AMBIGUUM 41

[PG 91, 1089A; 1099C-1096]

From Saint Gregory’s ^[the Theologian^] same oration On the Theophany: The natures are innovated, and God becomes man.¹

Ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου, εἰς τό, " Καινοτομοῦνται φύσεις, καί Θεός ἄνθρωπος γίνεται. "

Having received the greater part of the divine mysteries handed down to them in succession from those who before them were the followers and ministers of the Logos, and being directly initiated into the knowledge of beings through these mysteries, the saints say that the existence of all things that have come into being is marked by five divisions.²

Οἱ τά πολλά τῶν θείων μυστηρίων ἐκ τῶν ὀπαδῶν καί ὑπηρετῶν γενομένων τοῦ Λόγου, καί αὐτόθεν ἀμέσως τήν τῶν ὄντων μυηθέντων γνῶσιν, κατά διαδοχήν διά τῶν πρό αὐτῶν εἰς αὐτούς διαδοθέντα λαβόντες ἅγιοί φασιν πέντε διαιρέσεσι διειλῆφθαι τήν πάντων τῶν γεγονότων ὑπόστασιν·

The first of these, they say, is that which divides the uncreated nature from the whole of created nature, which received its being through a process of becoming.

ὧν πρώτην μέν φασιν εἶναι τήν διαιροῦσαν τῆς ἀκτίστου φύσεως τήν κτιστήν καθόλου φύσιν, καί διά γενέσεως τό εἶναι λαβοῦσαν.

For they say that whereas God in His goodness ^[1305A] created the splendid orderly arrangement of all beings, it is not immediately self-evident to this orderly arrangement who and what God is, and they call “division” the ignorance of what it is that distinguishes creation from God.

Φασί γάρ τόν Θεόν ἀγαθότητι ⁽¹³⁰⁵⁾ πεποιηκότα τῶν ὄντων ἁπάντων λαμπράν διακόσμησιν, μή αὐτόθεν αὐτῇ καταφανῆ γενέσθαι τινά καί διακρίνουσαν ἄγνοιαν διαίρεσιν λέγοντες.

For to that which naturally divides these realities from each other, and which excludes their union in a single essence (since it cannot admit of one and the same definition), they did not give a name.

Τήν γάρ φυσικῶς ἀλλήλων ταῦτα διαιροῦσαν, μηδέποτε δεχομένην εἰς μίαν οὐσίαν ἕνωσιν, ὡς τόν ἕνα καί τόν αὐτόν μή δυναμένην ἐπιδέξασθαι λόγον εἴασαν ἄῤῤητον.

The second is that according to which the totality of nature, which received its being through creation by God, is divided into the noetic and the sensory.³

Δευτέραν δέ, καθ᾿ ἥν ἡ διά κτίσεως τό εἶναι λαβοῦσα σύμπασα φύσις ὑπό Θεοῦ διαιρεῖται εἰς νοητά καί αἰσθητά.

The third is that according to which sensory nature is divided into heaven and earth.

Τρίτην, καθ᾿ ἥν ἡ αἰσθητή φύσις διαιρεῖται εἰς οὐρανόν καί γῆν.

The fourth is that according to which the earth is divided into paradise and the inhabited world;

Τετάρτην δέ, καθ᾿ ἥν ἡ γῆ διαιρεῖται εἰς παράδεισον καί οἰκουμένην,

and the fifth is that according to which man, who is above all — like a most capacious workshop containing all things,⁴ naturally mediating through himself all the divided extremes, and who by design has been ^[1305B] beneficially placed amid beings —

καί Πέμπτην, καθ᾿ ἥν ὁ ἐπί πᾶσιν, ὥσπερ τι τῶν ὅλων συνεκτικώτατον ἐργαστήριον, καί πᾶσι τοῖς κατά πᾶσαν διαίρεσιν ἄκροις δι᾿ αὐτοῦ φυσικῶς μεσιτεύων ἀγαθοπρεπῶς κατά γένεσιν τοῖς οὖσιν ἐπεισαχθείς ἄνθρωπος

is divided into male and female, manifestly possessing by nature the full potential to draw all the extremes into unity through their means, by virtue of his characteristic attribute of being related to the divided extremes through his own parts.⁵

διαιρεῖται εἰς ἄρσεν καί θῆλυ, πᾶσαν ἔχων δηλαδή φυσικῶς ταῖς τῶν ἄκρων πάντων μεσότησι διά τῆς πρός τά ἄκρα πάντα τῶν ἰδίων μερῶν σχετικῆς ἰδιότητος τήν πρός ἕνωσιν δύναμιν,

Through this potential, consistent with the purpose behind the origination of divided beings, man was called to achieve within himself the mode of their completion, and so bring to light the great mystery of the divine plan, realizing in God the union of the extremes which exist among beings, by harmoniously advancing in an ascending sequence from the proximate to the remote and from the inferior to the superior.⁶

δι᾿ ἧς ὁ κατά τήν αἰτίαν τῆς τῶν διῃρημένων γενέσεως συμπληρούμενος τρόπος ἔμελλε τοῦ θείου σκοποῦ τό μέγα μυστήριον ἔκδηλον δι᾿ ἑαυτοῦ καταστῆσαι, τήν πρός ἄλληλα τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν ἄκρων ἐναρμονίως ἀπό τῶν προσεχῶν ἐπί τά πόῤῤω, καί τῶν ἡττόνων ἐπί τά κρείττονα καθεξῆς ἀνατατικῶς προϊοῦσαν, εἰς Θεόν ἀποπερατώσας ἕνωσιν.

