{"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/1":{"o":"Τὸ μὲν ἐν τῇ πίστει στεῤῥόν τε καὶ βέβαιον τῆς σῆς φιλοχρίστου ψυχῆς οὐδαμῶς σαλεύεται · κἂν ἐπισπείρωσιν ἐχθροὶ τὰ τῆς ἀπιστίας ζιζάνια. Τὴν γὰρ πίστιν ἐκ προγόνων διαδεξάμενος, ἔρεισμα τῆς αὐτῆς ζωῆς τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἔχεις· ἐπειδὴ ἡ ἀληθὴς αὕτη πίστις καὶ οἰκουμένην διώρθωσε, καὶ πλάνην ἔσβεσε, καὶ δαίμονας ἤλασε, καὶ βασιλείαν εὐσεβοῦσαν λαμπροτέραν τοῖς τροπαίοις ἔδειξε· καὶ μάρτυς τοῦ λόγου τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ πεῖρα γεγένηται. Καὶ γὰρ τυράννους οἱ εὐσεβέστατοι βασιλεῖς ἐτροπώσαντο πλείονας, εὐχῇ πόῤῥωθεν καταβαλόντες αὐτοὺς · καὶ βαρβάρων ἀπόνοιαν πολλάκις ἡμύναντο, πίστει φραξάμενοι, καὶ τῇ τῶν προγόνων εὐσεβείᾳ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔχουσι τὴν πίστιν ἀκίνητον, φυλάττει Θεὸς αὐτῶν τὴν βασιλείαν ἀνεπιβούλευτον· ὥσπερ γὰρ κατὰ σωμάτων ἔφοδος γίνεται βαρβάρων, οὕτω κατὰ τῶν ψυχῶν ἐξοπλίζει πόλεμον ὁ δαίμων, λόγοις ἀπάτης πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν πολεμῶν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν πραότερον σημαίνων ὁ Κύριος ἑτέρῳ τρόπῳ καλῶς τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς διηγήσατο · σπόρον μὲν καλὸν ὀνομάσας τῆς εὐσεβείας τὸν λόγον· ζιζάνια δὲ προσαγορεύσας τὰ ἐπισπειρόμενα τῆς ἀπιστίας διδάγματα καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν γεωργίαν καλεῖ οὐράνιον· γενήματα δὲ τὴν εὐσέβειαν τῶν γνησίως πεπιστευκότων εἰδώς. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτω χαίρει γεωργὸς ἀμώμενος δράγματα, ὡς εὐφραίνεται Χριστὸς γνησίαν πίστιν παρὰ τῶν βεβαίων καρπούμενος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐξῆλθεν ἵνα σπείρῃ τὸν λόγον, λέγει· « Ἐγὼ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐξῆλθον, καὶ ἥκω· · καὶ τὸ μὲν, «ἐξῆλθον, » τὴν συγκατάβασιν τῆς θεότητος μηνύει, τὸ δὲ « ἥκω, » τὴν ἐμφάνειαν τὴν ἰδίαν σημαίνει.","t":"The firmness and steadiness of your Christ-loving soul in the faith is in no way shaken, even if enemies sow the tares of unbelief over it. For you received the faith from your ancestors, and you have piety as the support of this life of yours; since this true faith has set the world right, and quenched error, and driven out demons, and shown a pious empire more brilliant in its trophies; and the experience of events has become a witness to what I say. For the most pious emperors have routed a good many usurpers, casting them down from afar by prayer; and they have often repelled the madness of barbarians, fortified by faith and by the piety of their ancestors. For since they hold the faith unmoved, God keeps their empire safe from plots; for just as an assault of barbarians is made against bodies, so the demon arms a war against souls, fighting the truth with words of deceit. The Lord indicated these things more gently and told them well to his own disciples in another way: he named the word of piety good seed, and called the teachings of unbelief sown over it tares; and he calls the teaching a heavenly farming, knowing the crop to be the piety of those who have believed genuinely. For a farmer does not so rejoice when he reaps sheaves as Christ is gladdened when he gathers genuine faith as fruit from the steadfast. For since he himself came out to sow the word, he says: “I came out from the Father, and I have come.” And “I came out” indicates the condescension of the Godhead, while “I have come” signifies his own appearing.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 1 (PG 77:1313; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/1)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/10":{"o":"᾿Αλλ' ὁ ἐπεισάκτοις λόγοις τὸ ἁπλοῦν τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν θολῶσαι θελήσας, κωλυθεὶς δὲ ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ, κοινὸν πλειόνων ὄνομα λέγει, τὸ τε Υἱὸς, καὶ τὸ Χριστός· θύραν ταύτην ἀνοίγων τῆς κατὰ Χριστοῦ βλασφημίας· καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος δύο πράγματα εἶναι ταῦτα δηλωτικὰ λέγει· ὧν ἕκαστον ἓν μὲν ὄνομα λέγει, τὰ δὲ πράγματα δύο, καὶ τὴν μὲν ὀνομασίαν μίαν εἶναι φησι, τὰ δὲ σημαινόμενα δύο τίθεται. ᾿Αλλ᾽ εἰ μὲν ὡς ἓν ὄνομα τοῦ Υἱοῦ λέγεις, ὦ οὗτος, οὕτως νοεῖς καὶ πρᾶγμα τὸ σημαινόμενον ἓν, ἕνα λέγεις Υἱὸν, καὶ ἀκολουθεῖς τοῖς Πατράσιν. Εἰ δὲ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Υἱοῦ λέγεις ἓν, καὶ τὸ Χριστὸς ὄνομα τίθη ἓν, ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦ ὀνόματος τούτου οὐσίας διαφόρους σημαίνεσθαι λέγεις, οὐ συμφωνεῖς τοῖς Πατράσι, ὡς ἐπίστευσαν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν Πατέρα παντοκράτορα. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ περὶ ὀνόματος ἦν ἡ σκέψις αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἔλεγον ἕνα Υἱὸν, εἶχέ σου χώραν τὸ σόφισμα, τιθεμένου τὸ μὲν ὄνομα ἓν, τὰ δὲ σημαινόμενα πλείω. Εἰ δὲ ὀλίγος μὲν αὐτοῖς περὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων ὁ λόγος ἐγένετο, ἕνα δὲ μονογενῆ τὸν Υἱὸν προσηγόρευσαν, τί περιπλέκῃ προσηγορίᾳ, καταλιπὼν τὸ δηλούμενον καὶ ὅπερ ἐκεῖνοι λέγουσιν ἓν προσέχοντες τῷ πράγματι, τοῦτο σὺ ὡς ὄνομα ἓν, πλειόνων πραγμάτων ἐκτίθη σημαντικόν; καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταύτην περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὴν λέξιν τῶν Πατέρων ἑρμηνεύσας Νεστόριος, ἐν οἷς ἀντεπιστέλλων γράφει τῷ τῆς μεγάλης ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Κυρίλλῳ, παῤῥησιασαμένῳ περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς εὐσεβείας, καὶ διὰ γράμματος αὐτὸν μεταστῆσαι τῆς πλάνης βουλευσαμένῳ, καὶ πρὸς δυσώπησιν ἐκθεμένῳ τὴν πίστιν τῶν ὀκτωκαίδεκα καὶ τριακοσίων Πατέρων, ἀντεπιστέλλων Νεστόριος αὐταῖς ταῖς λέξεσι ταῦτά φησι· « Κἂν μοι τὰς ἀκοὰς εἰς ἀδελφικὴν ἰατρείαν παράσχης, αὐτὰς σοι τὰς τῶν ἁγίων ἐκείνων φωνᾶς παραθήσομαι, τῆς κατ' ἐκείνων ἀπαλλάξας συκοφαντίας, καὶ τῆς κατὰ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν δι᾽ ἐκείνων. » Εἶτα τὴν λέξιν τῶν Πατέρων παρατιθεὶς οὕτω φησί· « Πιστεύω τοίνυν καὶ νθεῖς τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν.","t":"But he who wished to muddy the simplicity of our faith with imported arguments, and was checked by Christ, says that “Son” and “Christ” are a name common to several, opening by this a door to blasphemy against Christ; and he says that in the case of the Saviour these terms indicate two realities, saying of each that the name is one but the realities two: he says the naming is one, but posits two things signified. But if, sir, as you call the name of the Son one, so you also think of the reality signified as one, you speak of one Son and follow the Fathers. But if you say that the name “Son” is one, and posit the name “Christ” as one, but say that different substances are signified by this name, you do not agree with the Fathers in the way they believed in one God, Father almighty. For if their inquiry had been about a name, and they had said one Son, your sophism would have had room, positing the name as one but the things signified as several. But if they had little to say about names, and called the only-begotten Son one, why do you get tangled in a title, leaving aside what is indicated, and what they call one, attending to the reality, you set out as one name signifying several realities? For Nestorius too interpreted this expression of the Fathers about the Son, in the letter he wrote in reply to Cyril, archbishop of great Alexandria, who had spoken boldly about the doctrine of piety, had resolved to turn him from his error by letter, and had set out the faith of the three hundred and eighteen Fathers to shame him. Replying, Nestorius says this in these very words: “If you will lend me your ears for brotherly healing, I will set before you the very utterances of those holy men, freeing them from the slander against them, and against the divine Scriptures through them.” Then, quoting the expression of the Fathers, he says thus: “We believe, then, … also in the Lord Jesus Christ.”","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 10 (PG 77:1327; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/10)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/11":{"o":"Εὐθὺς σὺ ἐνταῦθά μοι σκόπει κλοπὴν ἀναιδῶς τολμωμένην. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ Πατέρες ἕνα νοεῖσθαι θέλοντες τὸν Υἱὸν, εἶπον, « Πιστεύομεν καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ κλέπτει τῆς λέξεως τῶν Πατέρων τὸ, ἕνα, ἵνα ἔχῃ χώραν ξυναγαγεῖν Υἱοῦ δύο τὰ σημαινόμενα. ᾿Αλλ' ἐφωράθης, ὦ βέλτιστε, τὸ καίριον τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν ὑφελόμενος. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπον ἐκεῖνοι, πιστεύομεν καὶ εἰς τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, ὡς σὺ παραλογισάμενος ἔφης· ἀλλ᾽ εἰπόντες, Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, • ὑπήγαγον, « Καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν · · σὺ δὲ τὸ, ἕνα, ὑφελόμενος περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ εἰρημένον, ἐκ τῆς κλοπῆς ταύτης θύραν ἀνοίγεις τῇ πλάνῃ · ἵν᾽ εἰπεῖν δυνηθῇς, καὶ Υἱοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ δύο τὰ σημαινόμενα· καὶ τὸ μὲν, φύσει τὴν τιμὴν, τὸ δὲ, χάριτι κεκτημένον. Καὶ οὗτως ἀποστῆσαι δυνηθῇς Χριστιανοὺς σέβειν τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐσταυρωμένον, ὡς κατὰ χάριν παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους τετιμημένον παρὰ Θεοῦ. Τοῖς γὰρ ἔχουσι τὸ κατὰ φύσιν, οὐ χρεία τοῦ κατὰ χάριν Θεοῦ. Ὅπη μοι καὶ θαυμάζειν ἐπέρχεται, πῶς τὰ καίρια τῆς τῶν Πατέρων ἐκθέσεως Νεστόριος περιελών, ἵνα ταῦτα κατασκευάσῃ, τῇ ἐκθέσει τῆς πίστεως αὐτῶν ξυντίθεσθαι λέγει. Εἰ γὰρ ξυντίθεται τοῖς εἰρημένοις μὴ κλαπέτω τὸ καιριώτερον · εἰ δὲ τῆς ἐκθέσεως τῶν Πατέρων ὑφαιρεῖ, ὅ τὴν αὐτῶν μάλιστα πίστιν δηλοῖ, ὡς ταῖς σαῖς ἐννοίαις πολέμιον, πῶς συμφωνεῖν λέγῃς, οἷς πείθεσθαι μὴ θέλῃς; ἀλλὰ δέλεαρ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πλάνῃ τὸ τῶν Πατέρων ἀξίωμα περιθεὶς, τούτῳ πρὸς τὴν ἀπάτην ἕλκεις τοὺς ἀπλουστέρους· προβάλλεσθαι μὲν πίστιν ἀρχαίαν σκηπτούμενος, αὐτὴν δὲ ταύτην πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πλάνην ταῖς τῶν λόγων κλοπαῖς παρατρέπων.","t":"Here at once observe a theft shamelessly dared. For since the Fathers, wishing the Son to be thought of as one, said, “We believe also in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” he steals the “one” from the Fathers' expression, so as to have room to gather two things signified by “Son”. But you have been caught, my good sir, removing what is crucial in our faith. For they did not say, “We believe also in the Lord Jesus Christ,” as you said by false reasoning; but having said, “We believe in one God, Father almighty,” they went on, “And in one Lord Jesus Christ.” You, however, removing the “one” said of the Son, open by this theft a door to error, so that you may be able to say that “Son” and “Christ” signify two things, the one possessing the honour by nature, the other by grace. And thus you may be able to turn Christians away from worshipping him who was crucified for us, as one honoured by God by grace beyond the others. For those who have what is by nature have no need of what is by grace from God. Hence it comes over me to marvel how Nestorius, having removed the crucial parts of the Fathers' exposition in order to construct these things, says that he agrees with the exposition of their faith. For if he agrees with what was said, let the more crucial part not be stolen; but if you remove from the exposition of the Fathers what most of all shows their faith, as hostile to your notions, how can you say you agree with those whom you do not wish to obey? But putting the dignity of the Fathers around your error as bait, by this you draw the simpler into deception, pretending to put forward an ancient faith, while turning this very faith aside to your error by thefts of words.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 11 (PG 77:1329; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/11)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/12":{"o":"Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τὸ Ἰησοῦς ὄνομα τῆς ἀνθρώπου φύσεως μόνης προσηγορίαν καλεῖ· ταύτην γὰρ ἔθετο, φησὶ, τὴν ὀνομασίαν ἡ Παρθένος τῷ βρέφει, κατὰ χρησμὸν τοῦ ἀγγέλου λέγοντος· « Καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν· « Καὶ τοῦτο στρέφων ξυνεχῶς ἐν τῷ πρὸς τὸν μέγαν καὶ ἀγιώτατον ἐπίσκοπον Κύριλλον γράμματι, λέγει· Τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ γεννηθέντος ἐν Βηθλεὲμ τῆς Ἰουδαίας· · καὶ ἑξῆς, Ἐγεννήθη ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, καὶ Ηὗρον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν διδασκάλων・ πανταχοῦ τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν φύσιν τῇ τοῦ Ἰησοῦς προσηγορίᾳ καλεῖσθαι βουλόμενος. Ὅρα πῶς ἡ τῶν Παἀνατρέπει τὴν ἔννοιαν. Αὐτὸν γὰρ τὸν ἐκ Πατρὸς τοῦ Μονογενοῦς σημαινόμενον ἐροῦσιν, ἕνα καὶ τὸν γεννηθέντα ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ ἐκάλεσαν, καὶ Ἰησοῦν καὶ Χριστὸν καὶ Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ· μηδαμοῦ μηδέτερον τοῦ ἑτέρου διῖστῶντες τοῖς ἰδιώμασιν. Εἰπόντες γὰρ, Πιστεύομεν καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, ὑπήγαγον· · τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ· · τοῦτον εἰπόντες, ἵνα μὴ ἕτερον μὲν τοῦτον, ἕτερον δὲ ἐκεῖνον νοῇς, γεννηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς Μονογενῆ· τὸν αὐτὸν δηλονότι, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρός. Εἰ γὰρ και τι λέγουσιν ὃ οὐ ξύνισμεν τῇ φύσει, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ ἕνωσις αὐτὸ σε δείκνυσιν ἀληθές. Διὸ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἔλεγον, θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ, φῶς ἐκ φωτὸς, Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ, ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο. Τοῦτον ἐκεῖνον νοοῦντες, ἐπειδὴ πρότερον ἐκεῖνος, γέγονεν οὗτος. Διὰ τοῦτο τὸ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὸ αὐτὸν εἰδότες Θεόν τε Λόγον καὶ γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον.","t":"And since he also calls the name “Jesus” a title of the human nature alone (for the Virgin, he says, gave this name to the infant at the oracle of the angel who said, “You shall call his name Jesus”), and, turning this over constantly in his letter to the great and most holy bishop Cyril, he says, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea,” and next, “Our Lord Jesus Christ was born,” and “They found Jesus in the midst of the teachers,” everywhere wishing the human nature to be called by the title “Jesus”: see how the [exposition] of the Fathers overturns this notion. For they declare that he who is signified as the Only-begotten from the Father is the same one; and they called him who was born one and consubstantial with the Father, and Jesus and Christ and Son of God, nowhere setting either apart from the other by their properties. For having said, “We believe also in one Lord Jesus Christ,” they added, “the Son of God”; and having said this, so that you may not think of this one as one and that one as another, “begotten from the Father as only-begotten”, clearly the same one, “that is, from the substance of the Father.” For even if they say something that we do not understand by nature, yet the union shows it to you to be true. Therefore they also said of the Son, “God from God, light from light, true God from true God, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things came into being,” thinking of this one as that one, since that one, who was first, became this one. For this reason they use “Jesus” for the same one, knowing him to be both God the Word and become man.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 12 (PG 77:1329; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/12)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/13":{"o":"Νεστόριος δὲ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὡς γάλακτι τραφέντα ἐξουθενεῖ· καὶ ὡς χρόνοις αὐξηθέντα ὑπερορᾷ καὶ ὡς περιτομὴν δεξάμενον ἀποστερεῖ τῆς θεότητος οὐκ αὐτοῦ παραβλάπτων τῆς θεότητος τὴν ἀξίαν ἀλλ᾽ οὗτος ἑαυτὸν ἀποστερήσας καὶ δόξης καὶ σωτηρίας. Καὶ ταῦτα λέγων τῇ ἐκθέσει τῆς πίστεως λέγει θαῤῥεῖν. ᾿Αλλ' οὐχ οὕτως οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας Πατέρες τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐνύβρισαν, βέλτιστε· ἀλλ᾽ ἐκάλεσαν αὐτὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ μονογενῆ, γεννηθέντα, οὐ ποιηθέντα, ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρί · τῆς κατὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν ἀκριβεστάτης ἑνώσεως τοῦτον ποιούσης ἐκεῖνον· ἐπειδὴ κἀκεῖνος πρότερον ἀναλλοίωτος γέγονεν οὗτος. Οὐ γὰρ μετεβλήθη τὴν φύσιν· ἀλλ᾿ ἐθαυματούργησε τῆς οἰκονομίας τὴν ἕνωσιν. Οὐκέτι οὖν μετὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν Θεοῦ πρὸς ἄνθρωπον δύο πράγματα νοήσαντες οἱ Πατέρες, εἰκότως Ἰησοῦν λέγοντες, τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον σημαίνουσι, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ θεολόγου φράζοντες, Λόγον τὸν ὁρώμενον Ἰησοῦν ἐρμηνεύουσιν · οὐ τὰς φύσεις συγχέοντες, ἀλλὰ δηλοῦντες τὴν ἕνωσιν. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐκ Θεοῦ γεννηθέντα, καὶ οὐ ποιηθέντα, τὸν ἐκ Μαρίας Ἰησοῦν, καὶ τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης σταυρωθῆναι λέγουσιν αἱ θεῖαι Γραφαὶ, Παύλου λέγοντος · « Εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν · · ἵνα κατὰ μηδὲν διαστήσῃς τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης, τοῦ προσηλωθέντος τῷ ξύλῳ. Ἡ γὰρ ἕνωσις τοῦτον τὸν Λόγον τὸν ἀπαθῆ πεπονθέναι τὰ τοῦ παθητοῦ παρεσκεύασε• τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἔνωσις, τὸ τὰ ἴδια τῶν ἑνωθέντων εἰς ἓν ξυνελθεῖν· ὡς καὶ ταῦτα περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ λέγεσθαι, κἀκεῖνα. Διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Ἀπόστολός φησιν· Ὅτι ὁ Κύριος τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωται. » Καὶ πάλιν λέγει ἡμῖν· « Εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα · · κἀκεῖνον νοῶν Ἰησοῦν, καὶ τοῦτον Θεοῦ Λόγον καλῶν, δι᾽ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο.","t":"Nestorius, however, despises Jesus as one nourished with milk, looks down on him as one who grew with time, and, as one who received circumcision, deprives him of the Godhead; he does not harm the dignity of his Godhead, but deprives himself of both glory and salvation. And saying these things, he says he takes courage from the exposition of the faith. But that is not how the Fathers at Nicaea insulted Jesus, my good sir; rather, they called him the only-begotten Son of God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, since the most exact union of the economy makes this one that one, for that one, who was first, became this one without change. For he was not changed in nature, but worked the union of the economy as a wonder. So, no longer thinking of two realities after the union of God with man, the Fathers rightly signify God the Word when they say Jesus, and, speaking against the theologian, they interpret the Jesus who was seen as the Word; not confusing the natures, but showing the union. For this reason the divine Scriptures say that Jesus, born of Mary, was begotten from God and not made, and that the Lord of glory was crucified, as Paul says: “For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory,” so that you may in no way set the Lord of glory apart from him who was nailed to the wood. For the union brought it about that this Word, the impassible one, suffered the things of what is passible; for this is union: that the properties of the things united come together into one, so that both these things and those are said of the Son. For this reason the Apostle says: “The Lord of glory has been crucified.” And again he says to us: “One Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things,” thinking of that one as Jesus, and calling this one God the Word, through whom all things came into being.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 13 (PG 77:1331; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/13)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/14":{"o":"Ὅθεν καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας Πατέρες, θέντες Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, ἕνα εἰρήκασιν Υἱὸν μονογενῆ· οὐ τῇ προσηγορίᾳ, οὐδὲ τῇ τιμῇ μόνῃ, ἀλλ᾿ αὐτῷ τῷ πράγματι. Διὸ καὶ ἐκάλεσαν τοῦτον ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ δι' ἡμᾶς σαρκωθέντα, καὶ παθόντα, θαυματουργηθείσης ἐνώσεως, οὐ συγχυθείσης τῆς φύσεως. Εἰ γὰρ οὐκ ἠλλοιώθη ἡ Παρθένος καὶ μήτηρ ἐγένετο· οὐδὲ ἀλλοιωθείσης παρθενίας τόκος ἐγένετο, Θεοῦ θαυματουργήσαντος Παρθένῳ τὸν τόκον· τι θαυμάζεις, εἰ ἐν ἀπαθεῖ φύσει θελήσας Θεὸς ὑπεδέξατο πάθος, οὐκ ἀποθέμενος τὴν ἀπάθειαν; Ὁ γὰρ μὴ δεηθεὶς λῦσαι παρθενίαν, ἵνα ποιήσῃ μητέρα · οὗτος παθεῖν βουληθεὶς, οὐκ ἐδεήθη τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν μεταβαλεῖν. Ἔχει γὰρ δύναμιν θαυματουργοῦσάν τι κρεῖττον τῶν λόγων τῆς φύσεως. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ Θεὸς ἔμεινε, καὶ γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, καὶ Ἰησοῦς, καὶ Χριστὸς, καὶ Λόγος προσαγορεύεται. Καὶ πάσχει, καὶ ἀπαθὴς μένει τὴν φύσιν· καὶ σταυροῦται καὶ κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ἀχείρωτος μένει· καὶ θάνατον δέχεται, καὶ θανάτου κατακρατεῖ. Τὰ μὲν θαυματουργῶν, ὡς ὢν Θεός· τὰ δὲ ὑπομένων, ὡς γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος. Οὕτως οὗτος καὶ ἀποθνήσκει, καὶ οὐ κρατεῖται θανάτῳ· καὶ πάσχει, καὶ παθήματα λύει · τὰ μὲν, ἐνεργῶν τῇ θεότητι · τὰ δὲ ὑπομένων τῇ ἰδίᾳ σαρκί. Αὐτὸς ὑπομένων, οὐκ ἄλλον ὑπομένοντα βλέπων. Ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ Πέτρος περὶ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Ναζωραίου πρὸς Ἰουδαίους διαλεγόμενος, ἔλεγεν αὐταῖς λέξεσιν οὕτως εἰπών· «῎Ανδρες Ισραηλίται, ἀκούσατε τοὺς λόγους τούτους· Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραίον, · ἀπὸ τῆς κάτω πατρίδος καλεῖ, ὕστερον δὲ Υἱὸν Θεοῦ σημαίνει. Τὸ γὰρ τέλος δείκνυσι τοῦ λόγου ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ὄντα ἐπίγειόν τε καὶ οὐράνιον· τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐκ τῶν κάτω χωρίων, καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἄνω δόξης ὁρμώμενον. Τὸ μὲν ὄντα πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων· τὸ δὲ δι' ἡμᾶς γενόμενον ὕστερον. « ῎Ανδρες γὰρ, φησὶν, Ἰσραηλῖται, ἀκούσατε τοὺς λόγους τούτους. Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον, ἄνδρα ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀποδεδειγμένον εἰς ὑμᾶς δυνάμεσι, καὶ τέρασι, καὶ σημείοις, οἷς ἐποίησε δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ὁ Θεὸς ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν, καθὼς καὶ αὐτοὶ οἴδατε. Τοῦτον τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει Θεοῦ ἔκδοτον λαβόντες διὰ χειρῶν ἀνόμων, προσπήξαντες ἀνείλετε· ὃν ὁ Θεὸς ἀνέστησεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, λύσας τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου. Ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν δεικνὺς ἄνθρωπόν τε ὄντα, καὶ Θεὸν ἀχείρωτον τῷ θανάτῳ. Καὶ γὰρ ἀπέθανε, φησί, καὶ « Οὐκ ἦν δυνατὸν αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου κατέχεσθαι. » Τῷ μὲν, ᾿Απέθανε, δηλῶν ἄνθρωπον· τὸ δὲ μὴ δύνασθαι κατασχεθῆναι θανάτῳ,» μηνύει Θεόν· ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν Θεόν τε ὄντα, καὶ ἄνθρωπον γεγονότα δηλῶν..","t":"Hence the Fathers at Nicaea also, having set down “Lord Jesus Christ”, said that he is one only-begotten Son: not by the title, nor by the honour alone, but in the reality itself. Therefore they also called him consubstantial with the Father, and made flesh for us, and having suffered, the union being worked as a wonder, the nature not being confused. For if the Virgin was not altered and became a mother, and the birth took place without her virginity being altered, God working the birth for the Virgin as a wonder, why do you marvel if God, having so willed, accepted suffering while in an impassible nature, without laying aside his impassibility? For he who did not need to undo virginity in order to make a mother, when he wished to suffer did not need to change his own power. For he has a power that works wonders greater than the principles of nature. For this reason he both remained God and became man, and is called Jesus and Christ and Word. And he suffers, and remains impassible in nature; and he is crucified, and remains unconquered in substance; and he accepts death, and masters death: the one he works as a wonder, as being God; the other he endures, as having become man. Thus this one both dies and is not held by death; and he suffers, and undoes sufferings; the one working by the Godhead, the other enduring in his own flesh. He himself endures; he does not watch another enduring. For Peter too, discussing these things with the Jews about Jesus the Nazarene, said them in these very words: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus the Nazarene”; he names him from his earthly homeland, but afterwards signifies the Son of God. For the end of the speech shows one and the same being both earthly and heavenly; the same one coming both from the regions below and from the glory above: the one, being before the ages; the other, having become so later for us. “Men of Israel,” he says, “hear these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs, which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this man, delivered up by the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you took and killed by the hands of lawless men, fastening him to the cross; whom God raised from the dead, loosing the pangs of death.” He shows one and the same being man and God, unconquered by death. For he died, he says, and “it was not possible for him to be held by death.” By “he died” he shows a man; by his not being able to be held by death he indicates God, showing one and the same being God and having become man.