in the passible body, and the body contained in itself the impassible Word, destroying the infirmities of His body."

Of the same from the same letter:-

"For being God and Lord of Glory, He was in the body ingloriously crucified; but the body suffered when smitten on the tree, and water and blood flowed from its side; but being temple of the Word, it was full of the Godhead. Wherefore when the sun saw its Creator suffering in His outraged body, it drew in its rays, and darkened the earth. And that very body with a mortal nature rose superior to its own nature, on account of the Word within it, and is no longer touched by its natural corruption, but clothed with the superhuman Word, became incorruptible."

Of the same from his greater discourse on the Faith:-

"Was what rose from the dead, man or God? Peter, the Apostle, who knows better than we, interprets and say, `and when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a sepulchre, but God raised Him from the dead.'hyperlink Now the dead body of Jesus which was taken down from the tree, which had been laid in a sepulchre, and entombed by Joseph of Arimathaea, is the very body which the Word raised, saying, `Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'hyperlink It is He who quickens all the dead, and quickened the man Christ Jesus, born of Mary, whom He assumed. For if while on the crosshyperlink He raised corpses of the saints that had previously undergone dissolution, much more can God the everliving Word raise the body, which He wore, as says Paul, `For the word of God is quick and powerful.'"hyperlink

Of the same from the same work:-

"Life then does not die, but quickens the dead; for as the light is not injured in a dark place, so life cannot suffer when it has visited a mortal nature, for the Godhead of the Word is immutable and invariable as the Lord says in the prophecy about Himself `I am the Lord I change not.'"hyperlink

Of the same from the same work:-

"Living He cannot die but on the contrary quickens the dead. He is therefore, by the Godhead derived from the Father, a fount of light; but He that died, or rather rose from the dead, our intercessor, who was born of the Virgin Mary, whom the Godhead of the Word assumed for our sake, is man."

Of the same from the same work:-

"It came to pass that Lazarus fell sick and died; but the divine Man did not fall sick nor against His own will did He die, but of His own accord came to the dispensation of death, being strengthened by God the Word who dwelt within Him, and who said `No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.'hyperlink The Godhead then which lays down and takes the life of man which He wore is of the Son, for in its completeness He assumed the manhood, in order that in its completeness He might quicken it, and, with it, the dead."

Of the same from his discourse against the Arians:-

"When therefore the blessed Paul says the Father `raised' the Son `from the dead'hyperlink John tells us that Jesus said `Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up ...but He spake' of His own `body.'hyperlink So it is clear to them that take heed that at the raising of the body the Son is said by Paul to have been raised from the dead, for he refers what concerns the body to the Son's person, and just so when he says `the Father gave life to the Son'hyperlink it must be understood that the life was given to the Flesh. For if He Himself is life bow can the life receive life?"

Of the same from his work on the incarnation:-

"For when the Word was conscious that in no other way could tile ruin of men be undone save by death to the uttermost, and it was impossible that the Word who is immortal and Son of the Father should die, to effect His end He assumes a body capable of death, that this body, being united to the Word, who is over all, might, in the stead of all, become subject to death, and because of the indwelling Word might remain incorruptible, and so by the grace of the resurrection corruption for the future might lose its power over men. Thus offering to death, as a sacrifice and victim free from every spot, the body which He had assumed, by His corresponding offering He straightway destroyed death's power over all His kind; for being the Word of God above and beyond all men, He rightly offered and paid His own temple and bodily instrument, as a ransom for all souls due to death. And thus by means of the like (body) being associated with all men, the incorruptible Son of God rightly clothed all men with incorruption by the promise of the resurrection, for the corruption inherent in death no longer has any place with men, for the sake of the Word who dwelt in them by the means of the one body."

Of the same from the same work:-

"Wherefore, after His divine manifestations in His works, now also on behalf of all He offered sacrifice, yielding to death His own temple instead of all, that He might make all men irresponsible and free from the ancient transgression, and, exhibiting His own body as incorruptible firstfruits of the resurrection of mankind, might shew Himself stronger than death. For the body, as having a common substance-for it was a human body, although by a new miracle its constitution was of the Virgin alone-being mortal, died after the example of its like; but by the descent of the Word into it no longer suffered corruption, according to its own nature, but, on account of God the Word who dwelt within it, was delivered fromcorruption."