This is why man was introduced last among beings⁷— like a kind of natural bond mediating between the universal extremes through his parts, and unifying ^[1305C] through himself things that by nature are separated from each other by a great distance — so that, by making of his own division a beginning of the unity which gathers up all things to God their Author, and proceeding by order and rank through the mean terms, he might reach the limit of the sublime ascent that comes about through the union of all things in God,

Τούτου δή χάριν ἔσχατος ἐπεισάγεται τοῖς οὖσιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, οἱονεί σύνδεσμός τις φυσικός τοῖς καθόλου διά τῶν οἰκείων μερῶν μεσιτεύων ἄκροις, καί εἰς ἕν ἄγων ἐν ἑαυτῷ τά πολλῷ κατά τήν φύσιν ἀλλήλων διεστηκότα τῷ διαστήματι, ἵνα τῆς πρός Θεόν, ὡς αἴτιον, τά πάντα συναγούσης ἑνώσεως ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας πρότερον ἀρξάμενος διαιρέσεως καθεξῆς διά τῶν μέσων εἱρμῷ καί τάξει προβαίνων εἰς τόν Θεόν λάβῃ τό πέρας τῆς διά πάντων κατά τήν ἕνωσιν γινομένης ὑψηλῆς ἀναβάσεως,

in whom there is no division, completely shaking off from nature, by means of a supremely dispassionate condition of divine virtue, the property of male and female, which in no way was linked to the original principle of the divine plan concerning human generation, so that he might be shown forth as, and become solely a human being according to the divine plan, not divided by the designation of male and female (according to the principle by which he formerly came into being), nor divided into the parts that now appear around him, ^[1305D] thanks to the perfect union, as I said, with his own principle, according to which he exists.

ἐν ὧ οὐκ ἔστι διαίρεσις, τήν μηδαμῶς ἡρτημένην δηλαδή κατά τόν προηγούμενον λόγον τῆς περί τήν γένεσιν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου θείας προθέσεως κατά τό θῆλυ καί τό ἄρσεν ἰδιότητα τῇ περί τήν θείαν ἀρετήν ἀπαθεστάτῃ σχέσει πάντη τῆς φύσεως ἐκτιναξάμενος, ὥστε δειχθῆναί τε καί γενέσθαι κατά τήν θείαν πρόθεσιν ἄνθρωπον μόνον, τῇ κατά τό ἄρσεν καί τό θῆλυ προσηγορίᾳ μή διαιρούμενον, καθ᾿ ὅν καί προηγουμένως γεγένηται λόγον τοῖς νῦν περί αὐτόν οὖσι τμήμασι μή μεριζόμενον, διά τήν τελείαν πρός τόν ἴδιον, ὡς ἔφην, λόγον καθ᾿ ὅν ἐστιν γνῶσιν·

Then, once he had united paradise and the inhabited world through his own proper holy way of life, man would have fashioned a single earth, not divided by him in the difference of its parts, but rather gathered together, for to none of its parts would he be subjected.

εἶτα τόν παράδεισον καί τήν οἰκουμένην διά τῆς οἰκείας ἁγιοπρεποῦς ἀγωγῆς ἑνώσας μίαν ποιήσειε γῆν, μή διαιρούμενην αὐτῷ κατά τήν τῶν μερῶν αὐτῆς διαφοράν, ἀλλά μᾶλλον συναγομένην, ὡς μηδεμίαν πρός μηδέν τῶν αὐτῆς ὑπαγωγήν παθόντι μερῶν·

After this, having united heaven and earth through a life identical in virtue in every manner with that of the angels (as much as this is humanly possible),⁸ he would have made the sensory creation absolutely identical and indivisible ^[1308A] with itself, not in any way dividing it into places separated by distances, for he would have become nimble by means of the spirit, without any corporeal weight holding him to the earth, and thus proceed unhindered in his ascent to the heavens, for his nous would no longer behold such things, but hasten purely to God, and in the wisdom of his gradual ascent to God, just as if he were traveling on an ordinary road, he would naturally overcome any obstacles standing in his way.

