Athanius: Theosis

On the Incarnation of the Word of God (De incarnatione verbi) NPNF2 4, pp. 65-66. Greek text ed.by C Kannengiesser, Sur l'incarnation du verbe, Sources Chrétiennes (Paris: Cerf, 1973) TLG 2035.002: 54.1.1-54.5.5

[54.] 1. As, then, if a man should wish to see God, Who is invisible by nature and not seen at all, he may know and apprehend Him from His works:	^54.1 Ὥσπερ οὖν εἴ τις ἀόρατον ὄντα τῇ φύσει τὸν Θεὸν καὶ μηδόλως ὁρώμενον εἰ θέλοι ὁρᾶν, ἐκ τῶν ἔργων αὐτὸν καταλαμβάνει καὶ γινώσκει,̈
so let the one who fails to see Christ with his understanding, at least apprehend Him by the works of his body, and test whether they be human works or God’s works.	οὕτως ὁ μὴ ὁρῶν τῇ διανοίᾳ τὸν Χριστόν, κἂν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων τοῦ σώματος καταμανθανέτω τοῦτον, καὶ δοκιμαζέτω εἰ ἀνθρώπινά ἐστιν ἢ Θεοῦ.
2. And if they are human, let him scoff; but if they are not human, but of God, let him recognize it, and not laugh at what is no matter for scoffing; but rather let him marvel that[:]	^54.2 Καὶ ἐὰν μὲν ἀνθρώπινα ᾖ, χλευαζέτω· εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀνθρώπινά ἐστιν ἀλλὰ Θεοῦ γινώσκεται, μὴ γελάτω τὰ ἀχλεύαστα, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον θαυμαζέτω,
BY so ordinary a means things divine have been manifested to us,	ὅτι διὰ τοιούτου πράγματος εὐτελοῦς τὰ θεῖα ἡμῖν πεφανέρωται,
and that by death immortality has reached to all,	καὶ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου ἡ ἀθανασία εἰς πάντας ἔφθασε,̈
and that by the Word becoming human, the universal providence has been known,	καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τοῦ Λόγου ἡ τῶν πάντων ἐγνώσθη πρόνοια,
and [the Word as] its giver and creator.	καὶ ὁ ταύτης χορηγὸς καὶ Δημιουργὸς
3. FOR HE WAS MADE HUMAN THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE GOD;¹⁵⁶	^54.3 Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐνηνθρώπησεν͵ ἵνα ἡμεῖς θεοποιηθῶμεν·
and He manifested Himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father;	καὶ αὐτὸς ἐφανέρωσεν ἑαυτὸν διὰ σώματος͵ ἵνα ἡμεῖς τοῦ ἀοράτου Πατρὸς ἔννοιαν λάβωμεν·
and He endured the insolence of men that we might inherit immortality.	καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπέμεινε τὴν παρ΄ ἀνθρώπων ὕβριν͵ ἵνα ἡμεῖς ἀφθαρσίαν κληρονομήσωμεν.