Of the same from the same work:-

"Whence, as I have said, since it was not possible for the Word being immortal to die, He took upon Himself a body capable of death, in order that He might offer this same body for all, and He Himself in His suffering on behalf of all through His descent into this body might `destroy Him that hath the power of death.'"hyperlink

Ofthe same from the same work:hyperlink -

"For the body in its passion, as is the nature of bodies, died, but it had the promise of incorruption through the Word that dwelt within it. For when the body died the Word was not injured; but He was Himself impassible, incorruptible, and immortal, as being God's Word, and being associated with the body He kept from it the natural corruption of bodies, as says the Spirit to Him `thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption.'"hyperlink

The testimony of the holy Damasus, bishop of Rome:hyperlink -

"If any one say that, in the passion of the Cross, God the Son of God suffered pain, and not the flesh with the soul, which the form of the servant put on and assumed, as the Scripture saith, Let him be anathema."

Testimony of the holy Ambrosius, bishop of Milan.

From his book on the Catholic faith:-

"There are some men who have reached such a pitch of impiety as to think that the Godhead of the Lord was circumcised, and from perfect was made imperfect; and that the divine substance, Creator of all things, and not the flesh, was on the tree."

Of the same from the same work:-

"The flesh suffered; but the Godhead is free from death. He yielded His body to suffer according to the law of human nature. For how can God die, when the soul cannot die? `Fear not,' He says, `them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul.'hyperlink If then the soul cannot be slain how can the Godhead be made subject to death?"

Testimony of the holy Basilius, bishop of Caearea:-

"It is perfectly well known to every one who has the least acquaintance with the meaning of the words of the Apostle that he is not delivering to us a mode of theology but is explaining the reasons of the oeconomy,hyperlink for he says `God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord aim Christ.'hyperlink Thus he is plainly directing his argument to His human and visible nature."

Testimony of the holy Gregorius, bishop of Nazianzus.

From his letter to the blessed Nectarius, bishop of Constantinople:-

"The saddest thing in what has befallen the churches is the boldness of the utterances of Apollinarius and his party. I cannot understand how your Holiness has allowed them to arrogate to themselves the power of assembling on the same terms with us."

And a little further on:-

"I will no longer call this serious; it is indeed saddest of all that the only begotten God Himself, Judge of all who exist, the Prince of Life, the Destroyer of Death, is made by him mortal and alleged to receive suffering in His own Godhead. He represents the Godhead to have shared with the body in the dissolution of that three days death of the body, and so after the death to have been again raised by the Father."

Of the same from his former exposition to Cledonius:-

"It is the contention of the Arians that the manhood was without a soul, that they may refer the passion to the Godhead and represent the same power as both moving the body and suffering."

Of the same from his discourse about the Son:-

"It remained for us to treat of what was commanded Him and of His keeping the commandments and doing all things pleasing to Him; and further of His perfection, exaltation, and learning obedience by all that He suffered,hyperlink His priesthood, His offering, His betrayal, His entreaty to Him that hath power to save Him from death, His agony, His bloody sweat, His prayer and similar manifestations, were it not clear to all that all these expressions in connexion with His Passion in no way signify the nature which was immutable and above suffering."

Of the same from his Easter Discourse (Or. ii.):-

"`Who is this that cometh from Edom?'hyperlink and from the earth, and how can the garments of the bloodless and bodiless be red as of one that treadeth in the wine-fat? Urge in reply the beauty of the garment of the body which suffered and was made beautiful in suffering, and was made splendid by the Godhead, than which nothing is lovelier nor more fair."

Testimony of Gregory, bishop of Nyssa.

From his catechetical oration:-

"And this is the mystery of the dispensation of God concerning the manhood and of the resurrection from the dead, not to prevent the soul from being separated from the body by death according to the necessary law ofhuman nature, and to bring them together again through the resurrection."

Of the same from the same work:-

"The flesh which received the Godhead, and which through the resurrection was exalted with the Godhead, is not formed of another material, but of ours; so, just as in the case of our own body, the operation of one of the senses moves to general sensation the whole man united to that part, in like manner just as though all nature were one single animal, the resurrection of the part pervades the whole, being conveyed from the part to the whole by what is continuous and united in nature. What then do we find extraordinary in the mystery that the upright stoops to the fallen to raise up him that lies low?"

Of the same from the same work:-

"It would be natural also in this part not to heed the one and neglect the other; but in the immortal to behold the human, and to be curiously exact about the diviner quality in the manhood."