εἶτα οὐρανόν καί γῆν ἑνώσας διά τήν πρός ἀγγέλους τῆς ζωῆς παντί τρόπῳ κατ᾿ ἀρετήν, ὡς ἐφικτόν ἀνθρώποις, ταὐτότητα μίαν ποιήσειεν ἀδιαίρετον ⁽¹³⁰⁸⁾ πάντη πρός ἑαυτήν τήν αἰσθητήν κτίσιν, μή διαιρουμένην αὐτῷ τοπικῶς τό παράπαν τοῖς διαστήμασι, κούφῳ γενομένῳ τῷ πνεύματι καί μηδενί βάρει σωματικῷ κατεχομένῳ πρός γῆν, καί τῆς πρός οὐρανούς ἀναβάσεως εἰργομένῳ διά τήν πρός ταῦτα τοῦ νοῦ τελείαν ἀορασίαν γνησίως πρός τόν Θεόν ἐπειγομένου, καί σοφῶς ποιουμένου τῆς πρός αὐτόν ἀνατάσεως ἐφεξῆς, ὡς ἐν ὁδῷ κοινῇ, φυσικῶς τοῦ πρό αὐτοῦ τό φθάσαν ἐπίβασιν·

Then, once he had united noetic and sensory realities through knowledge equal to that of the angels,⁹ he would have made the whole of creation one single creation, not divided by him in terms of knowledge and ignorance, since his cognitive science of the principles of beings would be completely equal to the knowledge of the angels. ^[1308B] Owing to this knowledge, “the ever-giving effusion”¹⁰ of true wisdom integrally and immediately endows the worthy (as much as possible) with a concept of God that is beyond understanding or explanation. And finally, in addition to all this, had man united created nature with the uncreated through love (oh, the wonder of God’s love for mankind!), he would have shown them to be one and the same by the state of grace, the whole man wholly pervading the whole God, and becoming everything that God is, without, however, identity in essence, and receiving the whole of God instead of himself, and obtaining as a kind of prize for his ascent to God the absolutely unique God, who is the goal of the motion of things that are moved, and the firm and unmoved stability of things that are carried along to Him, and the limit (itself limitless and infinite) of every definition, order, ^[1308C] and law, whether of reason, nous, or nature.

εἶτα τά νοητά καί τά αἰσθητά πρός τούτοις ἑνώσας διά τήν πρός ἀγγέλους κατά τήν γνῶσιν ἰσότητα μίαν ποιήσῃ κτίσιν τήν ἅπασαν κτίσιν, μή διαιρουμένην αὐτῷ κατά τήν γνῶσιν καί τήν ἀγνωσίαν, ἴσης αὐτῷ πρός τούς ἀγγέλους ἀνελλιπῶς γενομένης τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι λόγων γνωστικῆς ἐπιστήμης, καθ᾿ ἥν ἡ τῆς ἀληθοῦς σοφίας ἀπειρόδωρος χύσις ἐπιγενομένη κατά τό θεμιτόν ἀκραιφνῶς λοιπόν τήν περί Θεοῦ καί ἀμεσιτεύτως παρέχεται τοῖς ἀξίοις ἀδιάγνωστον καί ἀνερμήνευτον ἔννοιαν· καί τέλος ἐπί πᾶσι τούτοις, καί κτιστήν φύσιν τῇ ἀκτίστῳ δι᾿ ἀγάπης ἑνώσας ⁽ὤ τοῦ θαύματος τῆς περί ἡμᾶς τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας⁾ ἕν καί ταὐτόν δείξειε κατά τήν ἕξιν τῆς χάριτος, ὅλος ὅλῳ περιχωρήσας ὁλικῶς τῷ Θεῷ, καί γενόμενος πᾶν εἴ τί πέρ ἐστιν ὁ Θεός, χωρίς τῆς κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ταὐτότητος, καί ὅλον αὐτόν ἀντιλαβών ἑαυτοῦ τόν Θεόν, καί τῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν τόν Θεόν ἀναβάσεως οἷον ἔπαθλον αὐτόν μονώτατον κτησάμενος τόν Θεόν, ὡς τέλος τῆς τῶν κινουμένων κινήσεως, καί στάσιν βάσιμόν τε καί ἀκίνητον τῶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν φερομένων, καί παντός ὅρου καί θεσμοῦ καί νόμου, λόγου τε καί νοῦ, καί φύσεως ὅρον καί πέρας ἀόριστόν τε καί ἄπειρον ὄντα.

But moving naturally, as he was created to do, around the unmoved, as his own beginning (by which I mean God), was not what man did. Instead, contrary to nature, he willingly and foolishly moved around the things below him, which God had commanded him to have dominion over. In this way he misused his natural, God-given capacity to unite what is divided, and, to the contrary, divided what was united, and thus was in great danger of lamentably returning to nonbeing. This was why “the natures were innovated,” so that, in a paradox beyond nature, the One who is ^[1308D] completely immobile according to His nature moved immovably, so to speak, around that which by nature is moved, “and God became man”¹¹ in order to save lost man, and — after He had united through Himself the natural fissures running through the general nature of the universe, and had revealed the universal preexisting principles of the parts (through which the union of what is divided naturally comes about) — to fulfill the great purpose of God the Father, recapitulating all things, both in heaven and on earth, in Himself in whom they also had been created.