For while He Himself was in no way injured, being impassible [apathēs] and incorruptible and very Word and God, men who were suffering, and for whose sakes He endured all this, He maintained and preserved in His own impassibility [apatheia] .	Ἐβλάπτετο μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸς οὐδέν, ἀπαθὴς καὶ ἄφθαρτος καὶ Αὐτολόγος ὢν καὶ Θεός· τοὺς δὲ πάσχοντας ἀνθρώπους, δι' οὓς καὶ ταῦτα ὑπέμεινεν, ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἀπαθείᾳ ἐτήρει καὶ διέσῳζε.
4. And, in a word, the achievements of the Savior, resulting from His becoming man, are of such kind and number, that if one should wish to enumerate them, he may be compared to men who gaze at the expanse of the sea and wish to count its waves. For as one cannot take in the whole of the waves with his eyes, for those which are coming on baffle the sense of him that attempts it; so for him that would take in all the achievements of Christ in the body, it is impossible to take in the whole, even by reckoning them up, as those which go beyond his thought are more than those he thinks he has taken in.	^54.4 Καὶ ὅλως τὰ κατορθώματα τοῦ Σωτῆρος τὰ διὰ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως αὐτοῦ γενόμενα, τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτά ἐστιν, ἃ εἰ διηγήσασθαί τις ἐθελήσειεν, ἔοικε τοῖς ἀφορῶσιν εἰς τὸ πέλαγος τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ θέλουσιν ἀριθμεῖν τὰ κύματα ταύτης. Ὡς γὰρ οὐ δύναται τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς περιλαβεῖν τὰ ὅλα κύματα, τῶν ἐπερχομένων παριόντων τὴν αἴσθησιν τοῦ πειράζοντος, οὕτως καὶ τῷ βουλομένῳ πάντα τὰ ἐν σώματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ κατορθώματα περιλαβεῖν ἀδύνατον τὰ ὅλα κἂν τῷ λογισμῷ δέξασθαι, πλειόνων ὄντων τῶν παριόντων αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐνθύμησιν, ὧν αὐτὸς νομίζει περιειληφέναι.
5. Better is it, then, not to aim at speaking of the whole, where one cannot do justice even to a part, but, after mentioning one more, to leave the whole for you to marvel at. For all alike are marvellous, and wherever a man turns his glance, he may behold on that side the divinity of the Word, and be struck with exceeding great awe.	^54.5̈ Κάλλιον οὖν μὴ πρὸς τὰ ὅλα ἀφορῶντα λέγειν, ὧν οὐδὲ μέρος ἐξειπεῖν τις δύναται, ἀλλ' ἔτι ἑνὸς μνημονεῦσαι, καὶ σοὶ καταλιπεῖν τὰ ὅλα θαυμάζειν. Πάντα γὰρ ἐπίσης ἔχει τὸ θαῦμα, καὶ ὅποι δ' ἄν τις ἀποβλέψῃ, ἐκεῖθεν τοῦ Λόγου τὴν θειότητα βλέπων ὑπερεκπλήττεται.