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 14 (PG 77:1331; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/14)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/15":{"o":"Διὰ ταῦτα καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας Πατέρες, ἵνα μὴ τὸν Ἰησοῦν θετόν τινα ὑπολάβωμεν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἕτερον τὸν κατὰ φύσιν Υἱόν· οὕτω γὰρ φρονοῦσιν οἱ πεπλανημένοι, τοῦ σταυρωθέντος διἴστῶντες τὸν κατὰ φύσιν· ἵν᾿ ἐκείνου γενόμενοι, τούτου καταφρονήσωμεν, καὶ Υἱὸν Θεοῦ προσκυνήσαντες, ὃν καὶ Πλάτων ὁμολογεῖ, τὸν Χριστὸν ἀθετήσωμεν· μόνην τὴν τετιμημένην φύσιν ἀνθρώπου Ἱησοῦν ὀνομάζουσι, καὶ κάτω τὴν προσηγορίαν ταύτην κατέχουσι, καὶ ἐκείνου χωρίζοντες καὶ πράγματι, καὶ τοῖς τῆς φύσεως ἰδιώμασι · τούτων ἀναιροῦντες τὸ φρόνημα λέγουσι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, «τοῦτον γεννηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός.» Καὶ ἐπάγουσι, τουτέστιν, ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ. Ὁ δὴ καὶ ὁ μέγας Πέτρος ἐποίησεν ἐπερωτηθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀποστόλων. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ Κύριός φησι, « Τίνα με λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου;» τινὲς μὲν ἀπεκρίναντο λέγοντες· « Οἱ μὲν Ἰωάννην τὸν Βαπτιστήν, οἱ δὲ Ἠλίαν, ἕτεροι δὲ Ἱερεμίαν, ἢ ἕνα τῶν προφητῶν.» Εἶτα τοῦ Κυρίου δεικνύοντος, ὅτι οἱ τοιαῦτα λέγοντες τιμῶσι μὲν τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τῆς δὲ ἀληθείας ἀπολιμπάνονται, ἐρωτᾷ τοὺς ἀποστόλους, εἴ τι φρονεῖν ἔχοιεν μεῖζον περὶ αὐτοῦ, καί φησι· « Ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε εἶναι; ᾿Αλλὰ πρόσεχε ὅτι ταῦτα λέγει, τὴν πεῦσιν περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ποιούμενος. «Πρὸς ἦν ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Πέτρος φησί· Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ Υἱὸς Θεοῦ ζῶντος.» Οὐκ ἄνθρωπον εἰπὼν αὐτὸν ὡς πολλοὶ τετιμημένον τῇ χάριτι· ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸν ὁμολογήσας εἶναι τὸν μονογενῆ Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, δηλαδὴ γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον, καὶ τοῦτον ἐκεῖνον γνωρίσας, καὶ μηδαμοῦ τὰ πράγματα διαιρῶν. Τί οὖν ὁ Κύριος; ἆρα ἐπιτιμᾷ τῷ Πέτρῳ ὡς μὴ διακρίναντι τὰς φύσεις, μηδὲ διαστήσαντι τῆς τοῦ Λόγου θεότητος τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου; ἆρα ἐπέπληξεν, ὡς μὴ χωρίσαντι τὰς φύσεις θεότητός τε καὶ ἀνθρωπότητος; ἢ μᾶλλον. ἐμακάρισεν αὐτὸν, λέγων· «Μακάριος εἶ Σίμων Βάρ-Ἰωνᾶ· ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα οὐκ ἀπεκάλυψέ σοι, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ Πατήρ μου ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. » Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπε περὶ τοῦ ὀρωμένου, ὃ οὐκ ἐκ τῆς ὀρωμένης φύσεως ἔμαθε, μακαρίζεται· ὡς τὸ ῥηθὲν περὶ σαρκὸς μὴ μαθὼν παρὰ σαρκὸς καὶ αἵματος, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς. Τὸ γὰρ Θεὸν Λόγον ἐν σαρκὶ ὀφθέντα γνωρίσαι, ὄντως τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς γνώσεως ἦν. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας Πατέρες, τὸν Ἰησοῦν τοῦτον τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, περὶ οὗ καὶ Πέτρον ὁ Κύριος ἤρετο, Μονογενῆ προσηγόρευσαν ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ, τῷ μεγάλῳ Πέτρῳ περὶ αὐτοῦ σύμφωνα λέγοντες, καὶ τοῖς ἴχνεσι τοῦ Πέτρου δογμάτων ἑπόμενοι. Τοῦτον γὰρ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὁμολογοῦσιν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος, γεννηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς, τουτέστιν, ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ, ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρί. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ θετὸν Υἱὸν νομίσωσιν οἱ πεπλανημένοι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ἐπήγαγον οἱ Πατέρες· «Τὸν γεννηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς Μονογενῆ. » Εἶτα ἐξακριβοῦντες τὴν πίστιν, λέγουσι· « Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ, τοῦτον δηλονότι τὸν Ἰησοῦν· «φῶς ἐκ φωτὸς, Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ· γεννηθέντα, οὐ ποιηθέντα· ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, τὰ τε ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ γῇ.» Περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ταῦτα λέγοντες, ἃ ξυντόμως ὁ Πέτρος ὁμολογήσας, ἐκρίθη μακάριος. ᾿Αλλ' ἐπειδὴ τὸν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν πρὸ αἰώνων Υἱὸν ἀπεφήναντο, ὅρα πῶς πάλιν τὸν πρὸ αἰώνων Μονογενῆ δεικνύουσιν ἄνθρωπον γεγενημένον· ταῖς ἀντιδόσεσι ταύταις τῆς σωτηρίου οἰκονομίας τὴν ἕνωσιν ἐφιστῶντες, καὶ ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν δεικνύντες, Θεόν τε ὄντα μονογενῆ, καὶ ἄνθρωπον δι' ἀνθρώπους γεγενημένον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπαν τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ, τὸν αὐτὸν, οὐχ ἕτερον, δι᾿ ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, φασὶ, καὶ διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν κατελθόντα, σαρκωθέντα, καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα, παθόντα καὶ ἀναστάντα τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπαν κατελθόντα τὸν μονογενή Θεὸν Λόγον, ἵνα μὴ τοπικὴν Θεοῦ νοήσῃς μετάβασιν· θεότης γὰρ τὰ πάντα πληροῦ, τῆς ἰδίας οὐκ ἀπολιμπανομένη δημιουργίας· ἐρμηνεύουσι τὸ « κατελθόντα, » τουτέστι, λέγοντες, « σαρκωθέντα · · οὐκ οἰκήσαντα μόνον ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ, ἀλλὰ σαρκωθέντα φασί· ταύτῃ τῇ λέξει Θεοῦ τε καὶ ἀνθρώπου ἕνωσιν μηνύοντες ἀκριβέστερον. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐστι, φασὶ, κατελθόντα, τὸ σαρκωθῆναι τὸν ἄσαρκον διὰ τὴν ἀνθρώπων ζωὴν, οὐ μεταβληθείσης τῆς φύσεως. Πάλιν γὰρ ἀσφαλιζέσθω τὰ δόγματα, πᾶσαν θύραν ἐπηρείας ἀποκλείοντα τῇ πλάνῃ. Οὐ μεταβληθεὶς τὴν φύσιν ὁ Θεὸς γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος· ἄπαγε· ἀλλὰ θαυματουργήσας τὴν ἕνωσιν· οὐ παθητὸς γενόμενος τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ παθὼν τῇ πρὸς τὸ παθητὸν ἀκριβεῖ κοινωνία. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ γυμνὴ ἡ φύσις τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ πάθος ἐδέχετο, ὄντως ἐλέγχομεν Θεὸν παθητόν· εἰ δὲ πιστεύομεν, Θεὸν μὲν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων θελῆσαι παθεῖν, τῆς δὲ φύσεως οὐ δεχομένης τὸ πάθος, ἑνωθῆναι διὰ τοῦτο τῷ παθητῷ, καὶ τῇ ἑνώσει ταύτῃ δέξασθαι τὸ πάθος· οὐ παθητὸν Θεὸν, ἀλλὰ φιλάνθρωπον λέγομεν· οὐκ ἀσθενήσαντα διὰ τὸ πάθος, ἀλλὰ δυνηθέντα τὰ ὑπὲρ φύσιν. Διὰ τοῦτο οἱ Πατέρες εἰπόντες αὐτὸν σαρκωθέντα, ἐπήγαγον, ἐνανθρωπήσαντα· τούτοις, ὡς ἔφην, θεότητός τε καὶ ἀνθρωπότητος ἄκραν ἕνωσιν ὑποτιθέμενοι. Δι᾿ ἣν αἰτίαν ἀσφαλῶς ἐπήγαγον περὶ Θεοῦ λέγοντες, τὸ, παθόντα· ἵνα μὴ φύσιν Θεοῦ νοήσωμεν παθητὴν, ἀλλὰ παθόντα Θεὸν, διὰ τὸ ἓν γενέσθαι πρὸς τὸ παθητὸν κατὰ ἀκρίβειαν.","t":"For these reasons the Fathers at Nicaea also acted, so that we should not suppose Jesus to be some adopted son of God, and the Son by nature another. For so think those who have gone astray, setting the Son by nature apart from the one who was crucified, so that we may belong to that one and despise this one, and, worshipping a Son of God whom even Plato acknowledges, may set Christ aside. They name only the honoured nature of man Jesus, and keep this title down below, separating him from that one both in reality and in the properties of nature. The Fathers, overturning their way of thinking, say that this Jesus is “begotten from the Father,” and add, “that is, from his substance.” This is exactly what the great Peter did when he was asked by the Lord together with the other apostles. For when the Lord said to them, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” some answered, saying: “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then the Lord, showing that those who say such things honour the Son of Man but fall short of the truth, asks the apostles whether they had anything greater to think about him, and says: “But who do you say that I am?” But note that he says this while making his inquiry about the Son of Man. Answering this, Peter says: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” He did not call him a man honoured by grace like many, but confessed that he is himself the only-begotten Son of God, who clearly had become man, recognizing this one as that one and nowhere dividing the realities. What, then, does the Lord do? Does he rebuke Peter for not distinguishing the natures, nor setting the Son of Man apart from the Godhead of the Word? Does he reprove him for not separating the natures of Godhead and manhood? Or rather, did he not call him blessed, saying: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven”? For since he said about the one who was seen what he did not learn from the nature that was seen, he is called blessed, as one who had not learned what was said about the flesh from flesh and blood, but from the Father in heaven. For to recognize God the Word seen in the flesh truly belonged to the knowledge of the God and Father. For this reason the Fathers at Nicaea too called this Jesus, the Son of Man, about whom the Lord also questioned Peter, the Only-begotten, consubstantial with the Father, saying things in agreement with the great Peter about him and following in the footsteps of Peter's doctrines. For they confess this Jesus as the Son of the living God, begotten from the Father, that is, from his substance, consubstantial with the Father. For so that those who have gone astray might not think Jesus an adopted son, the Fathers added: “Begotten from the Father as only-begotten.” Then, defining the faith precisely, they say: “God from God” (clearly this Jesus), “light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things came into being, both those in heaven and those on earth”; saying these things about the Son of Man, which Peter confessed briefly and was judged blessed.\n\n[Chapter 16] But since they declared that Christ Jesus is himself the Son before the ages, see how they again show that the Only-begotten before the ages has become man; establishing the union of the saving economy by these exchanges of predicates, and showing one and the same to be both the only-begotten God and become man for men's sake. For since they said that the Lord Jesus Christ is consubstantial with the Father, the same one, not another, they say, for us men and for our salvation came down, was made flesh and became man, suffered and rose on the third day. For since they said that the only-begotten God the Word came down, so that you may not think of a movement of God from place to place (for the Godhead fills all things and does not withdraw from its own creation), they explain “came down” by saying, that is, “was made flesh”; not merely dwelt in the flesh, they say, but was made flesh, indicating more exactly by this expression the union of God and man. For this is “came down,” they say: that the one without flesh was made flesh for the life of men, his nature not being changed. For let the doctrines again be made secure, shutting every door of insult against error. God did not become man by being changed in nature (far from it!), but by working the union as a wonder; not by becoming passible in nature, but by suffering through his exact fellowship with what is passible. For if the bare nature of God had received suffering, we would truly be convicted of making God passible; but if we believe that God willed to suffer for men, and that, since his nature did not admit suffering, he was for this reason united to what is passible, and by this union received the suffering, then we call God not passible but loving toward mankind; not weakened by the suffering, but able to do what is beyond nature. For this reason the Fathers, having said that he was made flesh, added “became man”, by these words, as I said, setting down the utmost union of Godhead and manhood. For this reason they safely added, speaking of God, “suffered”, so that we may not think the nature of God passible, but God as having suffered because he became one with what is passible exactly.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 15 (PG 77:1333; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/15)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/17":{"o":"Καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς λόγων ἀκούων νικώντων τὸν λόγον. Τῆς φύσεως κρείττων ἐγένετο. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἀνθρώπων φύσις ἐκ σπέρματος γίνεται· ἀλλ᾿ ὁ Σωτὴρ τὰ ὑπὲρ φύσιν τὴν ἡμετέραν θαυματουργεῖ. Οὐ γὰρ ἐδεήθη σπέρματος, καὶ γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος. Θαυμάζεις τοῦτο πιστεύσας, καὶ οὐκ ἐρευνᾷς λογισμοῖς; οὐκοῦν πίστευε κἀκεῖνο ὅ περὶ τῆς Παρθένου πεπίστευκας. Εἰ γὰρ οὐκ ἠλλοιώθη Παρθένος καὶ μήτηρ ἐγένετο, καὶ Θεὸς μὴ ἀλλοιωθεὶς γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος· ὡς ταῦτα δέχῃ θαυμάζων, καὶ οὐδὲν πολυπραγμονῶν, δέχου κἀκεῖνα, Θεοῦ συγκατάβασιν ἐπαινῶν, καὶ μηδαμοῦ φύσεως λόγους κινῶν. Καὶ ταῦτα κἀκεῖνα Θεοῦ γέγονε θαύματα. Μιᾷ πίστει ἀμφότερα μάνθανε, καὶ μὴ ἑαυτὸν ἐμβάλῃς ἀπεράντοις ζητήμασιν· ἵνα μὴ τοιαῦτα ζητῶν, πρὸς μὲν τὸ βάθος τοῦ λόγου καταδύῃς, ἀνέξασθαι δὲ μὴ δυνηθῇς, ἐν αὐτῷ βυθῷ τοῦ ζητήματος ναυαγήσας ξυντραφέντας ἁπλότητι πίστεως. Συκοφαντῶν γὰρ ἡμᾶς, ἡπάτα τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους, ὡς ἡμῶν παθητὸν λεγόντων εἶναι τὸ Θεῖον. Ἐπειδὴ διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ παθητὸν ἀπόῤῥητὸν τε καὶ ἀσύγχυτον ἕνωσιν Θεοῦ λέγομεν ἴδια γεγονέναι τὰ πάθη· ἃ κατὰ θαυματουργίαν Θεοῦ γενέσθαι φαμὲν, οὐ κατὰ ἀλλοίωσιν τῆς οὐσίας. Εἰ γὰρ ἐλέγομεν πεπονθέναι παθητὸν, οὐκ ἦν θαῦμα τὸ γεγενημένον· τὸ γὰρ τὸν παθητὸν παθεῖν, κατὰ λόγον ἐστὶ τῆς φύσεως. Θαυματουργίαν δὲ σοι λέγω, ἵνα πιστεύῃς μόνον, ὡς τοῖς ἄλλοις παραδόξως ποιηθεῖσιν ὑπὸ Θεοῦ, καὶ μηκέτι καταπίπτῃς πρὸς τοὺς λόγους τῆς φύσεως. Παθητὸν μὲν γὰρ τοῦτο λέγεται καὶ πᾶσι γνωρίζεται, ὁ τὴν φύσιν ἔχει παθεῖν δυναμένην, κἂν μὴ ὑπομείνῃ τὸ πάθος. Καυστὸν μὲν γὰρ τὸ ξύλον ἐστὶ, κἂν μηδέποτε παραδοθῇ τῷ πυρί. Τμητὸν δὲ τὸ σῶμα λέγεται, κἂν μηδέποτε τῇ ἀκμῇ τοῦ σιδήρου παραδοθῇ. Ἐκ γὰρ τῆς φύσεως τοῖς πράγμασιν, οὐκ ἐκ τῆς ἐνεργείας αἱ τοιαῦται προσηγορίαι γεγένηνται. Πῶς οὖν λέγεις Θεὸν παθητὸν, ὁ μὴ λέγων ἔχειν αὐτὸν φύσιν παθεῖν δυναμένην; ἐθαυματούργησε γὰρ ἑαυτῷ τὸ πάθος, ἑνωθεὶς παραδόξως τῷ παθητῷ, καὶ οὐ κατὰ τὴν φύσιν ἐδέξατο.","t":"And do not marvel when you hear of words that overcome reason. He became greater than nature. For the nature of men comes from seed; but the Saviour works wonders beyond our nature. For he did not need seed, and he became man. Do you marvel at this, having believed it, and not search it out with reasonings? Then believe that also, as you have believed about the Virgin. For if the Virgin was not altered and became a mother, God too, without being altered, became man. As you accept these things with wonder and without prying, accept those also, praising the condescension of God and nowhere stirring up arguments from nature. Both these and those have been God's wonders. Learn both by one faith, and do not throw yourself into endless questions, lest by seeking such things you sink into the depth of the argument and, unable to bear it, suffer shipwreck in the very abyss of the question, … the simplicity of faith. For by slandering us he deceived the simpler, as though we said the Divine is passible, since we say that because of the unspeakable and unconfused union with what is passible the sufferings have become God's own; which we say came about by a wonder of God, not by an alteration of his substance. For if we said that what is passible had suffered, what happened would have been no wonder; for that the passible should suffer is according to the order of nature. But I speak to you of a wonder, so that you may only believe, as with the other things done by God beyond expectation, and no longer fall back on the principles of nature. For that is called passible, and is so known by all, which has a nature able to suffer, even if it does not undergo the suffering. For wood is combustible, even if it is never given to the fire; and the body is said to be cuttable, even if it is never given to the edge of the iron. For such names belong to things from their nature, not from what is done to them. How, then, do you say that God is passible, you who do not say that he has a nature able to suffer? For he worked the suffering as a wonder for himself, being united beyond expectation to what is passible, and did not receive it according to his nature.