Ἐπειδή τοίνυν φυσικῶς, ὡς δεδημιούργητο, περί μέν τό ἀκίνητον, ὡς ἀρχήν ἰδίαν ⁽φημί δέ τόν Θεόν⁾ ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὐ κεκίνητο, περί δέ τά ὑπ᾿ αὐτόν, ὧν αὐτός θεόθεν ἄρχειν ἐπιτάγη, παρά φύσιν ἑκών ἀνοήτως κεκίνηται, τῇ πρός ἕνωσιν τῶν διῃρημένων δοθείσῃ αὐτῷ φυσικῆ δυνάμει κατά τήν γένεσιν εἰς τόν τῶν ἡνωμένων μᾶλλον διαίρεσιν παραχρησάμενος, καί ταύτῃ μικροῦ δεῖν ἐλεεινῶς εἰς τό μή ὅν πάλιν κινδυνεύσας μεταχωρῆσαι, διά τοῦτο καινοτομοῦνται φύσεις, καί παραδόξως ὑπέρ φύσιν περί τό φύσει κινούμενον ἀκινήτως, ἵν᾿ οὕτως εἴπω, κινεῖται τό πάντη κατά φύσιν ἀκίνητον, καί Θεός ἄνθρωπος γίνεται, ἵνα σώσῃ τόν ἀπολόμενον ἄνθρωπον, καί τῆς κατά τό πᾶν καθόλου φύσεως δι᾿ ἑαυτοῦ τά κατά φύσιν ἑνώσας ῥήγματα, καί τούς καθόλου τῶν ἐπί μέρους προφερομένους λόγους, οἷς ἡ τῶν διῃρημένων γίνεσθαι πέφυκεν ἕνωσις, δείξας τήν μεγάλην βουλήν πληρώσῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός, εἰς ἑαυτόν ἀνακεφαλαιώσας τά πάντα, τά ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καί τά ἐπί τῆς γῆς, ἐν ᾧ καί ἐκτίσθησαν.

To be sure, initiating the universal union of all things in Himself, beginning with our own ^[1309A] division, He became perfect man, having assumed from us, and for us, and consistent with us, everything that is ours, lacking nothing, but without sin, for to become man He had no need of the natural process of connubial intercourse. In this way, He showed, I think, that there was perhaps another mode, foreknown by God, for the multiplication of human beings, had the first human being kept the commandment and not cast himself down to the level of irrational animals by misusing the mode of his proper powers — and so He drove out from nature the difference and division into male and female, a difference, as I have said, which He in no way needed in order to become man, and without which existence would perhaps have been possible. There is no need for this division to last perpetually, for in Christ Jesus, says the divine ^[1309B] apostle, there is neither male nor femal^e]1

Ἀμέλει τοι τῆς καθόλου τῶν πάντων πρός ἑαυτόν ἑνώσεως ἐκ τῆς ἡμῶν ⁽¹³⁰⁹⁾ ἀρξάμενος διαιρέσεως γίνεται τέλειος ἄνθρωπος, ἐξ ἡμῶν δι᾿ ἡμᾶς καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς, πάντα τά ἡμῶν ἀνελλιπῶς ἔχων, ἁμαρτίας χωρίς, τῆς κατά φύσιν ἀκολουθίας γαμικῆς οὐδόλως εἰς τοῦτο προσδεηθείς· ὁμοῦ τε καί κατά τό αὐτό δεικνύς, ὡς οἶμαι, τυχόν ὡς ἦν καί ἄλλος τρόπος τῆς εἰς πλῆθος τῶν ἀνθρώπων αὐξήσεως προεγνωσμένος Θεῷ, εἰ τήν ἐντολήν ὁ πρῶτος ἐφύλαξεν ἄνθρωπος καί πρός κτηνωδίαν ἑαυτόν τῷ κατά παράχρησιν τρόπῳ τῶν οἰκείων δυνάμεων μή κατέβαλε, καί τήν κατά τό ἄῤῥεν καί θῆλυ διαφοράν τε καί διαίρεσιν τῆς φύσεως ἐξωθούμενος, ἧς πρός τό γενέσθαι, καθάπερ ἔφην, ἄνθρωπος, οὐδόλως προσεδεήθη, ὧν δέ ἄνευ εἶναι τυχόν ἐστι δυνατόν. Ταῦτα εἰς τό διηνεκές παραμεῖναι οὐκ ἀνάγκη. Ἐν γάρ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, φησίν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος, οὔτε ἄῤῥεν οὔτε θῆλυ.