Of the same from his work against Eunomius:-

"'Tis not the human nature which raises Lazarus to life. 'Tis not the impassible power which sheds tears over the dead. The tear belongs to the man; the life comes from the very life. The thousands are not fed by human poverty; omnipotence does not hasten to the fig tree. Who was weary in the way, and who by His word sustains all the world without being weary? What is the brightness of His glory, what was pierced by the nails? What form is smitten in the passion, what is glorified for everlasting? The answer is plain and needs no interpretation."

Of the same from the same treatise:-

"He blames them that refer the passion to the human nature. He wishes himself wholly to subject the Godhead itself to the passion, for the proposition being twofold and doubtful, whether the divinity or the humanity was concerned in the passion, the denial of the one becomes the positive condemnation of the other. While therefore they blame them who see the passion in the humanity, they will bestow unqualified praise on them that maintain the Divinity of the Son of God to be passible. But the point established by these means becomes a confirmation of their own absurdity of doctrine; for if, as they allege, the Godhead of the Son suffers while that of the Father in accordance with its substance is conserved in complete impassibility, it follows that the impassible nature is at variance with the nature which sustains suffering."

The testimony of the holy Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium.

From his discourse on the text "Verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent me hath everlasting life":hyperlink -

"Whose then are the sufferings? Of the flesh. Therefore if you give to the flesh the suffering, give it also the lowly words; and ascribe the exalted words to Him to Whom you assign the miracles. For the God when He is in the act of working wonders naturally speaks in high and lofty language worthy of His works and the man when He is suffering fitly utters lowly words corresponding with His sufferings."

Of the same from his discourse on "My Father is greater than I":hyperlink -

"But when you give the sufferings to the flesh and the miracles to God, you must of necessity, though unwillingly, give the lowly words to the man born of Mary, and the high and lofty words becoming God, to the Word who existed in the beginning. The reason why I utter sometimes lofty words and sometimes lowly is that by the lofty I may show the nobility of the indwelling Word, and by the lowly make known the infirmity of the lowly flesh. So at one time I call myself equal to the Father and at another I call the Father greater; and in this I am not inconsistent with myself, but I shew that I am God and man; God by the lofty and man by the lowly. And if you wish to know in what sense my Father is greater than I, I spoke in the flesh and not in the person of the Godhead."

Of the same from his discourse on "If it be possible let this cup pass from me":hyperlink -

"Ascribe not then the sufferings of the flesh to the impassible God, for I, O heretic, am God, and man; God, as the miracles prove man as is shewn by the sufferings. Since then I am God and man, tell me, who was it who suffered? If God suffered, you have spoken blasphemy; but if the flesh suffered, why do you not attribute the passion to Him to whom you ascribe the dread? For while one is suffering another feels on dread; while man is being crucified God is not troubled."

Of the same from his discourse against the Arians:-

"And not to prolong what I am saying, I will shortly ask you, O heretic, did He who was begotten of God before the ages suffer, or Jesus who was born of David in the last days? If the Godhead suffered, thou hast spoken blasphemy; if, as the truth is, the manhood suffered, for what reason do you hesitate to attribute the passion to man?"

Of the same from his discourse concerning the Son:-

"Peter said, `God hath made this Jesus both Lord and Christ'hyperlink and said too, `this Jesus whom ye crucified God hath raised up.'hyperlink Now it was the manhood, not the Godhead, which became a corpse, and He who raised it was the Word, the power of God, who said in the Gospel, `Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.'hyperlink So when it is said that God hath made Him who became a corpse and rose from the dead both Lord and Christ, what is meant is the flesh, and not the Godhead of the Son."

Of the same from his discourse on "The Son can do nothing of Himself":hyperlink -

"For He had not such a nature as that His life could be held by corruption, since His Godhead was not forcibly reduced to suffering. For how could it? But the manhood was renewed in incorruption. So he says `For this mortal must put on immortality and this corruptible must put on incorruption.'hyperlink You observe the accuracy; he points distinctly to `this mortal' that you may not entertain the idea of the resurrection of any other flesh."

Testimony of the holy Flavianus, bishop of Antioch.

On Easter Day:-

"Wherefore also the cross is boldly preached by us, and the Lord's death confessed among us, though in nothing did the Godhead suffer, for the divine is impassible, but the dispensation was fulfilled by the body."

