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To the Most Pious and Devout fellow minister Nestorius Cyril and the
co-assembled Synod in
Alexandria from out of the Province of Egypt, greeting in the Lord.
Whereas our Saviour saith in plain terms, He that loveth father or
mother above Me is not
worthy of Me, and he that loveth son or daughter above Me is not worthy of
Me [Matthew
10:37]: what shall be our lot, from whom thy piety claims to be loved in
higher degree than Christ
the Saviour of us all? who shall have power to aid us in the Day of Doom,
or
what defence shall we
find, after prizing such long silence at the blasphemies which have been
done against Him by thee?
And if thou wert injuring thyself alone, in thinking and teaching such
things, the concern thereat had
been less: but since thou offendedst the Church and hast cast the leaven
of
an unwonted and strange
heresy among the people (yea and not thither alone, but to those every
where
were the books of thy
commentaries carried round), what answer will any longer suffice for our
silence? or how must one
not needs remember Christ Who says, Think not that I came to cast peace
over
the earth, I
came not to cast peace but a sword; for I came to sever a man against his
father and the
daughter against her mother? [Matt. 10:34-35] For when the Fait [sic] his
wronged, farewell as
untimely and insecure our reverence to children and brothers, and be death
in fine better than life to
the godly, that they may obtain a better resurrection, [Heb. 11:35] as it
is
written.
Lo then together with the holy Synod that has been gathered together
in
Great Rome, under
the presidency of the Most holy and Most devout our brother and
co-minister
the Bishop Celestine,
we do testify to thee in this third Letter too, counselling thee to
refrain
from the so crooked and
perverted doctrines which thou both holdest and teachest, and to choose in
place of them the Right
Fatih which was delivered to the Churches from the beginning through the
holy Apostles and
Evangelists who have been both eye-witnesses and ministers of the word.
[Luke 1:2] Or if thy
Piety do not so, according to the ordinance set forth in the Letters of
the
afore-mentioned most holy
and most pious Bishop and our co-minister of the church of the Romans,
Celestine, know that thou
hast no lot with us, nor place nor rank among the Priests of God and His
Bishops. For neither is it
possible for us to overlook the Churches thus harassed and the people
offended, and the Right Faith
rejected and the flocks torn in pieces by thee who oughtest to preserve
them, if thou wert as we a
lover of right doctrine, tracking the piety of the holy Fathers. And all
who
have been by thy Piety
severed for the Faith's sake, or deposed, both lay and Cleric, all we are
in
communion with; for it is
not just that they who know to think aright should be wronged by thy
decrees, because they doing
well have contradicted thee. for this very thing thou hast notified in the
Letter written by thee to our
most holy brother-bishop of Great Rome, Celestine.
And it will not be enough for thy Piety to confess only the symbol of
the Faith which was put
forth in its time in the Holy Ghost by the holy and Great Synod gathered
together in the City of the
Niceans (for thou hast understood and interpret it not aright but rather
perversely, even though thou
confess the formula with thy mouth): but it will be meet that thou confess
in writing and on oath that
thou both anathematizest thine own foul and profane dogmas, and that thou
wilt hold and teach the
things which we all do, the Bishops and Teachers and leaders of the people
throughout the West
and East. And both the holy Synod at Rome and all of us have consented to
the Letters written to
thy Piety by the Church of the Alexandrians, as right and irreproachable.
We have subjoined to this our letter the things which thou must hold
and teach and those
from which thou must abstain: for this is the Faith of the Catholic and
Apostolic Church, to which all
the Orthodox Bishops throughout the West and East adhere.
We believe in One God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things both
visible and invisible,
and in One Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-Begotten begot of
the
Father, that is of the
Essence of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God,
Begotten not made,
consubstantial with the Father, through Whom all things were made, both
that
are in Heaven and
that are on earth, Who for us men and for our salvation came down and was
made flesh and made
man, suffered and rose on the third day, went up into the Heavens, cometh
to
judge quick and
dead; and in the Holy Ghost.