Then, having sanctified our inhabited world by the dignity of His conduct as man, He proceeded unhindered to paradise after His death, just as He truly promised to the thief, saying: Today, you will be with me in paradise. Consequently, since there was for Him no difference between paradise and our inhabited world, He appeared on it, and spent time together with His disciples after His resurrection from the dead, demonstrating that the earth is one and not divided against itself, for it preserves the principle of its existence free of any difference caused by division. Then, by His ascension into heaven, it is obvious that He united heaven and earth, for He entered heaven with His earthly body, which is of the same nature and consubstantial with ours, ^[1309C] and showed that, according to its more universal principle, all sensory nature is one, and thus He obscured in Himself the property of division that had cut it in two. Then, in addition to this, having passed with His soul and body, that is, with the whole of our nature, through all the divine and noetic orders of heaven, He united sensory things with noetic things, displaying in Himself the fact that the convergence of the entire creation toward unity was absolutely indivisible and beyond all fracture, in accordance with its most primal and most universal principle.

Εἶτα τήν καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ἁγίασας οἰκουμένην διά τῆς οἰκείας ἀνθρωποπρεποῦς ἀναστροφῆς μετά θάνατον εἰς τόν παράδεισον ἀπαραποδίστως χωρεῖ, καθώς τῷ ληστῇ ἀψευδῶς ἐπηγγείλατο, Σήμερον, φήσας, ἔσῃ μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ. Ἐντεῦθεν ὡς κατ᾿ αὐτόν λοιπόν μή ἐχούσης πρός τόν παράδεισον διαφοράν τῆς καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης πάλιν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῆς ἐφάνη τοῖς μαθηταῖς συνδιαιτώμενος μετά τήν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν, δεικνύς ὡς ἡ γῆ μία οὖσα τυγχάνει πρός ἑαυτήν ἀδιαίρετος, τόν καθ᾿ ὅν ἐστι λόγον τῆς κατά τήν διαφοράν διαιρέσεως ἐλεύθερον διασώζουσα. Εἶτα διά τῆς εἰς οὐρανόν ἀναλήψεως τόν οὐρανόν ἥνωσε δηλονότι καί τήν γῆν, καί μετά τούτου τοῦ γηΐνου σώματος τοῦ ἡμῖν ὁμοουσίου χωρήσας εἰς οὐρανόν μίαν οὖσαν τῷ κατ᾿ αὐτήν καθολικωτέρῳ λόγῳ πᾶσαν τήν αἰσθητόν φύσιν ἀπέδειξε, τῆς τεμνούσης  αὐτήν ἐν ἑαυτῷ διαιρέσεως ἀμαυρώσας τήν ἰδιότητα. Ἔπειτα πρός τούτοις, τά αἰσθητά καί τά νοητά καθεξῆς διά πάντων τῶν κατ᾿ οὐρανόν θείων καί νοητῶν ταγμάτων διελθών μετά τῆς ψυχῆς καί τοῦ σώματος, τουτέστι τελείας τῆς ἡμετέρας φύσεως, ἥνωσε, τήν πρός τό ἕν τῆς ὅλης κτίσεως κατά τόν ἑαυτῆς ἀρχικώτατόν τε καί καθολικώτατον λόγον σύννευσιν δείξας ἐν ἑαυτῷ παντελῶς ἀδιαίρετόν τε καί ἀστασίαστον.

And finally, after all of these things, He — considered according to the idea of His humanity — comes to God Himself, appearing as a man, as it is written, before the face of God ^[1309D] the Father on our behalf — He who as Logos can never in any way be separated from the Father — fulfilling as man, in deed and truth, and with perfect obedience, all that He Himself as God had preordained should take place, having completed the whole plan of God the Father for us, who through our misuse had rendered ineffective the power that was given to us from the beginning by nature for this purpose.

Καί τέλος ἐπί πᾶσι τούτοις κατά τήν ἐπίνοιαν τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος πρός αὐτόν γένεται τόν Θεόν, ἐμφανισθείς ὑπέρ ἡμῶν δηλονότι, καθώς γέγραπται, τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὁ καθ᾿ οἱονδήποτε τρόπον μηδέποτε τοῦ Πατρός ὡς Λόγος χωρισθῆναι δυνάμενος, πληρώσας ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἔργῳ καί ἀληθείᾳ καθ᾿ ὑπακοήν ἀπαράβατον ὅσα προώρισεν αὐτός ὡς Θεός γενέσθαι, καί τελειώσας πᾶσαν βουλήν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός ὑπέρ ἡμῶν τῶν ἀχρειωσάντων τῇ παραχρήσει τήν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡμῖν φυσικῶς πρός τοῦτο δοθεῖσαν δύναμιν,

Thus He united, first of all, ourselves in Himself through removal of the difference between male and female, and instead of men and women, in whom this mode of division is especially ^[1312A] evident, He showed us as properly and truly to be simply human beings, thoroughly formed according to Him, bearing His image intact and completely unadulterated, touched in no way by any marks of corruption.