Of the same on Judas the traitor:-

"When therefore you hear of the Lord being betrayed, do not degrade the divine dignity to insignificance, nor attribute to divine power the sufferings of the body. For the divine is impassible and invariable. For if through His love to mankind He took on Him the form of a servant, He underwent no change in nature. But being what He ever was, he yielded the divinehyperlink body to experience death."

Testimony of Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria.

From his Heortastic Volume:-

"Of unreasoning beings the souls are not taken and replaced: they share in the corruption of the bodies, and are dissolved into dust. But after the Saviour at the time of the cross had taken the soul from His own body, He restored it to the body again when He rose from the dead. To assure us of this He uttered the words of the psalmist, the predictive exclamation, `Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell nor suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.'"hyperlink

Testimony of the blessed Gelasius, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine:-

"He was bound, He was wounded, He was crucified, He was handled, He was marked with scars, He received a lance's wound, and all these indignities were undergone by the body born of Mary, while that which was begotten from the Father before the ages none was able to harm, for the Word had no such nature. For how can any one constrain Godhead? How wound it? How make red with blood the incorporeal nature? How surround it with grave bands? Grant now what you cannot contravene and, constrained by invincible reason, honour Godhead."

Testimony of the holy John, bishop of Constantinople.

From his discourse on the words "My Father worketh hitherto and I work":hyperlink -

"`What sign shewest Thou unto us seeing that Thou doest these things?'hyperlink What then does He reply Himself? `Destroy this temple,' He says, `and in three days I will raise it up,'hyperlink speaking of His own body, but they did not understand Him."

And a little further on:-

"Why does not the evangelist pass this by? Why did he add the correction, `But He spake of the temple of his body'?hyperlink for He did not say destroy this `body,' but `temple' that He might shew the indwelling God. Destroy this temple which is far more excellent than that of the Jews. The Jewish temple contained the Law; this temple contains the Lawgiver; the former the letter that killeth; the latter the spirit that giveth life."hyperlink

Of the same from the discourse "That what was spoken and done in humility was not so done and spoken on account of infirmity of power but different dispensations":-

"How then does He say `If it be possible'?hyperlink He is pointing out to us the infirmity of the human nature, which did not choose to be torn away from this present life, but stepped back and shrank on account of the love implanted in it by God in the beginning for the present life. If then when the Lord Himself so often spoke in such terms, some have dared to say that He did not take flesh, what would they have said if none of these words had been spoken by Him?"

Of the same from the same work:-

"Observe how they spoke of His former age. Ask the heretic the question Does God dread? Does He draw back? Does He shrink? Does He sorrow? and if he says yes, stand off from him for the future, rank him down below with the devil, aye lower even than the devil, for even the devil will not dare to say this. But, should he say that each of these things is unworthy of God, reply-neither does God pray; for apart from these it will be yet another absurdity should the words be the words of God, for the words indicate not only an agony, but also two wills; one of the Son and another of the Father, opposed to one another. For the words `Not as I will, but as Thou wilt,' are the words of one indicating this."

Of the same from the same work:-

"For if this be spoken of the Godhead there arises a certain contradiction, and many absurdities are thereby produced. If on the contrary it be spoken of the flesh, the expressions are reasonable, and no fault can be found with them. For the unwillingness of the flesh to die incurs no condemnation; such is the nature of the flesh and He exhibits all the properties of the flesh except sin, and indeed in full abundance, so as to stop the mouths of the heretics. When therefore He says `If it be possible let this cup pass from me' and `not as I will but as Thou wilt,' He only shews that He is really clothed with the flesh which fears death, for it is the nature of the flesh to fear death, to draw back and to suffer agony. Now He leaves it abandoned and stripped of its own activity, that by shewing its weakness He may convince us also of its nature. Sometimes however He conceals it, because He was not mere man."

Testimony of Severianus, bishop of Gabala.

From his discourse on the seals:-

"The Jews withstand the apparent, ignorant of the non-apparent; they crucify the flesh; they do not destroy the Godhead. For if my words are not destroyed together with the letter which is the clothing of speech, how could God the Word, the fount of life, die together with the flesh? The passion belongs to the body, but impassibility to the dignity."

See then how they whose husbandry is in the East and in the West, as well as in the South and in the North, have all been shewn by us to condemn your vain heresy, and all openly to proclaim the impassibility of the divine Nature. See how both tongues, I mean both Greek and Latin, make one harmonious confession about the things of God.