And those that say, There was a time when He was not and, Before He
was
begotten He
was not, and that He was made of things that are not, or that say that the
Son of God is of some
other Hypostasis or Essence, or is subject to change or variation, these
the
Catholic and Apostolic
Church anathematizes.
Following in all respects the confessions of the holy Fathers which
they have made through
the Holy Ghost speaking in them, and tracking out the aim of their ideas,
and going as it were along
the royal road, we say that the Only Begotten Son of God Himself, Who was
begot of the Very
Essence of the Father, Who is Very God of Very God, Light of Light, He
through Whom all things
were made, both those in Heaven and those on earth, having for our
salvation
come down and
abased Himself unto emptiness, was both made flesh and made man, that is,
having taken Flesh of
the holy Virgin and made it His own from the womb, He underwent birth as
we,
and proceeded
Man of a woman, not losing what He was, but even though He assumed flesh
and
blood, thus too
abiding what He was, God that is by Nature and in truth: (And neither do
we
say that the Flesh was
turned into the Nature of Godhead nor yet that the Ineffable Nature of God
the Word was borne
aside into the nature of the flesh; for It is Unchangeable and Invariable,
ever abiding wholly the
same, according to the Scriptures:) and seen, and a Babe, and in swaddling
clothes, being yet in the
lap of the Virgin that bare Him, He was filling the Creation as God and
co-sitting with the Father.
For the Godhead is without quantity and size and endures not to be
bounded.
And confessing that the Word was united Personally to flesh, we
worship
One Son and Lord
Jesus Christ, neither putting apart and sundering Man and God, as though
they were connected one
with another by the unity of dignity and authority (for this were empty
speech and nought else), nor
yet calling the Word of God Christ by Himself and likewise him born of the
woman by himself as
though he were another Christ: but knowing One Only Christ, the word of
God
the Father with His
own Flesh (for then was He anointed as Man with us, albeit Himself giveth
the Spirit to them that
are worthy it, and that not by measure [John 3:34] , as saith the blessed
Evangelist John), nor yet
do we say this that the word of God dwelt in him that was born of the holy
Virgin as in a mere man,
lest Christ be conceived of as a God-clad man. For even though the Word
tabernacled in us,
[John 1:14] and in Christ too it is said that all the fulness of the
Godhead
dwelt bodily [Col. 2:9],
yet do we conceive that when He was made Flesh, not as He is said to dwell
in the Saints, in like
wise do we define that in Him too was the Indwelling, but united according
to Nature and not turned
into flesh, He made Indwelling of such a kind as the soul of man too may
be
said to have in regard
to its own body.
There is therefore One Christ and Son and Lord not as though man had
connection simply
with God as by unity of dignity or of authority (for equality of honour
doth
not unite natures. And
verily Peter and John were of equal honour one with another, in that they
were both Apostles and
holy disciples, yet were not the two one), nor yet do we deem of the mode
of
connecting [as being]
by juxta-position (for this suffices not unto unity of nature), nor yet in
the way of an external
participation, as we too being joined to the Lord, [1 Cor. 6:17] as it is
written, are one spirit with
Him; yea rather we refuse the term connection as insufficient to express
the
Union. But neither do
we call the Word of God the Father the God or Lord of Christ, lest again
we
openly sever into two
the One Christ and Son and Lord, and incur the charge of blasphemy, making
Him God and Lord
of Himself. For the Word of God united (as we already before said) to
Flesh
Personally, is God of
all, ruleth over every thing, but is Himself neither servant nor lord of
Himself (for it were silly, yea
rather blasphemous also, so to think or say). For he called the Father His
God [John 20:17], albeit
He is God by Nature and of His Essence: yea, we are not ignorant that
together with being God, He
became also Man who is under God, according to the Law that befits the
nature of the humanity:
but how can He be God or Lord of Himself? Therefore as, being Man and as
far
as pertains to
what befits the measures of the emptiness, He says that He is with us
under
God: so hath He been
made under the Law too, albeit Himself spake the Law and is Lawgiver as
God.