καί πρῶτον ἑνώσας ἡμῖν ἑαυτούς ἐν ἑαυτῷ διά τῆς ἀφαιρέσεως τῆς κατά τό ἄῤῥεν καί τό θῆλυ διαφορᾶς, καί ἀντί ἀνδρῶν καί γυναικῶν, οἷς ὁ τῆς διαιρέσεως ἐνθεωρεῖται μάλιστα τρόπος ⁽¹³¹²⁾, ἀνθρώπους μόνον κυρίως τε καί ἀληθῶς ἀποδείξας, κατ᾿ αὐτόν δι᾿ ὅλου μεμορφωμένους καί σώαν αὐτοῦ καί παντελῶς ἀκίβδηλον τήν εἰκόναν φέροντας, ἧς κατ’ οὐδένα τρόπον οὐδέν τῶν φθορᾶς γνωρισμάτων ἅπτεται,

And with us and for us He encompassed the extremes of the whole creation through the means, as His own parts, and He joined them around Himself, each with the other, tightly and indissolubly: paradise and the inhabited world, heaven and earth, the sensory and the noetic, since like us He possesses a body, sense perception, soul, and nous, to which (as His own parts) He associated individually the extreme that was thoroughly akin to each one of them (i.e., His parts), according to the mode described above, and He recapitulated in Himself, in a manner appropriate to God, all things,

καί σύν ἡμῖν καί δι’ ἡμᾶς τήν ἅπασαν κτίσιν διά τῶν μέσων ὡς μερῶν ἰδίων τά ἄκρα περιλαβών καί περί ἑαυτόν ἀλύτως ἀλλήλοις διασφίγξας παράδεισον καί οἰκουμένην, οὐρανόν καί γῆν, αἰσθητά καί νοητά, ὡς σῶμα καί αἴσθησιν καί ψυχήν καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ἔχων καί νοῦν, οἷς ὡς μέρεσι καθ᾿ ἕκαστον τό ἑκάστῳ καθόλου συγγενές οἰκειωσάμενος ἄκρον κατά τόν προαποδοθέντα τρόπον θεοπρεπῶς τά πάντα εἰς ἑαυτόν ἀνεκεφαλαιώσατο,

showing that the whole creation is one, as if it were another human being, completed by the mutual coming together of all its members, inclining ^[1312B] toward itself in the wholeness of its existence, according to one, unique, simple, undefined, and unchangeable idea: that it comes from nothing. Accordingly, all creation admits of one and the same, absolutely undifferentiated principle: that its existence is preceded by nonexistence.

μίαν ὑπάρχουσαν τήν ἅπασαν κτίσιν δείξας, καθάπερ ἄνθρωπον ἄλλον, τῇ τῶν μερῶν ἑαυτῆς πρός ἄλληλα συνόδῳ συμπληρουμένην καί πρός ἑαυτήν νεύουσαν τῇ ὁλότητι τῆς ὑπάρξεως, κατά τήν μίαν καί ἁπλῆν καί ἀπροσδιόριστον, τῆς ἐκ τοῦ μή ὄντος παραγωγῆς καί ἀδιάφορον ἔννοιαν, καθ᾿ ἥν ἕνα καί τόν αὐτόν πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις ἐπιδέξασθαι δύναται λόγον παντελῶς ἀδιάκριτον, τό "Οὐκ ἦν" τοῦ "εἶναι" πρεσβύτερον ἔχουσα.

For according to the true doctrine, all beings after God, which possess their being from God by virtue of having been created by Him, coincide with all the others (even if not in absolutely all respects) — and in general no being, including those from among the greatly honored and transcendent, is completely free by nature from the condition of general relation to what is Itself totally unconditioned, nor is the most ignoble among beings completely ^[1312C] destitute or devoid of a natural share in the general relationship to the most honored beings.

Πάντα γάρ κατά τόν ἀληθῆ λόγον ἀλλήλοις συνεμπίπτει καθ᾿ ὁτιοῦν πάντως, εἰ καί μή πάντη, τά μετά Θεόν ὄντα καί ἐκ Θεοῦ τό εἶναι διά γενέσεως ἔχοντα, μηδενός καθόλου τῶν ὄντων, μηδέ τῶν ἄγαν τιμίων καί ὑπερβεβηκότων τῆς πρός τό ἄγαν ἄσχετον γενικῆς σχέσεως, παντάπασι φυσικῶς ἀπολελυμένου, μήτε μήν τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν ἀτιμωτάτου τῆς πρός τά ἀτιμιώτατα κατά φύσιν γενικῆς παντελῶς ἀπολιμπανομένου καί ἀμοιροῦντος σχέσεως.