Eran.-I am myself astonished at their harmony, but I observe a considerable difference in the terms they use.

Orth.-Do not be angry. The very force of their fight against their adversaries is the cause of their seeming immoderate. The same thing is to be observed in the case of planters; when they see a plant bent one way or another, they are not satisfied with bringing it to a straight line, but bend it still further in the opposite direction, that by its being bent still further from the straight it may attain its upright stature. But that you may know that the very promoters and supporters of this manifold heresy strive to surpass even the heretics of old by the greatness of their blasphemies, listen once more to the writings of Apollinarius which proclaim the impassibility of the divine nature, and confess the passion to be of the body.

Testimony of Apollinarius.

From his summary:-

"John spoke of the temple which was destroyed, namely the body of Him that raised it, and the body is entirely united to Him and He is not another among them. And if the body of the Lord was one with the Lord, the properties of the body were constituted His properties on account of the body."

And again:-

"And the truth is that His conjunction with the body does not take place by circumscription of the Word, so that He has nothing beyond His incorporation. Wherefore even in death immortality abides with Him; for if He transcends this composition, so does He also the dissolution. Now death is dissolution. But He was not comprehended in the composition; had He been so, the universe would have been made void; nor in the dissolution did He, like the soul, suffer the deprivation which succeeds dissolution."

And again:-

"As the Saviour says that the dead bodies go forth from their tombs, though their souls do not go forth thence, just so He says that He Himself will rise from the dead, although it is only His body that rises."

In another similar work he writes:-

"Of man is the rising from the dead; of God is the raising. Now Christ both rose and raised, for He was God and man. Had the Christ been only man He would not have quickened the dead, and if He had been only God, He would not on His own account apart from the Father have quickened any of the dead. But Christ did both; the same being is both God and man. If the Christ had been only man He would not have saved the world; if He had been only God He would not have saved it through suffering, but Christ did both, so He is God and man. If the Christ had been only man or if only God He could not have been a Mediator between men and God."

And a little further on:-

"Now flesh is an instrument of life fitted to the capacity for suffering in accordance with the divine will. Words are not proper to the Flesh, nor are deeds. Being made subject to the capacity for suffering, as is natural to the flesh, it prevails over the suffering because it is the flesh of God."

And again a little further on:-

"The Son took flesh of the Virgin and travelled to the world. This flesh He filled with the Holy Ghost to the sanctification of us all. So He delivered death to death and destroyed death through the resurrection to the raising of us all."

From his tract concerning the faith:-

"Since the passions are concerned with the flesh His power possessed its own impassibility, so to refer the passion to the power is an impious error."

And in his tract about the incarnation he further writes:-

"Here then He shews that it was the same man who rose from the dead and God who reigns over all creation."

You see now that one of the professors of vain heresy plainly preaches the impassibility of the Godhead, calls the body a temple, and persists in maintaining that this body was raised by God the Word.

Eran.-I have heard and I am astonished; and I am really ashamed that our doctrines should appear less tenable than the innovation of Apollinarius.

Orth.-But I will bring you a witness from yet another heretical herd distinctly preaching the impassibility of the Godhead of the only begotten.

Eran.-Whom do you mean?

Orth.-You have probably heard of Eusebius the Phoenician, who was bishop of Emesa by Lebanon.hyperlink

Eran.-I have met with some of his writings, and found him to be a supporter of the doctrines of Arius.

Orth.-Yes; he did belong to that sect, but in his endeavour to prove that the Father was greater than the only begotten he declares the Godhead of the depreciated Son to be im- passible and for this opinion he contended with long and extraordinary perseverance.

Eran.-I should be very much obliged if you would quote his words too.

Orth.-To comply with your wish I will adduce somewhat longer evidence. Now listen to what he says, and fancy that the man himself is addressing us.

Testimony of Eusebius of Emesa:-

"Wherefore does he fear death? Lest he suffer anything from death? For what was death to Him? Was it not the severance of the power from the flesh? Did the power receive a nail that it should fear? If our soul suffers not the body's infirmities when united with it, but the eye grows blind and yet the mind retains its force; and a foot is cut off and yet the reasoning power does not halt-and this nature evidences, and the Lord sets His seal on, in the words `Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul' (and if they cannot kill the soul, it is not because they do not wish, but because they are not able, though they would like to make the soul share the suffering of the body yoked with it)-shall He who created the soul and formed the body suffer as the body suffers, although He does take upon Himself the body's sufferings? But Christ suffered for us, and we lie not. `And the bread that I will give is my flesh.'hyperlink This He gave for us.