69. Again, if the Son were a creature, man had remained mortal as before, not being joined to God; for a creature had not joined creatures to God, as seeking itself one to join it⁴⁷¹ ; nor [c]ould a portion of the creation have been the creation’s salvation, [for it would have needed] salvation itself. To provide against this also, He sends His own Son, and He becomes Son of Man, by taking created flesh; that, since all were under sentence of death, He, being other than them all, might Himself for all offer to death His own body; and that henceforth, as if all had died through Him, the word of that sentence might be accomplished (for ‘all died⁴⁷² ’ in Christ), and all through Him might thereupon become free from sin and from the curse which came upon it, and might truly abide⁴⁷³ for ever, risen from the dead and clothed in immortality and incorruption.	Πάλιν τε εἰ κτίσμα ἦν ὁ Υἱὸς, ἔμενεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὐδὲν ἧττον θνητὸς, μὴ συναπτόμενος τῷ Θεῷ· οὐ γὰρ κτίσμα συνῆπτε τὰ κτίσματα τῷ Θεῷ, ζητοῦν καὶ αὐτὸ τὸν συνάπτοντα· οὐδὲ τὸ μέρος τῆς κτίσεως σωτηρία τῆς κτίσεως ἂν εἴη, δεόμενον καὶ αὐτὸ σωτηρίας. Ἵνα οὖν μηδὲ τοῦτο γένηται, πέμπει τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Υἱὸν, καὶ γίνεται υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, τὴν κτιστὴν σάρκα λαβών· ἵν', ἐπειδὴ πάντες εἰσὶν ὑπεύθυνοι τῷ θανάτῳ, ἄλλος ὢν τῶν πάντων, αὐτὸς ὑπὲρ πάντων τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα τῷ θανάτῳ προσενέγκῃ, καὶ λοιπὸν, ὡς πάντων δι' αὐτοῦ ἀποθανόντων, ὁ μὲν λόγος τῆς ἀποφάσεως πληρωθῇ πάντες γὰρ ἀπέθανον ἐν Χριστῷ)· πάντες δὲ δι' αὐτοῦ γένωνται λοιπὸν ἐλεύθεροι μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ τῆς δι' αὐτὴν κατάρας, ἀληθῶς δὲ διαμείνωσιν εἰσαεὶ ἀναστάντες ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ ἀθανασίαν καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν ἐνδυσάμενοι.
For the Word being clothed in the flesh, as has many times been explained, every bite of the serpent began to be utterly staunched from out it; and whatever evil sprung from the motions of the flesh, to be cut away, and with these death also was abolished, the companion of sin, as the Lord Himself says⁴⁷⁴ , ‘The prince of this world cometh, and findeth nothing in me;’ and ‘For this end was He manifested,’ as John has written, ‘that He might destroy the works of the devil⁴⁷⁵ .’ And these being destroyed from the flesh, we all were thus liberated by the kinship of the flesh, and for the future were joined, even we, to the Word.	Τοῦ γὰρ Λόγου ἐνδυσαμένου τὴν σάρκα, καθὼς πολλάκις δέδεικται, πᾶν μὲν δῆγμα τοῦ ὄφεως δι' ὅλου κατεσβέννυτο ἀπ' αὐτῆς· εἴ τι ἐκ τῶν σαρκικῶν κινημάτων ἀνεφύετο κακὸν, ἐξεκόπτετο, καὶ συνανῃρεῖτο τούτοις ὁ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀκόλουθος θάνατος, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριός φησιν· Ἔρχεται ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, καὶ οὐδὲν εὑρίσκει ἐν ἐμοί· καὶ, Εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ἐφανερώθη, ὡς ἔγραψεν ὁ Ἰωάννης, ἵνα λύσῃ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ διαβόλου. Τούτων δὲ λυθέντων ἀπὸ τῆς σαρκὸς, πάντες οὕτω κατὰ τὴν συγγένειαν τῆς σαρκὸς ἠλευθερώθημεν, καὶ λοιπὸν συνήφθημεν καὶ ἡμεῖς τῷ Λόγῳ.
And being joined to God, no longer do we abide upon earth; but, as He Himself has said, where He is, there shall we be also; and henceforward we shall fear no longer the serpent, for he was brought to nought when he was assailed by the Saviour in the flesh, and heard Him say, ‘Get you behind me, Satan⁴⁷⁶ ,’ and thus he is cast out of paradise into the eternal fire. Nor shall we have to watch against woman beguiling us, for ‘in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the Angels⁴⁷⁷ ;’ and in Christ Jesus it shall be ‘a new creation,’ and ‘neither male nor female, but all and in all Christ⁴⁷⁸ ;’ and where Christ is, what fear, what danger can still happen?	Συναφθέντες δὲ τῷ Θεῷ, οὐκέτι μὲν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀπομένομεν, ἀλλ' ὡς αὐτὸς εἶπεν, ὅπου αὐτὸς, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσόμεθα· καὶ λοιπὸν οὔτε τὸν ὄφιν ἔτι φοβηθησόμεθα· κατηργήθη γὰρ ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ διωχθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, καὶ ἀκούσας· Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ· καὶ οὕτως ἔξω τοῦ παραδείσου τυγχάνει βαλλόμενος εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον· οὔτε δὲ γυναῖκα παραπείθουσαν φυλαξόμεθα· Ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἀναστάσει οὔτε γαμοῦσιν, οὔτε γαμίζονται, ἀλλ' εἰσὶν ὡς ἄγγελοι· καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καινὴ κτίσις ἔσται· καὶ οὔτε ἄρσεν, οὔτε θῆλυ, ἀλλὰ πάντα καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν 26.296 ἔσται ὁ Χριστός. Ἔνθα δὲ ὁ Χριστὸς, ποῖος φόβος ἢ ποῖος κίνδυνος ἔτι γενήσεται;