For all things that are distinguished from each other by virtue of their individual differences are generically united by universal and common identities, and they are drawn together to one and the same by means of a certain generic principle of nature, like genera that are united with each other according to substance, and consequently have something one and the same and indivisible. For nothing that is universal, or which contains something else, or which is a genus, can be divided in any way by what is particular, contained, and individual. For that which does not draw together things that are naturally separated is no longer able to be generic, but rather divided up together with them and so departs from its own individual unity

Πάντα γάρ τά ταῖς οἰκείαις ἰδίως διαφοραῖς ἀλλήλων διακεκριμμένα ταῖς καθόλου καί κοιναῖς γενικῶς ταὐτότησιν ἥνωνται, καί πρός τό ἕν καί ταὐτόν ἀλλήλοις γενικῷ τινι λόγῳ φύσεως συνωθοῦνται, οἷον τά μέν γένη κατά τήν οὐσίαν ἀλλήλοις ἑνούμενα τό ἕν ἔχει καί ταὐτόν καί ἀδιαίρετον. Οὐδέν γάρ τῶν καθόλου καί περιεχόντων καί γενικῶν τοῖς ἐπί μέρους καί περιεχομένοις καί ἰδικοῖς παντελῶς συνδιαιρεῖται. Οὐ γάρ ἔστι γενικόν εἶναι δύναται τό μή συνάγον τά διῃρημένα φυσικῶς, ἀλά συνδιαιρούμενον αὐτοῖς, καί τῆς οἰκείας μοναδικῆς ἑνότητος ἐξιστάμενον.

For every generic item, according to its own proper principle, exists as a whole indivisibly and really in the whole of those things subordinate to it, ^[1312D] and with respect to the particular it is viewed as a whole in general. Species, according to their genus, being released from variations grounded in difference, likewise admit of identity with each other. Individuals who share common features with each other according to their species become completely one and the same with each other, since by virtue of their common origin and nature they are indistinguishable and free of all difference. Accidents, finally, also possess unity, on the level of the subject, where they are in no way scattered.¹³

Πᾶν γάρ γενικόν κατά τόν οἰκεῖον λόγον ὅλον ὅλοις ἀδιαιρέτως τοῖς ὑπ᾿ αὐτό ἑνικῶς ἐνυπάρχει, καί τό καθ᾿ ἕκαστον ὅλον ἐνθεωρεῖται γενικῶς. Τά δέ εἴδη κατά τό γένος ὡσαύτως τῆς ἐν τῇ διαφορᾷ ποικιλίας ἀπολυθέντα τήν πρός ἄλληλα ταὐτότητα δέχεται. Τά ἄτομα δέ κατά τό εἶδος τήν πρός ἄλληλα δεχόμενα σύμβασιν ἕν καί ταὐτόν ἀλλήλοις πάντη καθέστηκε, τῇ ὁμοφυΐᾳ τό ἀπαράλλακτον ἔχοντα καί διαφορᾶς πάσης ἐλεύθερον. Τά δέ συμβεβηκότα κατά τό ὑποκείμενον ἀλλήλοις συγκριθέντα τό ἑνιαῖον ἔχει, τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ παντελῶς μή σκεδαννύμενον.

And the unerring witness to these things is the true theologian, the great and holy ^[1313A] Dionysios the Areopagite, who, in the chapter on the “Perfect and the One” in his treatise On the Divine Names, says the following: “For there is no multiplicity which does not in some way participate in the One, but that which is many by its parts, is one in the whole; and that which is many by its accidents, is one in the subject; and that which is many in number or potentialities, is one in species; and that which is many by the species, is one by the genus; and that which is many by the processions, is one in its source. And there is none among beings that does not participate in some way in the One.”‘⁴

Καί μάρτυς τούτων ἀψευδής ὁ ἀληθής θεηγόρος, ὁ μέγας καί ἅγιος Διονύσιος ⁽¹³¹³⁾ ὁ Ἀρεοπαγίτης, ἐν τῷ περί τελείου καί ἑνός κεφαλαίῳ τῆς Περί θείων ὀνομάτων πραγματείας οὑτωσί φάσκων· "Οὐδέ γάρ ἐστι πλῆθος ἀμέτοχόν πη τοῦ ἑνός, ἀλλά τό μέν πολλά τοῖς μέρεσιν ἕν τῷ ὅλῳ, καί τό πολλά τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν ἕν τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ, καί τά πολλά τῷ ἀριθμῷ ἤ ταῖς δυνάμεσιν ἕν τῷ εἴδει, καί τό πολλά τοῖς εἴδεσιν ἕν τῷ γένει, καί τό πολλά τοῖς προόδοις ἕν τῇ ἀρχῇ, καί οὐδέν ἐστι τῶν ὄντων ὅ μή μετέχει πη τοῦ ἑνός."

And simply, to speak concisely, the principles of whatever is separated and particular are, as they say, contained by the principles of what is universal and generic, and the more generic and more universal principles are held together by wisdom, whereas the principles of particulars, which are contained in various ways by those of the generic terms, are encompassed by prudence, ^[1313B] according to which, having first been simplified and divested of the symbolic diversity they acquire in lower material things, are made one by wisdom, having received the natural affinity that leads to identity through the more generic principles.