"That which can be mastered was mastered; that which can be crucified was crucified, but He that had power alike to dwell in it and to leave it said `Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit,'hyperlink not into the hands of them who were trying to hasten His death. I am not fond of controversy; I rather avoid it; with all gentleness I wish to enquire into the points at issue between us as between brothers. Do not I say truly that the power could not be subject to the sufferings of the flesh? I say nothing; let him who will say what the power suffered. Did it fail? See the danger. Was it extinct? See the blasphemy. Did it no longer exist? This is the death of power. Tell me what can so master it that it suffered and I withdraw. But, if you cannot tell me, why do you object to my not telling you? What you cannot tell me, that it did not receive. Drive a nail into a soul and I will admit that it can be driven into power. But it was in sympathy. Tell me what you mean by `in sympathy.' As a nail went into the flesh, so pain into the power. Let us understand `was in sympathy' in this sense. Then pain was felt by the power which was not smitten. For pain always follows on suffering. But if a body often despises pain while the mind is sound, on account of the vigour of its thought, then in this case let some one explain impartially what suffered and what suffered with or was in sympathy. What then? Did not Christ die for us? How did He die? `Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit.'hyperlink The Spirit departed; the body remained; the body remained without breath. Did He not die then? He died for us. The Shepherd offered the sheep, the Priest offered the sacrifice, He gave Himself for us. `He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all.'hyperlink I do not reject the words, but I want the meaning of the words. The Lord says that the bread of God came down from Heaven,hyperlink and though I cannot express it more clearly on account of the mysteries, He says in explanation `It is my flesh.' Did the flesh of the Son come down from heaven? No. How then does He say, and that in explanation, the bread of God lives and came down from Heaven? He refers the properties of the power to the flesh, because the power which assumed the flesh came down from heaven. Change the terms then; He refers to the power what the flesh suffers. How did Christ suffer for us? He was spat upon, He was smitten on the cheek, they put a crown about His brow, His hands and feet were pierced. All these sufferings were of the body, but they are referred to Him that dwelt therein. Throw a stone at the Emperor's statue. What is the cry? `You have insulted the Emperor.' Tear the Emperor's robe. What is the cry? `You have rebelled against the Emperor.' Crucify Christ's body. What is the cry? `Christ died for us.' But what need of me and thee? Let us go to the Evangelists. How have you received from the Lord how the Lord died? They read `Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit.'hyperlink The Spirit on high, the body on the Cross for us. So far as His body is attributed to Himself He offered the sheep."

Of the same from the same book:-

"He came to save our nature; not to destroy His own. If I consent to say that a camel flies, you directly count it strange, because it does not fit in with its nature; and you are quite right. And if I say that men live in the sea you will not accept it; you are quite right. It is contrary to nature. As then if I say strange things about these natures you count it strange; if I say that the Power which was before the ages, by nature incorporeal, in dignity impassible, which exists with the Father and by the Father's side, on His right hand and in glory, if I say that this incorporeal nature suffers, will you not stop your ears? If you will not stop your ears when you hear this, I shall stop my heart. Can we do anything to an angel? Smite him with a sword? Or cut him in pieces? Why do I say to an angel? Can we to a soul? Does a soul receive a nail? A soul is neither cut nor burnt. Do you ask why? Because it was so created. Are His works impassible and He Himself passible? I do not reject the oeconomy; on the contrary, I welcome the ill-treatment. Christ died for us and was crucified. So it is written; so the nature admitted. I do not blot out the words nor do I blaspheme the nature. But this is not true. Very well, then let something truer be said. The teacher is a benefactor, never harsh, never an enemy, unless the pupil be headstrong. Have you anything good to say? My ears are gratefully open. Does any one want to quarrel? Let him quarrel at his leisure. Could the Jews crucify the Son of God and make the power itself a dead body? Can the living die? The death of this power is its failure. Even when we die, our body is left. But if we make that power a dead body we reduce it to non-existence. I am afraid you cannot hear. If the body die, the soul is separated from it and remains; but if the soul die, since it has no body, it altogether ceases to exist. A soul by dying altogether ceases to be. For the death of the immortals is a contradiction of their existence. Consider the alternative; for I do not dare even to mention it. We say these things as we understand them, but if any one is contentions, we lay down no law. But I know one thing, that every man must reap the fruit of his opinions. Each man comes to God and brings before Him what he has said and thought about Him. Do not suppose that God reads books, or is troubled by having to recollect what you said or who heard you: all is made manifest. The judge is on the throne. Paulushyperlink is brought before Him. `Thou saidst I was a man; thou hast no life with Me. Thou knewest not Me; I know not thee.' Up comes another. `Thou saidst I was one of the things that are created.hyperlink Thou knewest not My dignity; I know not thee.' Up comes another. `Thou saidst that I did not assume a body. Thou madest light of My grace. Thou shalt not share My immortality.' Up comes another. `Thou saidst that I was not born of a Virgin to save the body of the Virgin; thou shalt not be saved.' Each one reaps the fruit of his opinions about the faith."