70. But this would not have come to pass, had the Word been a creature; for with a creature, the devil, himself a creature, would have ever continued the battle, and man, being between the two, had been ever in peril of death, having none in whom and through whom he might be joined to God and delivered from all fear.	Τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἂν ἐγεγόνει, εἰ κτίσμα ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Πρὸς γὰρ κτίσμα, κτίσμα ὢν καὶ ὁ διάβολος, εἶχεν ἀεὶ τὴν μάχην· καὶ μέσος ὢν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὕποπτος ἦν ἀεὶ τῷ θανάτῳ, μὴ ἔχων ἐν ᾧ καὶ δι' οὗ συναφθεὶς τῷ Θεῷ ἐλεύθερος παντὸς φόβου γένηται.
Whence the truth shows us that the Word is not of things originate, but rather Himself their Framer [demiurge]. For therefore did He assume the body originate and human,	Ὅθεν ἡ ἀλήθεια δείκνυσι μὴ εἶναι τῶν γενητῶν τὸν Λόγον, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τούτων αὐτὸν δημιουργόν· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ προσελάβετο τὸ γενητὸν καὶ ἀνθρώπινον σῶμα,
that having renewed it as its Framer, He might deify it⁴⁷⁹ in Himself,	ἵνα, τοῦτο ὡς δημιουργὸς ἀνακαινίσας, ἐν ἑαυτῷ θεοποιήσῃ,
and thus might introduce us all into the kingdom of heaven after His likeness.	καὶ οὕτως εἰς βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν εἰσαγάγῃ πάντας ἡμᾶς καθ' ὁμοιότητα ἐκείνου.
For man had not been deified if joined to a creature,	Οὐκ ἂν δὲ πάλιν ἐθεοποιήθη κτίσματι συναφθεὶς ὁ ἄνθρωπος,
or unless the Son were true God;	εἰ μὴ Θεὸς ἦν ἀληθινὸς ὁ Υἱός·
nor had man been brought into the Father’s presence,	καὶ οὐκ ἂν παρέστη τῷ Πατρὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος,
unless He had been His natural and true Word who had put on the body.	εἰ μὴ φύσει καὶ ἀληθινὸς ἦν αὐτοῦ Λόγος ὁ ἐνδυσάμενος τὸ σῶμα.
And as we had not been delivered from sin and the curse,	Καὶ ὥσπερ οὐκ ἂν ἠλευθερώθημεν ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ τῆς κατάρας,
unless it had been by nature human flesh, which the Word put on (for we should have had nothing common with what was foreign),	εἰ μὴ φύσει σὰρξ ἦν ἀνθρωπίνη, ἣν ἐνεδύσατο ὁ Λόγος· οὐδὲν γὰρ κοινὸν ἦν ἡμῖν πρὸς τὸ ἀλλότριον·
so also the man had not been deified,	οὕτως οὐκ ἂν ἐθεοποιήθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος,
unless the Word who became flesh had been by nature from the Father and true and proper to Him.	εἰ μὴ φύσει ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ ἀληθινὸς καὶ ἴδιος αὐτοῦ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, ὁ γενόμενος σάρξ.
For therefore the union was of this kind, that He might unite what is man by nature to Him who is in the nature of the Godhead,	Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ τοιαύτη γέγονεν ἡ συναφὴ, ἵνα τῷ κατὰ φύσιν τῆς θεότητος συνάψῃ τὸν φύσει ἄνθρωπον, καὶ βεβαία γένηται
and his salvation and deification might be sure.	ἡ σωτηρία καὶ ἡ θεοποίησις αὐτοῦ.
Therefore let those who deny that the Son is from the Father by nature and proper to His Essence, deny also that He took true human flesh⁴⁸⁰ of Mary Ever-Virgin⁴⁸¹ ; for in neither case had it been of profit to us men, whether the Word were not true and naturally Son of God, or the flesh not true which He assumed. But surely He took true flesh, though Valentinus rave; indeed, the Word was by nature Very God, though Ariomaniacs rave⁴⁸² ; and in that flesh has come to pass the beginning⁴⁸³ of our new creation, He being created man for our sake, and having made for us that new way, as has been said.	Οὐκοῦν οἱ ἀρνούμενοι ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς εἶναι φύσει καὶ ἴδιον αὐτοῦ τῆς οὐσίας τὸν Υἱὸν ἀρνείσθωσαν καὶ ἀληθινὴν σάρκα ἀνθρωπίνην αὐτὸν εἰληφέναι ἐκ Μαρίας τῆς ἀειπαρθένου. Οὐδὲν γὰρ πλέον ἡμῖν κέρδος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἦν, εἰ μήτε ἀληθινὸς καὶ φύσει ἦν Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ Λόγος, μήτε ἀληθινὴ σὰρξ ἦν, ἣν προσελάβετο. Ἀλλ' ἔλαβέ γε ἀληθινὴν σάρκα, κἂν μαίνηται Οὐαλεντῖνος· ἦν γὰρ καὶ φύσει καὶ ἀληθινὸς Θεὸς ὁ Λόγος, κἂν μαίνωνται οἱ Ἀρειομανῖται· καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῃ γέγονεν ἡμῶν ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς καινῆς κτίσεως, κτισθεὶς ἄνθρωπος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν ἡμῖν ἐκείνην ἐγκαινίσας, ὥσπερ εἴρηται