And we refuse to say of Christ, "For the sake of Him that wore I
reverence that which is
worn, for the sake of the Invisible I worship the seen." It is besides an
awful thing to say, "He that is
assumed shares the Name of God with Him That assumed him." For he that
says
thus severs again
into two christs, and puts man apart by himself and God likewise: for he
denies manifestly the Union,
whereby not as one in another is any co-worshipped nor co-named God, but
One
Christ Jesus is
conceived of, the Only Begotten Son, worshipped with one worship together
with His own flesh.
But we confess that the Son begotten of God the Father and Only-Begotten
God
Himself, albeit
Impassible in His own Nature, hath suffered in the flesh [1 Peter 4:1] for
us according to the
Scriptures, and was in His crucified body making His own in an Impassible
manner the Sufferings of
His own Flesh. And by the grace of God He tasted death [Heb. 2:9] even for
every one, albeit
by Nature Life and Himself the Resurrection. [John 11:25] For in order
that,
with Ineffable Might
having trodden down death in His own flesh first, He might become the
Firstborn of the Dead
[Col. 1:18] and Firstfruits of them that slept [1 Cor. 15:20], and might
make a way to the nature
of man for a return to incorruption, by the grace of God, as we said just
now, He tasted death for
every man, and lived again after three days having spoiled Hades; so that
even though the
Resurrection of the Dead [1 Cor. 15:21] be said to be through man, yet we
do
conceive of the
Word of God made Man and that through Him has the Might of Death been
undone
and He shall
come in His time as one Son and Lord in the glory of the Father to judge
the
world in
righteousness [Acts 17:31], as it is written.
And of necessity will we add this too: Declaring the Death in the
Flesh
of the Ony-Begotten
Son of God, that is Jesus Christ, and confessing His living again from the
dead and His Assumption
into Heaven, we celebrate the Unbloody Service in the churches, and thus
approach to the Mystic
Blessings, and are sanctified, rendered partakers of the Holy Flesh and
Precious Blood of Christ the
Saviour of us all. And not as though we were receiving common flesh (God
forbid) nor yet that of a
man sanctified and connected with the Word by unity of dignity, or as
having
a Divine Indwelling,
but as truly quickening and the own Flesh of the Word Himself. For being
by
Nature Life as God,
since He became One with His own Flesh, He rendered it Life-giving. So
that
even though He say
to us, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son
of
Man, and drink His
blood [John 6:53], we shall not account it also as that of one of us (for
how will a man's flesh be
life-giving in its own nature?) but as having truly become the own Flesh
of
Him Who for our sakes
both became and was called Son of Man.
And the words of our Savior in the Gospels we apportion neither to
two
Hypostases nor
Persons (for neither is the One and Only Christ two-fold, even though He
be
conceived to have
been out of two diverse things gathered unto an inseverable Unity just as
Man too is conceived of as
of soul and body, and is not two-fold but one out of both) but thinking
aright we shall maintain that
both the human and besides the Divine expressions have been said by One.
For
when He says in
God-befitting manner of Himself, He that hath seen Me hath seen the
Father,
[John 14:9] and, I
and the Father are One, [John 10:30] we conceive of His Divine and
Ineffable
Nature, wherein
He is even One with His own Father by reason of Identity of Essence, and
the
Image and Impress
and Brightness of His Glory; [Heb. 1:3] but when despising not the measure
of the human nature,
He addresses the Jews, Now are ye seeking to slay Me, a Man which have
told
you the truth,
[John 8:40] we recognize no less the Very God the Word in the Equality and
Likeness of the
Father, even by the measures of His Manhood. For if it be needful to
believe
that being God by
Nature He have been made Flesh, or Man ensouled with a reasonable soul,
what
excuse will any
one's being ashamed of His words, if they are made in a man-befitting
manner, have? For if He
should refuse words befitting man, who compelled Him to become Man as we?
and He Who
abased Himself for our sakes unto voluntary emptiness, why should He
refuse
words befitting that
emptiness? To one Person therefore must we attribute all the words in the
Gospels, to One
Incarnate Hypostasis of the Word: for there is One Lord Jesus Christ,
according to Scriptures.