You see the other sect of your teachers, in which you supposed that you had learnt the suffering of the Godhead of the only Begotten, abhors this blasphemy, preaches the impassibility of the Godhead, and quits the ranks of them who dare to attribute the passion to it.

Eran.-Yes;I am astonished at the conflict, and I admire the man's sense and opinions.

Orth.-Then, my good Sir, imitate the bees. As you flit in mental flight about the meads of the divine Scripture, among the fair flowers of these illustrious Fathers, build us in your heart the honey-comb of the faith. If haply you find anywhere herbage bitter and not fit to eat, like these fellows Apollinarius and Eusebius, but still not quite without something that may be meet for making honey, it is reasonable that you should sip the sweet and leave the poisonous behind, like bees who lighting often on baneful bushes leave all the deadly bane behind and gather all the good. We give you this advice, dear friend, in brotherly kindness. Receive it and you will do well. And if you hearken not we will say to you in the word of the apostle "We are pure."hyperlink We have spoken, as the prophet says, what we have been commanded.



Footnotes



118 The quotation seems to be a confusion between Acts ii. 24, and Acts xiii. 29. Sic in Athan. Ed. Migne. II. 1030.



119 John iii. 19.



120 But "after his resurrection" appears to qualify the statement "arose" as well as "appeared" in Matt. xxviii. 53.



121 Hebrews iv. 12.



122 Malachi iii. 6.



123 John x. 18.



124 Acts xiii. 30.



125 John ii. 19 and John ii. 21.



126 John v. 26.



127 Heb. ii. 14.



128 This passage is not found in the discourse on the Incarnation, but a similar passage occurs in the third oration against the Arians. Ed. Ben. p. 606.



129 Ps. xvi. 10.



130 Epist. iii. Ad Paulinum.



131 Matt. x. 28.



132 cf. note on p. 72.



133 Acts ii. 36.



134 cf. Heb. v. 8.



135 Isaiah lxiii. 1.



136 John v. 24.



137 John xiv. 28.



138 Matt. xxvi. 39.



139 Acts ii. 36.



140 Acts ii. 24. The citation is loose.



141 John ii. 19.



142 John v. 19.



143 I. Cor xv. 53. Observe the inaccuracy of the quotation.



144 The Latin translator, as though observing the apparent impropriety of the epithet, here renders qeion "sanctissimum."



145 Ps. xvi. 10.



146 John v. 17



147 John ii. 18.



148 John ii. 19.



149 John ii. 21.



150 cf. II. Cor. iii. 6.



151 Matt. xxvi. 39.



152 Eusebius, bishop of Emesa (now Hems, where Heliogabalus received the purple, and Aurelian defeated Zenobia) c. 341-359 is called by Jerome "Signifer Arianoe factionis." Chron. sub ann. x Constantii. Theodoret also mentions writings of his against Apelles (Haer. fab. i. 25.)



153 John vi. 51.



154 Luke xxiii. 46.



155 Luke xxiii. 46.



156 Romans viii. 32.



157 John vi. 51.



158 Luke xxiii. 46.



159 i.e. Paul of Samosata.



160 twn ontwn in the original; lit: of the things that are, which might have an orthodox interpretation, tho' strictly speaking there is no such thing as "to on&Eaxute\" there is only "own," i.e. God. But Schulze is no doubt right in explaining twn ontwn here to refer to created things.



161 Acts xx. 26.