23. [...] Thus the Son Himself, simply and without any condition is in the Father; for this attribute He has by nature; but for us, to whom it is not natural, there is needed an image and example, that He may say of us, ‘As you in me, and I in you.’ ‘And when they shall be so perfected,’ He says, ‘then the world knows that you have sent me, for unless I had come and borne this their body, no one of them had been perfected, but one and all had remained corruptible ¹⁷⁷	Οθεν αὐτὸς μὲν ὁ Υἱὸς, ἁπλῶς καὶ χωρὶς συμπλοκῆς τινός ἐστιν ἐν τῷ Πατρί· φύσει γὰρ ὑπάρχει τοῦτ' αὐτῷ· ἡμεῖς δὲ, οὐκ ἔχοντες τὸ κατὰ φύσιν, δεόμεθα εἰκόνος καὶ παραδείγματος, ἵνα περὶ ἡμῶν εἴπῃ· Καθὼς σὺ ἐν ἐμοὶ, κἀγὼ ἐν σοί. Ὅταν δὲ, φησὶν, οὗτοι τελειωθῶσιν οὕτω, τότε γινώσκει ὁ κόσμος, ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας· εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἤμην ἐλθὼν καὶ φορέσας τὸ τούτων σῶμα, οὐδεὶς ἂν αὐτῶν ἐτελειώθη, ἀλλ' ἔμενον οἱ πάντες φθαρτοί.
‘Work then in them, O Father, and as you have given to me to bear this, grant to them your Spirit, that they too in I may become one, and may be perfected in me. For their perfecting shows that your Word has sojourned among them; and the world seeing them perfect and full of God ¹⁷⁸ , will believe altogether that You have sent me, and I have sojourned here. For whence is this their perfecting, but that I, your Word, having borne their body, and become man, have perfected the work, which you gavest me, O Father?	Ἐνέργησον τοίνυν ἐν αὐτοῖς, Πάτερ· καὶ ὥσπερ δέδωκάς μοι τοῦτο φορέσαι, δὸς αὐτοῖς τὸ Πνεῦμά σου, ἵνα καὶ οὗτοι ἐν τούτῳ ἓν γένωνται, καὶ τελειωθῶσιν ἐν ἐμοί. Ἡ γὰρ τούτων τελείωσις δείκνυσιν ἐπιδημίαν γεγενῆσθαι τοῦ σοῦ Λόγου· καὶ ὁ κόσμος δὲ, βλέπων τούτους τελείους καὶ θεοφορουμένους, πιστεύσει πάντως, ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας, καὶ ἐπεδήμησα. Πόθεν γὰρ τούτοις ἡ τελείωσις, εἰ μὴ ἐγὼ ὁ σὸς Λόγος, τὸ σῶμα τούτων λαβὼν, ἐγενόμην ἄνθρωπος, καὶ ἐτελείωσα τὸ ἔργον ὃ δέδωκάς μοι, Πάτερ;
And the work is perfected, because men, redeemed from sin, no longer remain dead;	Τετελείωται δὲ τὸ ἔργον, ὅτι, λυτρωθέντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας οἱ ἄνθρωποι, οὐκέτι μένουσι νεκροί·
but being deified, have	ἀλλὰ καὶ θεοποιηθέντες ἔχουσιν,
by looking at me [us],	ἐν ἡμῖν βλέποντες,
the bond of charity with each other.	ἐν ἀλλήλοις τὸν σύνδεσμον τῆς ἀγάπης.
24. We then, by way of giving a rude view of the expressions in this passage, have been led into many words, but blessed John will show from his Epistle the sense of the words, concisely and much more perfectly than we can.	^26.373 Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν, ὅσον αὐτὰς τὰς λέξεις τοῦ ῥητοῦ δυνατὸν ἦν ἁπλούστερον θεωρῆσαι, ταῦτα διὰ πολλῶν εἰρήκαμεν· ὁ δὲ μακάριος Ἰωάννης ἐκ τῆς Ἐπιστολῆς ἐν ὀλίγοις καὶ τελειώτερον μᾶλλον ἡμῶν δείξει τῶν γεγραμμένων τὸν νοῦν,̈
And he will both disprove the interpretation of these irreligious men,	καὶ διελέγξει μὲν τὴν τῶν ἀσεβῶν διάνοιαν,
and will teach how we become in God and God in us;	διδάξει δὲ πῶς τε ἡμεῖς ἐν τῷ Θεῷ γινόμεθα, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν·
and how again we become One in Him,	καὶ πῶς πάλιν ἡμεῖς μὲν ἐν αὐτῷ γινόμεθα ἓν,
and how far the Son differs in nature from us,	πόσον δὲ διέστηκε τὴν φύσιν ὁ Υἱὸς ἀφ' ἡμῶν·