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 17 (PG 77:1337; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/17)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/18":{"o":"Διὸ δὴ καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας ἁγιώτατοι Πατέρες τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι πρὸς συμφωνίαν ἀγόμενοι πίστεως, αὐτὸν τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον, τὸν ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ ὄντα, τὴν φύσιν ἀπαθῆ, καθὼς πάντες γινώσκομεν, δι' ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν κατελθόντα λέγουσι · τουτέστι σαρκωθέντα · ἵνα γνῶς ὅτι Λόγος σάρξ ἐγένετο. Εἰ δὲ μήπω τὸ σαρκωθέντα νοεῖς, ἐνανθρωπήσαντα λέγουσιν. Εἶτα τὸν αὐτὸν παθητόν φασιν, ὡς εἰκὸς, γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον· τοῦτο γὰρ ἦν ἄνθρωπον εἶναι, τὸ παθεῖν τὰ ἀνθρώπινα. Ὅπερ ὁ πλανηθεὶς τῇ πίστει κατανοῆσαι μὴ δυνηθεὶς, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς ζήτησιν λογισμῶν τὸ θαῦμα καταβιβάσας, ἐνόμισε παθητὸν εἶναι Θεὸν, τὸν ἐν ἀπαθεῖ φύσει τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἰδιοποιησάμενον πάθη. Οὐ τὸ παθητὸν δὲ ἄλλως ἐστὶ παθητὸν ποιῶς δὲ, ἀλλὰ τὸ φύσιν ἔχον παθεῖν δυναμένην· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡ Παρθένος οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνθρωποτόκος· οὐ χωρεῖ γὰρ τὸν τόκον μένουσα παρθενία· καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον ἔτεκε Μαρία, μείνασα παρθένος. ῾Αρ᾿ οὖν πᾶσα παρθένος ἀνθρωποτόκος, ἐπειδὴ μία παρθένος ἔτεκε; οὐδαμῶς · οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ Θεὸς παθητὸς, ἐπειδὴ ἅπαξ δι' οἰκονομίαν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ σαρκὶ τὸ πάθος ἐδέξατο. Διὰ τοῦτο θαῤῥήσαντες οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας ξυνελεγμένοι Πατέρες, καὶ παθόντα εἶπαν Θεὸν, καὶ παθητὸν οὐκ ἐδίδαξαν· ὁ γὰρ διὰ οἰκονομίαν καὶ σοφίαν τεθαυματούργηται, τοῦτ᾽ οὐδεὶς εὐφρονῶν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς φύσεως ἀνατίθησι.","t":"Therefore the most holy Fathers at Nicaea, led by the Holy Spirit to agreement in the faith, say that God the Word himself, who is consubstantial with the Father and impassible in nature, as we all know, came down for us men and for our salvation, that is, was made flesh, so that you may know that the Word became flesh. And if you do not yet understand “was made flesh”, they say “became man”. Then they say that the same one was, naturally, passible when he had become man; for this is what it was to be man: to suffer human things. Not being able to grasp this by faith, but bringing the wonder down to an inquiry of reasonings, the one who went astray thought that God, who in an impassible nature made the sufferings of men his own, is passible. But what is passible is not what suffers in some way or other, but what has a nature able to suffer. So too a virgin is not a bearer of a man, for virginity, while it remains, does not admit of giving birth; and yet Mary, remaining a virgin, gave birth to God the Word become man. Is, then, every virgin a bearer of a man, because one virgin gave birth? Not at all. So neither is God passible, because once, by the economy, he accepted suffering in his own flesh. For this reason the Fathers gathered at Nicaea boldly said that God suffered, and did not teach that he is passible; for what has been worked as a wonder by economy and wisdom no sensible person ascribes to the order of nature.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 18 (PG 77:1339; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/18)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/19":{"o":"Μετὰ οὖν τὸ εἰπεῖν τοὺς Πατέρας περὶ Μονογενοῦς τοῦ γεννηθέντος ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς, τὸ σαρκωθῆναι, ἐνανθρωπῆσαι, παθεῖν, ἐπάγουσι λέγοντες, αὐτὸν ἀναστάντα τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ· τοῦτο γὰρ ἦν τοῦ κατὰ Θεὸν πάθους τὸ χρήσιμον· οὗτος ὁ καρπὸς τοῦ Θεὸν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων ἑλέσθαι τὸν θάνατον· ἵνα γὰρ ξυναναστήσῃ τὴν θνητὴν φύσιν ὁ ἀθάνατος, τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἡμῖν κοινωνεῖ. \"Ο δὴ καὶ ὁ μέγας ἀπόστολος Παῦλος σαφῶς δηλῶσαι βουλόμενος ἔλεγε· Ξυνήγειρε καὶ ξυνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. » Οὐκ « ἤγειρε» λέγει, ἀλλὰ συνήγειρεν· ἵνα μὴ ἀνθρώπου μόνου θάνατον καὶ ἀνάστασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν γνωρίσης, ὑπομείναντος ταῦτα σοφίᾳ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἀλλοιώσει τῆς φύσεως. Ὅθεν οὐδὲ θνητὸν, ἀλλὰ φιλάνθρωπον λέγομεν· θανάτῳ γὰρ κατήργησε θάνατον καὶ πάθεσι τὸ παθητὸν ἐξιάσατο. Ἐπεὶ λεγέτωσαν· «Τις ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτὸν μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ,» εἰ μὴ ὁ τούτου κοινωνήσας τοῖς ἀνθρώποις Θεὸς ἑκουσίως, οὐ τὴν φύσιν ἀναγκασθείς; «Τοῦτο γὰρ φρονείσθω ἐν ὑμῖν, φησὶν, ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ὅς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἶσα Θεῷ· ἀλλ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν, μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος, καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος· ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν, γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ.» Τί λέγεις, ὦ θαυμάσιε Παῦλε; «ὁ ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων, » καὶ « ἴσος διὰ τοῦτο Θεῷ, γνωριζόμενος, « ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε;» καὶ τί τῆς κενώσεως τὸ εἶδος; εἰπέ. Μορφὴν, φησί, δούλου λαβών. Καὶ μὴν εἰ μόνον προσέλαβε δούλου μορφὴν, ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν; ᾿Αλλὰ τὸν τρόπον σκόπει, φησὶν, ᾧ ἀνέλαβε τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφὴν, καὶ γνώσῃ ὅτι πρότερον ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτόν. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ μὴ συγκαταβάς ἀνθρώπῳ Θεὸς ἀνέλαβεν ἄνθρωπον, μορφὴν ἔλαβε δούλου μόνον, καὶ ἑαυτὸν οὐκ ἐκένωσεν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ αὐτὸς, φησί, γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος· « εὑρεθεὶς γὰρ ὡς ἄνθρωπος, φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος, ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν, γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ· · εἰκότως εἶπεν, ὅτι « Ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε, μορφὴν δούλου λαβών.","t":"After the Fathers spoke, about the Only-begotten who was begotten from the Father, of his being made flesh, becoming man, and suffering, they add that he rose on the third day; for this was the benefit of God's suffering; this the fruit of God's choosing death for men. For it is so that the immortal one may raise up mortal nature together with himself that he shares with us in human things. Wishing to show this clearly, the great apostle Paul said: “He raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” He does not say “he raised”, but “he raised together”, so that you may recognize not the death and resurrection of a man alone, but also of him who raised him, who endured these things by his own wisdom and not by an alteration of nature. Hence we call him not mortal but loving toward mankind; for by death he abolished death, and by sufferings he healed what is passible. Otherwise let them tell us: “Who emptied himself to death, even death on a cross,” if not God, who shared this with men voluntarily, not compelled by nature? “For let this mind be in you,” he says, “which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be seized, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” What do you say, wonderful Paul? He who was “in the form of God”, and is therefore known to be equal to God, “emptied himself”? And what is the manner of the emptying? Tell us. Taking the form of a slave, he says. And yet if he merely took on in addition the form of a slave, did he empty himself? But consider, he says, the way in which he took up the form of the slave, and you will know that he first emptied himself. For if God had taken up a man without coming down to man, he would only have taken the form of a slave, and would not have emptied himself. But since he himself, he says, became man (“for being found as a man,” Paul says, “he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross”), he rightly said, “He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.”","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 19 (PG 77:1339; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/19)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/2":{"o":"Λοιπὸν καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν λέγει τῆς ἑαυτοῦ παρουσίας, εἰπών· « Ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων τοῦ σπεῖραι. ᾿Αλλ' οὗτος μὲν ὁ καλὸς γεωργὸς καλὸν τῆς ὀρθῆς πίστεως κατέσπειρε λόγον· ἑαυτὸν δεικνὺς Θεὸν δι' ἀνθρώπους γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον· οὐκ ἄνθρωπον ψιλὸν τετιμημένον παρὰ Θεοῦ, ὥς τινες ὑπειλήφασιν· ἀλλ᾽, ὡς ἔφην, Θεὸν πρὸς ἀνθρώπους κοινωνίαν ἑλόμενον. Αὕτη γάρ ἐστι πρώτη τῶν ἀνθρώπων τιμή τε καὶ σωτηρία, τὸ Θεὸν ἑλέσθαι τὰ ἀνθρώπινα διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν αὐτὸς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ λέγει, καὶ Θεὸν δεικνὺς ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἄνθρωπον· τὸ μὲν ὢν, διὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ φύσιν· τὸ δὲ διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν γενόμενος. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἀνθρώποις συγκατέβη, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, τοῦτο ἀληθῶς ὢν, ὅπερ ἐφαίνετο· καὶ μεμένηκε ὅπερ ἦν· οὐδ᾽ ἀποθέμενος ἐκεῖνο, καὶ τοῦτο γενόμενος· οὐ μεταβαλὼν θεότητα, ἀλλὰ προσλαβὼν ἐκ Μαρίας τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα· οὐκ ἀπογενόμενος ὅ ἦν, ἀλλὰ γενόμενος ὃ οὐκ ἦν. Ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἑκάτερα λέγει· Θεόν τε ἑαυτὸν σημαίνων ἴσον τῷ ἰδίῳ Πατρὶ, δι' ὧν ἔφη· « Ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐσμεν· · καὶ, « Ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ, ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα μου· · καὶ ἄνθρωπον ἐπιδεικνὺς ἑαυτὸν, δι᾽ ὧν ἔλεγε· « Τί με ζητεῖτε ἀποκτεῖναι, ἄνθρωπον ὃς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑμῖν λελάληκα; » οὐχ ἕτερον μέν τινα σημαίνων τοῖς θεῖκοῖς ἰδιώμασιν, ἄλλον δὲ δηλῶν τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις παθήμασιν· ἀλλ᾿ ἑαυτὸν ἕνα καὶ αὐτὸν Θεόν τε λέγει, καὶ δείκνυσιν ἄνθρωπον. Εἷς γὰρ ἦν καὶ ὁ αὐτός· καὶ τοῦτο ὧν καὶ ἐκεῖνο δεικνύμενος. Καὶ γὰρ τῷ Πατρὶ δείκνυσιν ἑαυτὸν ὁμοούσιον, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὁμότιμον· τὸ μὲν ῶν, διὰ τὴν φύσιν· τὸ δὲ ἑλόμενος, διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν. Οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρωπότης διεστήκει θεότητος, ὡς οἱ νῦν διαιροῦντες τὸν Χριστόν φασι, καὶ ὁμωνυμίαν ποιήσαντες τὸ μυστήριον, τέχνῃ λόγων ἐπιθολοῦντες τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν τὴν ἁπλότητα· ἵνα λόγοις τὴν οἰκονομίαν ἀνέλωσι. Τί γὰρ ᾠκονομήθη, λεγέτωσαν ἡμῖν, εἰ καθὼς ἀεὶ καὶ τότε Θεὸς ἀνθρώπου διήρητο; ᾿Αλλ' οἰκονομίαν Θεοῦ, καὶ διὰ κενώσεως συγκατάβασιν λέγομεν· ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς Λόγος γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, οὐ μεταβληθεὶς τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ θαυματουργήσας τὴν ἕνωσιν. Καὶ αὕτη ἡ οἰκονομία πάντα λόγον ἀνθρώπων κινήσασα. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ μέγας Παῦλος ἀνθρώπινα πάθη αὐτῷ προσάπτει Θεῷ· οὐ παθητὴν διδάσκων θεότητα, ἀλλ᾿ ἀγαθοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν πρὸς ἀνθρώπους συμπάθειαν θαυματουργουμένην εἰπών. Παθεῖν γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων θελήσας Θεὸς τὰ ἀνθρώπινα, εἶτα τὴν φύσιν ἔχων ἀνεπίδεκτον τῶν παθῶν, κατέβη πρὸς τὸ ἑνωθῆναι τῷ παθητῷ, ἵνα ἡ ἕνωσις τὸ πάθος ποιήσῃ καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐπειδήπερ ἡ φύσις τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν παθημάτων οὐκ ἦν δεκτική. Καὶ τοῦτο δηλῶν ὁ μέγας Παῦλος ἔλεγε· « Κηρύσσομεν Θεοῦ σοφίαν ἐν μυστηρίῳ τὴν ἀποκεκρυμμένην, ἣν οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἔγνωκεν. Εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν τῆς δόξης τὸν Κύριον ἐσταύρωσαν.» Καὶ μὴν ὁ Κύριος τῆς δόξης ἐστὶν ἀπαθής· ἀλλ' ἐδέξατο σταυρὸν, ἑνώσας ἑαυτῷ τὸ πάσχειν δυνάμενον. Τοῦτο καὶ Πέτρος ὁ μέγας ἐμνημόνευσεν, ὅτε τὸν ἐκ γενετῆς χωλὸν ἐθεράπευσε, καὶ ἐθαυμάζετο, ἀτενὲς ὀρώντων εἰς αὐτὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ ἐκπληττομένων ἐπὶ τῷ θαύματι· πρὸς οὓς ἀποκρινόμενος, οὕτως ἔφη· « ῎Ανδρες Ἰσραηλῖται, τί θαυμάζετε ἐπὶ τούτῳ, ἢ ἡμῖν τί ἀτενίζετε, ὡς ἰδίᾳ δυνάμει ἢ εὐσεβείᾳ πεποιηκόσι τοῦ περιπατεῖν αὐτόν; Ὁ Θεὸς ᾿Αβραάμ, καὶ Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ Ἰακώβ, ὁ Θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν, ἐδόξασε τὸν παῖδα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν, ὃν ὑμεῖς παρεδώκατε, καὶ ἠρνήσασθε κατὰ πρόσωπον Πιλάτου, κρίναντος ἐκείνου ἀπολύειν. Ὑμεῖς δὲ τὸν ἅγιον καὶ δίκαιον ἠρνήσασθε, καὶ ᾐτησασθε ἄνδρα φονέα χαρισθῆναι ὑμῖν, τὸν δὲ ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς ἀπεκτείνατε. » Καὶ μὴν ὁ τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἀρχηγὸς ἀθάνατός ἐστιν· ἀλλ᾿ ἑνωθεὶς τῷ θνητῷ ἀπεκτάνθη, φησίν. Ἡ γὰρ εἰς Θεὸν ἕνωσις οὐκ ἀφίησιν εἰς ἄνθρωπον μόνον περιγράφεσθαι τὰ παθήματα. Διὰ τοῦτο δὲ τὸν μονογενῆ Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ καλεῖ Ἰησοῦν, τὴν προσηγορίαν τὴν ἐκ τῆς Μαρίας τεθεῖσαν τῷ βρέφει ἐκείνῳ γεγενῆσθαι δηλῶν· καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν πάλιν καὶ Ἰησοῦν καλεῖ, καὶ ἀρχηγὸν προσαγορεύει ζωῆς· τὸν αὐτὸν ποιητήν τε ὁμοῦ τῶν ἁπάντων δεικνὺς, καὶ ἄνθρωπον θανάτου γευσάμενον.","t":"Next he also states the cause of his coming, saying: “The sower went out to sow.” And this good farmer sowed the good word of the right faith, showing himself to be God who became man for men's sake; not a mere man honoured by God, as some have supposed, but, as I said, God who chose fellowship with men. For this is the first honour and salvation of men: that God chose the things of man out of love for mankind. These things, then, he says about himself, showing himself both God and man: the one he is by his nature, the other he became out of love for mankind. For he came down to men, and for this reason became man, truly being this which he appeared to be; and he has remained what he was. He did not lay aside that when he became this; he did not change the Godhead, but took to himself the manhood from Mary; he did not cease to be what he was, but became what he was not. For the same one says both things about himself. He indicates that he is God, equal to his own Father, by the words “I and the Father are one,” and “He who has seen me has seen my Father”; and he shows himself to be man by the words “Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you?” He does not indicate some other one by the divine properties and show another by the human sufferings; but he calls himself, one and the same, God, and shows himself to be man. For he was one and the same, being this and shown to be that. For he shows himself consubstantial with the Father and of equal honour with men: the one he is by nature, the other he chose out of love for mankind. For the manhood did not stand apart from the Godhead, as those who now divide Christ say, making the mystery a matter of a shared name and muddying the simplicity of our faith with the art of words, so that by words they may abolish the economy. For what was brought about by the economy, let them tell us, if then, as always, God was divided from man? But we speak of the economy of God and of his condescension through self-emptying: that God the Word himself became man, not changed in his nature, but working the union as a wonder. And this economy has surpassed every human account.