And if He be called both Apostle and High Priest of our confession
[Heb. 3:1], as
ministering to God the Father the Confession of our faith offered by us to
Him and through Him to
God the Father and unto the Holy Ghost, we say again that He is the by
Nature Only Begotten Son
of God and we do not apportion unto a man other than He the name of
priesthood and its reality.
For He became the Mediator of God and Man [1 Tim. 2:5], and the Reconciler
unto Peace,
offering Himself to God the Father for an odour of a sweet smell.
Wherefore
He also saith,
Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, whole burnt sacrifices and for
sin
Thou tookest not
pleasure in, but a Body preparedst Thou Me: then I said, Lo I come (in the
section of the
Book hath it been written of Me) to do Thy Will, O God [Heb. 10:5-7, from
Ps. 40:6-8] For He
offered in our behalf His own Body for an odour of a sweet smell and not
rather on His own behalf:
for what offering or sacrifice would He need for His own Self, Who is
superior to all sin, as God?
For if all sinned and are short of God's glory [Rom. 3:23], inasmuch as we
are apt to go aside,
and man's nature is sick of the disease of sin, but Himself not so, and we
have therefore come short
of His Glory: how will there yet be any doubt that for us and in our
behalf
hath the Very Lamb been
sacrificed? And to say that He hath offered Himself for both Himself and
us,
will on no account fail
of the charge of blasphemy: for in no wise hath He transgressed nor did He
sin, what offering then
would He need, when there is no sin to which offering full rightly
appertains?
And when He says of the Spirit, He shall glorify Me [John 16:14], we
conceiving aright say
that not as lacking glory from another did the One Christ and Son receive
Glory from the Holy
Ghost, since neither is His Spirit superior to Him and above Him: but
since
for demonstration of His
Godhead He was using His own Spirit for mighty deeds, He says that He is
glorified by Him. Just as
if one of us were to say of his own strength (for example) or
understanding
in regard to ought, They
will glorify me. For even though the Spirit exist in His Own Person, and
is
conceived of by Himself,
inasmuch as He is the Spirit and not the Son, yet is He not therefore
alien
from Him; for He is called
the Spirit of truth [John 15:26], and Christ is the Truth [John 14:6], and
He proceedeth from
Him, just as from God the Father. The Spirit therefore working miracles by
the hand too of the holy
Apostles after that our Lord Jesus Christ had gone up into Heaven,
glorified
Him; for He Himself
again working through His own Spirit, was believed in, that He is God by
Nature. Wherefore He
said also, He shall receive of Mine and declare it unto you. [John 16:14]
And we do not say that
by participation is the Spirit both wise and mighty (for He is All-perfect
and unneeding of all good)
but since He is the Spirit of the Father's Might and Wisdom, i.e., the
Son,
He is Wisdom and
Might's Very Self.
And since the holy Virgin hath borne after the Flesh God united
Personally to the Flesh,
therefore we do say that she is also Mother of God, not as though the
Nature
of the Word had the
beginning of Its existence from flesh, for It was in the beginning and the
Word was God, and the
Word was with God [John 1:1], and is Himself the Maker of the ages,
Co-eternal with the Father
and Creator of all things: but (as we have already said) seeing that He
united human nature to
Himself Personally and underwent fleshly birth from the very womb, not as
though by any necessity
or for the sake of His own Nature needing the Birth in time and in the
last
times of the world, but in
order to bless the very beginning of our being and that, because a woman
bare Him united to the
flesh, the curse against our whole race might at length be stopped, the
curse which sends to death
our bodies of earth, and the words, in sorrows shalt thou bear children
[Gen. 3:16], through Him
abolished, He might manifest that true which is uttered by the Prophet's
voice, Death in its might is
swallowed up, and God again removed every tear from off every face. [Isa.