and will stop the Arians from any longer thinking that they shall be as the Son,	καὶ παύσει λοιπὸν τοὺς Ἀρειανοὺς μηκέτι νομίζειν ἑαυτοὺς ἔσεσθαι ὡς τὸν Υἱὸν,
lest they hear it said to them, ‘you are a man and not God,’ and ‘Stretch not yourself, being poor, beside a rich man¹⁸¹ .’ John then thus writes; ‘Hereby know we that we dwell in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit¹⁸² .	̈ ἵνα μὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀκούσωσι· Σὺ δὲ εἶ ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐ Θεός· καὶ, Μὴ συμπαρεκτείνου πένης ὢν πλουσίῳ. Γράφει τοίνυν ὁ Ἰωάννης οὕτω λέγων· Ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ μένομεν, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμῖν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος αὐτοῦ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν.
Therefore because of the grace of the Spirit which has been given to us, in Him we come to be, and He in us¹⁸³ ; and since it is the Spirit of God, therefore through His becoming in us, reasonably are we, as having the Spirit, considered to be in God, and thus is God in us. Not then as the Son in the Father, so also we become in the Father;	Οὐκοῦν διὰ τὴν δεδομένην ἡμῖν τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριν ἡμεῖς τε ἐν αὐτῷ γινόμεθα, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμῖν· καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστι, διὰ τούτου γινομένου ἐν ἡμῖν εἰκότως καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἔχοντες τὸ Πνεῦμα, νομιζόμεθα ἐν τῷ Θεῷ γενέσθαι· καὶ οὕτως ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν. Οὐκ ἄρα ὡς ἔστιν ὁ Υἱὸς ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς γινόμεθα ἐν τῷ Πατρί·̈
for the Son does not merely partake the Spirit, that therefore He too may be in the Father; nor does He receive the Spirit, but rather He supplies It Himself to all;	οὐ γὰρ καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς μετέχων ἐστὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἵνα διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ γένηται· οὐδὲ λαμβάνων ἐστὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον αὐτὸς τοῖς πᾶσι τοῦτο χορηγεῖ·
and the Spirit does not unite the Word to the Father¹⁸⁴, but rather the Spirit receives from the Word. And the Son is in the Father, as His own Word and Radiance; but we, apart from the Spirit, are strange and distant from God,	καὶ οὐ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸν Λόγον συνάπτει τῷ Πατρὶ, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τὸ Πνεῦμα παρὰ τοῦ Λόγου λαμβάνει. Καὶ ὁ μὲν Υἱὸς ἐν τῷ Πατρί ἐστιν, ὡς Λόγος ἴδιος καὶ ἀπαύγασμα αὐτοῦ· ἡμεῖς δὲ χωρὶς μὲν τοῦ Πνεύματος ξένοι καὶ μακράν ἐσμεν τοῦ Θεοῦ·
and by the participation of the Spirit we are knit into the Godhead;	τῇ δὲ τοῦ Πνεύματος μετοχῇ συναπτόμεθα τῇ θεότητι·
so that our being in the Father is not ours, but is the Spirit’s which is in us and abides in us, while by the true confession we preserve it in us, John again saying, ‘Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God.’¹⁸⁵	ὥστε τὸ εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ μὴ ἡμέτερον εἶναι, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ὄντος καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν μένοντος, ἕως αὐτὸ τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ φυλάττομεν ἐν ἡμῖν, λέγοντος πάλιν τοῦ Ἰωάννου· Ὃς ἂν ὁμολογήσῃ, ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ Θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ Θεῷ.