Καί ἁπλῶς, ἵνα συνελών εἴπω, πάντων τῶν διῃρημένων καί μερικῶν οἱ λόγοι τοῖς τῶν καθόλου καί γενικῶν, ὥς φασι, περιέχονται λόγοις, καί τούς μέν τῶν γενικωτέρων καί καθολικωτέρων λόγους ὑπό τῆς σοφίας συνέχεσθαι, τούς δέ μερικῶν ποικίλως τοῖς τῶν γενικῶν ἐνισχημένους ὑπό τῆς φρονήσεως περιέχεσθαι, καθ᾿ ἥν ἁπλούμενοι πρότερον, καί τήν ἐν τοῖς πράγμασι τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις ἀπολύοντες συμβολικήν ποικιλίαν, ὑπό τῆς σοφίας ἑνίζονται, τήν εἰς ταὐτότητα τοῖς γενικωτέροις συμφυΐαν δεξάμενοι.

But the Wisdom and Prudence of God the Father is the Lord Jesus Christ, who through the power of wisdom sustains the universals of beings, and through the prudence of understanding embraces the parts from which they are completed, since He is by nature the Creator and Provider of all things, and through Himself draws into one those that are separated, dissolving strife among beings, and binding together all things in peaceful friendship and undivided concord, both in heaven and on earth, as the divine apostle says. ^[1313C]

Σοφία δέ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός καί φρόνησίς ἐστιν ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ὁ καί καθόλου τῶν ὄντων συνέχων τῇ δυνάμει τῆς σοφίας, καί τά συμπληρωτικά τούτων μέρη περιέχων τῇ φρονήσει τῆς συνέσεως ὡς πάντων φύσει δημιουργός καί προνοητής, καί εἰς ἕν ἄγων τά διεστῶτα δι᾿ ἑαυτοῦ, καί τόν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι καταλύων πόλεμον, καί πρός εἰρηνικήν φιλίαν τά πάντα καί ἀδιαίρετον συνδέων ὁμόνοιαν, τά ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καί τά ἐπί τῆς γῆς, καθώς φησιν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος.

⁴¹a. Another theoria (θεωρία) of this same difficulty

Ἄλλη εἰς τό αὐτό ἄπορον θεωρία.

Again, the “natures are innovated,” since the Divine, in its goodness and measureless love of mankind, accepted in a manner beyond nature, and according to its own free will, our fleshly birth, while our nature paradoxically and by a strange ordinance contrary to nature produced flesh, endowed with a rational soul, without seed, for the sake of God, who became flesh, and this flesh was in every way the same and indistinguishable from ours, but without sin — and what is more paradoxical, His birth did not diminish in any way the virginity of the one who became His mother.¹⁵

Καινοτομοῦνται πάλιν αἱ φύσεις, τῆς μέν θείας δι᾿ ἀγαθότητα καί φιλανθρωπίαν ἄμετρον τῆς καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς κατά θέλησιν ἑκούσιον σαρκικῆς ὑπερφυῶς ἀνεχομένης γεννήσεως, τῆς ἡμετέρας δέ παραδόξως ἄσπορον τῷ σαρκωθέντι Θεῷ ξένῳ παρά τήν φύσιν θεσμῷ τήν λογικῶς ἐψυχωμένην γεωργούσης σάρκα, κατά πάντα τήν αὐτήν ἡμῖν οὖσαν καί ἀπαράλλακτον χωρίς ἁμαρτίας, καί τό δή παραδοξότερον, μηδέν τοῦ νόμου τῆς παρθενίας τῆς γενομένης μητρός διά τῆς γεννήσεως τό σύνολον μειωθέντος.

Strictly speaking, the “innovation” is not only the fact that God the Word, who was already timelessly and ineffably begotten of God the Father, was born in time according to the flesh, but also that our nature gave flesh without seed, and that a virgin gave birth without ^[1313D] corruption. For each of these clearly manifests the innovation, while at the same time on the one hand concealing and on the other hand revealing the ineffable and unknown principle according to which they took place; concealing in accordance with the mode that is beyond nature and knowledge, and revealing by the principle of faith, by which all things beyond nature and knowledge may readily be grasped.

Καινοτομία δέ κυρίως οὐ μόνον τό γεννηθῆναι χρονικῶς κατά σάρκα τόν ἀνάρχως ἤδη γεγεννημένον ἀφράστως ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός Θεόν Λόγον, ἀλλά καί τό δοῦναι σάρκα τήν ἡμετέραν φύσιν ἄνευ σπορᾶς, καί τό τεκεῖν παρθένου ἄνευ φθορᾶς. Τούτων γάρ ἕκαστον φανεράν ἔχον τήν καινοτομίαν τόν καθ᾿ ὅν γέγονεν ἄῤῥητόν τε καί ἄγνωστον λόγον παντελῶς ἀποκρύπτεται κατά ταὐτόν καί ἀποδείκνυσι, τό μέν τῷ ὑπέρ φύσιν καί γνῶσιν τρόπῳ, τό δέ τῷ λόγῳ τῆς πίστεως, ᾧ πάντα τά ὑπέρ φύσιν καί γνῶσιν ἁλίσκεσθαι πέφυκεν.