25:8 LXX] For
this reason do we say that He economically blessed marriage itself also
and
when bidden in Cana
of Galilee went thither together with the holy Apostles.
These things have we been taught to hold by the holy Apostles and
Evangelists and the whole
God-inspired Scripture, and by the true Confession of the blessed Fathers:
to all of them must thy
Piety too assent and consent without any guile.
The things which it is necessary that thy Piety anathematize have
been
annexed to this our
Letter:-
1. If any one confess not that Emmanuel is in truth God and that the
holy Virgin is therefore
Mother of God, for she bare after the flesh the Word of God made Flesh, be
he anathema.
2. If any one confess not that the Word of God the Father hath been
Personally united to
Flesh and that He is One Christ with His own Flesh, the Same (that is) God
alike and Man, be he
anathema.
3. If any one sever the Persons of the One Christ after the Union,
connecting them with only
a connection of dignity or authority or sway, and not rather with a
meeting
unto Unity of Nature, be
he anathema.
4. If any one allot to two Persons or Hypostases, the words in the
Gospel and Apostolic
writings, said either of Christ by the saints or by Him of Himself, and
ascribe some to a man
conceived of by himself apart from the Word That is of God, others as
God-befitting to the Word
alone That is of God the Father, be he anathema.
5. If any one dare to say, that Christ is a God-clad man, and not
rather that He is God in
truth as being the One Son and That by Nature, in that the Word hath been
made Flesh, and hath
shared like us in blood and flesh [Heb. 2:14], be he anathema.
6. If any one say that the Word That is of God the Father is God or
Lord of Christ and do
not rather confess that the Same is God alike and Man, in that the Word
hath
been made flesh,
according to the Scriptures, be he anathema.
7. If anyone say that Jesus hath been in-wrought-in as man by God the
Word and that the
Glory of the Only-Begotten hath been put about Him, as being another than
He, be he anathema.
8. If any one dare to say that the man that was assumed ought to be
co-worshipped with
God the Word and co-glorified and co-named God as one in another (for the
co-, constantly
appended, compels us thus to deem) and does not rather honour Emmanuel
with
One worship and
attribute to Him One Doxology, inasmuch as the Word has been made Flesh,
be
he anathema.
9. If any one say that the One Lord Jesus Christ hath been glorified
by
the Spirit, using His
Power as though it were Another's, and from Him receiving the power of
working against unclean
spirits and of accomplishing Divine signs upon men; and does not rather
say
that His own is the
Spirit, through Whom He hath wrought the Divine signs, be he anathema.
10. The Divine Scripture says that Christ hath been made the High
Priest and Apostle of
our confession [Heb. 3:1] and He hath offered Himself for us for an odour
of
a sweet smell to God
the Father. If any one therefore say that not the Very Word of God was
made
our High Priest and
Apostle when He was made Flesh and man as we, but that man of a woman
apart
from himself as
other than He, was [so made]: or if any one say that in His own behalf
also
He offered the Sacrifice
and not rather for us alone (for He needed not offering Who knoweth not
sin), be he anathema.
11. If any one confess not that the Flesh of the Lord is Life-giving
and that it is the own Flesh
of the Word Himself That is from God the Father, but say that it belongs
to
another than He,
connected with Him by dignity or as possessed of Divine Indwelling only
and
not rather that it is
Life-giving (as we said) because it hath been made the own Flesh of the
Word
Who is mighty to
quicken all things, be he anathema.
12. If any one confess not that the Word of God suffered in the Flesh
and hath been crucified
in the Flesh and tasted death in the Flesh and hath been made First-born
of
the Dead, inasmuch as
He is both Life and Life-giving as God, be he anathema.
Donated
to the St. Pachomius
Library by Rev. T.
Mayes.
Have mercy, O Lord, upon Thy servants the translator Philip and the
scribes Ted and Richard!