What then is our likeness and equality, to the Son? rather, are not the Arians confuted on every side? and especially by John, that the Son is in the Father in one way, and we become in Him in another, and that neither shall we ever be as He is, nor is the Word as we; except they shall dare, as commonly, so now to say, that the Son also by participation of the Spirit and by improvement of conduct¹⁸⁶ came to be Himself also in the Father. But here again is an excess of irreligion, even in admitting the thought. For He, as has been said, gives to the Spirit, and whatever the Spirit has, He has fromthe Word.	Ποία τοίνυν ὁμοιότης καὶ ποία ἰσότης ἡμῶν πρὸς τὸν Υἱόν; Ἢ πῶς οὐκ ἐλέγχονται πανταχόθεν οἱ Ἀρειανοὶ, καὶ μάλιστα παρὰ τοῦ Ἰωάννου, ὅτι ἄλλως μὲν ὁ Υἱός ἐστιν ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, ἄλλως δὲ ἡμεῖς ἐν αὐτῷ γινόμεθα· καὶ οὔτε ἡμεῖς ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἐσόμεθά ποτε, οὔτε ὁ Λόγος ὡς ἡμεῖς τυγχάνει ὢν, εἰ μὴ ἄρα τολμήσουσιν, ὡς ἐν πᾶσι, καὶ νῦν εἰπεῖν, 26.376 ὅτι καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς μετοχῇ τοῦ Πνεύματος καὶ βελτιώσει πράξεως γέγονε καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ Πατρί. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο πάλιν ὑπερλίαν ἐστὶν ἀσεβὲς κἂν ὅλως εἰς ἐνθύμησιν λαβεῖν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, τῷ Πνεύματι δίδωσι, καὶ ὅσα ἔχει τὸ Πνεῦμα παρὰ τοῦ Λόγου ἔχει.
25. The Saviour, then, saying of us, ‘As you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they too may be one in Us,’ does not signify that we were to have identity with Him; for this was shown from the instance of Jonah; but it is a request to the Father, as John has written, that the Spirit should be vouchsafed through Him to those who believe, through whom we are found to be in God, and in this respect to be conjoined in Him. For since the Word is in the Father, and the Spirit is given from the Word,	Οὐκοῦν ὁ Σωτὴρ λέγων περὶ ἡμῶν τὸ, Καθὼς σὺ, Πάτερ, ἐν ἐμοὶ, κἀγὼ ἐν σοὶ, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ἓν ὦσιν, οὐ τὴν ταυτότητα ἡμᾶς αὐτῷ μέλλοντας ἔχειν σημαίνει· ἐδείχθη γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Ἰωνᾶν παραδείγματος καὶ τοῦτο· ἀλλὰ ἀξίωσίς ἐστι πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα, ὡς ὁ Ἰωάννης ἔγραψεν, ἵνα τὸ Πνεῦμα χαρίσηται δι' αὐτοῦ τοῖς πιστεύουσι, δι' οὗ καὶ δοκοῦμεν ἐν τῷ Θεῷ γίνεσθαι, καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο συνάπτεσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ Λόγος ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα ἐκ τοῦ Λόγου δίδοται
He wills that we should receive the Spirit, that, when we receive It,	θέλει λαβεῖν ἡμᾶς τὸ Πνεῦμα, ἵνα, ὅταν ἐκεῖνο λάβωμεν,̈
thus having the Spirit of the Word which is in the Father, we too may be found on account of the Spirit to become One in the Word, and through Him in the Father.	τότε ἔχοντες τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Λόγου τοῦ ὄντος ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, δόξωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς διὰ τὸ Πνεῦμα ἓν γίνεσθαι ἐν τῷ Λόγῳ, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ τῷ Πατρί.

¹⁵⁶See Orat. ii. 70, note 1, and many other passages in those Discourses, as well as Letters 60. 4, 61 2. (Eucharistic reference), de Synodis 51, note 7. (Compare also Iren. IV. xxxviii. 4, ‘non ab initio dii facti sumus, sed primo quidem homines, tunc demum dii,’ cf. ib. praef. 4. fin. also V. ix. 2, ‘sublevat in vitam Dei.’ Origen Cels. iii. 28 fin. touches the same thought, but Ath. is here in closer affinity to the idea of Irenaeus than to that of Origen.) The New Test. reference is 2 Pet. i. 4, rather than Heb. ii. 9 sqq; the Old Test., Ps. lxxxii. 6, which seems to underlie Orat. iii. 25 (note 5). In spite of the last mentioned passage, ‘God’ is far preferable as a rendering, in most places, to ‘gods,’ which has heathenish associations. To us (1 Cor. viii. 6) there are no such things as ‘gods.’ (The best summary of patristic teaching on this subject is given by Harnack Dg. ii. p. 46 note.)

⁴⁷¹De Decr. 10.

⁴⁷²2 Cor. v. 14.

⁴⁷³, §63, n. 8; §73, Gent. 41, Serm. Maj. de Fid. 5.

⁴⁷⁴John xiv. 30.

⁴⁷⁵1 John iii. 8.

⁴⁷⁶Matt. xvi. 23.

⁴⁷⁷Mark xii. 25.

⁴⁷⁸Gal. vi. 15; Gal. iii. 28.

⁴⁷⁹vid. also ad Adelph. 4. a. Serap. i. 24, e. and §56, note 5. and iii. 33. De Decr. 14. Orat. i. 42. vid. also Orat. iii. 23. fin. 33. init. 34. fin. 38, b. 39, d. 48. fin. 53. Theodor. H.E. i. p. 846. init.

⁴⁸⁰§45, n. 2.

⁴⁸¹Vid. also Athan. in Luc. (Migne xxvii. 1393 c). This title, which is commonly applied to S. Mary by later writers, is found Epiph. Hoer. 78, 5. Didym. Trin. i. 27. p. 84. Rufin. Fid. i. 43. Lepor. ap Cassian Incarn. i. 5. Leon. Ep. 28, 2. On the doctrine itself vid. a letter of S. Ambrose and his brethren to Siricius, and the Pope’s letter in response. (Coust. Ep. Pont. p. 669–652.) Also Pearson On the Creed, Art. 3. [§§9, 10, p. 267 in Bohn’s ed.] He replies to the argument from ‘until’ in Matt. i. 25, by referring to Gen. xxviii 15. Deut. xxxiv. 6. 1 Sam. xv. 35. 2 Sam. vi. 23. Matt. xxviii 20. He might also have referred to Psalm cx. 1. 1 Cor. xv. 25. which are the more remarkable, because they were urged by the school of Marcellus as a proof that our Lord’s kingdom would have an end, and are explained by Euseb. Eccl. Theol. iii. 13, 14. Vid. also Cyr. Cat. 15, 29; where the true meaning of ‘until’ (which may be transferred to Matt. i. 25), is well brought out. ’He who is King before He subdued His enemies, how shall He not the rather be King, after He has got the mastery over them?

⁴⁸²De Syn. 13, n. 4.

⁴⁸³i. 48, n. 7.

¹⁷³Matt. xii. 40.

¹⁷⁴[A note, discussingcertain views of Coplestone, Toplady, and Blanco White, is omitted here.]

¹⁷⁵ 10, n. 2.

¹⁷⁶Cyril in Joan. p. 227, &c.

¹⁷⁷Cf. ii. 65, n. 3.

¹⁷⁸ ii. 70, n. 1.

¹⁷⁹§19. n. 3.

¹⁸⁰ 21. circ. fin.

¹⁸¹Ez. xxviii. 2; Prov. xxiii. 4, LXX.

¹⁸²1 John iv. 13.

¹⁸³Cf. 22, n. 6.

¹⁸⁴[i.e. not by grace] Vid. the end of this section and 25 init. supr. Or. i. 15. also Cyril Hier. Cat. xvi. 24. Epiph. Ancor. 67 init. Cyril in Joan. pp. 929, 930.

¹⁸⁵1 John iv. 15.

¹⁸⁶Supr. Or. i. 37, 43. it is rather some external advance.

¹⁸⁷§8, note 11.

¹⁸⁹Cf. ii. 63, n. 8.

¹⁹⁰supr. de Decr. 31, n. 5.

¹⁹¹Rom. viii. 35; vid. xi. 29.

¹⁹² Or. ii. 70, n. 1.

¹⁹³Cf. ii. 59, n. 5.

¹⁹⁴Cf. Or. i. 37, end.

¹⁹⁵1 Sam. xvi. 11.

¹⁹⁶Prov. xxix. 7.