\n\n[Chapter 3] For this reason the great Paul too attaches human sufferings to God himself; not teaching a passible Godhead, but speaking of the good God's fellow-suffering with men, worked as a wonder. For God, having willed to suffer human things for men, and yet having a nature that does not admit sufferings, came down to be united to what can suffer, so that the union might make the suffering God's also, since the nature of God did not admit sufferings. And showing this, the great Paul said: “We proclaim the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which none of the rulers of this age has known; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” And yet the Lord of glory is impassible; but he accepted a cross, having united to himself what is able to suffer. The great Peter also recalled this when he healed the man lame from birth and was marvelled at, the Jews gazing intently at him and astonished at the miracle; answering them, he spoke thus: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before the face of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life.” And yet the Author of our life is immortal; but, united to what is mortal, he was killed, he says. For the union with God does not allow the sufferings to be confined to a man alone. For this reason he calls the only-begotten Son of God Jesus, showing that the name given at Mary's hands to that infant had become his; and he calls the same one both Jesus and Author of life, showing the same to be at once the maker of all things and a man who tasted death.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 2 (PG 77:1315; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/2)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/20":{"o":"Ἐπεὶ πῶς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων, καὶ μὴ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγούμενος τὸ εἶναι ἶσα Θεῷ, ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε; Λεγέτωσαν ἡμῖν οἱ τῆς κατὰ Χριστὸν οἰκονομίας τὴν χάριν ἀρνούμενοι. ᾿Αλλ' οὐκ ἔχουσιν εἰπεῖν πῶς ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν ὁ Θεὸς, ἄνθρωπον μὲν τετιμημένον λέγοντες, εἶναι τὸν Χριστὸν, σάρκα δὲ τὸν Λόγον γεγενῆσθαι μὴ θέλοντες. Εντεῦθεν γὰρ καὶ ὁ τὴν πλάνην ταύτην ἀναφανδὸν κηρύττειν τετολμηκὼς κλέπτει τῆς ἀποστολικῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο (ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτὸν) δεδοικὼς τὸν λόγον, ὡς δηλῶσαι δυνάμενον τὴν πρὸς τὰ ἀνθρώπινα τοῦ Θεοῦ κοινωνίαν, ἣν αὐτὸς ἡρνήσατο παντελῶς · οὐ Θεὸν ἐνανθρωπήσαντα, ἀλλὰ ἄνθρωπον λέγων τὸν Χριστὸν Θεωθέντα τῇ χάριτι. ᾿Αντιγράφων γὰρ καὶ ἀντιλέγων τῇ τοῦ μεγάλου Κυρίλλου παραινέσει, καὶ μνησθεὶς ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὸν μέγαν ἐκεῖνον Ἐπιστολῇ ταυτησὶ τοῦ ᾿Αποστόλου τῆς λέξεως, μετὰ τοσαύτης τῆς τέχνης τὴν ῥῆσιν ἐκτίθεται, ὡς τοὺς ἀγνοοῦντας τὴν τοῦ λόγου τροπὴν παρασυρῆναι τῇ πλάνῃ. Ἵνα δὲ σαφὲς ἢ τὸ λεγόμενον, αὐτοὺς τοῦ ἡπατημένου τοὺς λόγους τῆς Ἐπιστολῆς παραθήσομαι, ἐν οἷς οὕτως αὐταῖς λέξεσι λέγει· « Μέλλων ὁ Ἀπόστολος, φησὶ, τὰ τοῦ πάθους ἐπάγειν, πρότερον θεὶς τὸ Χριστὸς, τὸ κοινὸν τῶν δύο, ὡς μικρῷ πρότερον ἔφην, τῶν φύσεων ὄνομα, προσάγει τὸν λόγον ἀμφοτέραις πρεπώδη ταῖς φύσεσι. » Τί γάρ φησι; «Τοῦτο γὰρ φρονείσθω ἐν ὑμῖν ἢ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ὃς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων, οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα Θεῷ. » Καὶ σιωπήσας τὰ ἑξῆς, ὡς αὐτῷ πολέμια, ἐπάγει λέγων· « ᾿Αλλ' ἵνα μὴ τὰ καθ᾿ ἕκαστα λέγω, ὑπήκοος γενόμενος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ. » Καὶ μὴν οὐ πολλὰ ἦν τὰ μεταξύ ῥηθέντα τῷ Ἀποστόλῳ. Τοῦτο γὰρ μόνον ἔχει τὸ μέσον Ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτὸν μορφὴν δούλου λαβών.» ὡς μακρὸν αὐτὸ παρατρέχει. Δεινὸς γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ τῇ κλοπῇ τῶν λόγων τὸ ἀληθὲς συσκιάσαι. Ωσπερ γὰρ ἀνωτέρω τὸ, « καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον» πιστεύειν, ὑφελόμενος τῆς τῶν Πατέρων ἐκθέσεως, ἄδειαν δέδωκεν ἑαυτῷ πλειόνων φύσεων τὸ Χριστὸς ὄνομα κοινὸν λέγειν, οὕτως ἐνταῦθα τὸ (ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε) τοῦ λόγου περιαιρεῖ, ὡς ἱκανὸν διδάξαι, ὅτι Θεὸς εἰς κοινωνίαν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων κατέβη.","t":"Otherwise, how did he who was in the form of God, and did not count equality with God a thing to be seized, empty himself? Let those who deny the grace of the economy in Christ tell us. But they cannot say how God emptied himself, since they say that Christ is an honoured man, and do not wish the Word to have become flesh. Hence the one who has dared to preach this error openly steals from the apostolic teaching this very phrase, “he emptied himself”, fearing the words as able to show God's fellowship with human things, which he himself has utterly denied, saying that Christ is not God become man but a man deified by grace. For writing in reply to the exhortation of the great Cyril and contradicting it, and mentioning this expression of the Apostle in his letter to that great man, he sets out the saying with such art that those who do not know the turn of the passage are swept away into error. So that what I say may be clear, I will set beside it the very words of the deceived man's letter, in which he speaks thus in these very words: “The Apostle,” he says, “being about to introduce what concerns the suffering, first sets down ‘Christ’, the name common to the two natures, as I said a little before, and then brings in a statement suited to both natures.” For what does he say? “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be seized.” And keeping silent about what follows, as hostile to him, he goes on: “But, not to speak of each point, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” And yet the words the Apostle spoke in between were not many. For the middle has only this: “He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave”; yet he passes over it as though it were long. For the man is clever at overshadowing the truth by stealing words. For just as above, having removed from the Fathers' exposition the words “and in one Lord” in the article of belief, he gave himself licence to call the name “Christ” common to several natures, so here he removes “he emptied himself” from the passage, as being enough to teach that God came down into fellowship with human affairs.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 20 (PG 77:1341; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/20)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/21":{"o":"᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐκ ἔμεινεν ὁ ἀπατεὼν ἀνεξέλεγκτος, κἂν ὑφείλατο τοῦ λόγου τὰ καιριώτερα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πολλὰ τοῦ λόγου κλέπτων ἠσχύνετο, δεδοικὼς τὸ καὶ ἀλῶναι κλοπῆς, ἄκων μὲν, θεὶς δὲ ὅμως τὸ ἑξῆς περὶ Μονογενοῦς παρὰ τοῦ Παύλου ῥηθὲν, ἠλέγχθη σαφῶς τὸ καιριώτερον τῆς οἰκονομίας ἀθετῶν μέρος, τῆς πρὸς τὰ ἀνθρώπινα τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου κοινωνίας. Εἰπὼν γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ τὸ. «Γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ, » παρὰ τοῦ Παύλου ῥηθέν· σαφῶς παραχαράττων τὴν πίστιν ἐλέγχεται, καὶ κακῶς ἀνθρώπῳ μόνῳ προσνέμων τὰ πάθη. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων, καὶ ἴσος ὢν τῷ Θεῷ, ὑπήκοος γέγονε μέχρι θανάτου, καὶ θανάτου σταυροῦ, δῆλον ὡς αὐτὸς ἦν ὁ παθὼν, οὐ τῇ τῆς θεότητος φύσει, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἰδίᾳ σαρκὶ, ἣν κατά ἀκρίβειαν ἤνωσεν ἑαυτῷ. ᾿Αλλὰ ὁ μὲν ἠπατημένος πρὸς πάντας τοὺς τῆς φύσεως ὅρους ὁμόσε χωρῶν, καὶ τὰ μὲν κλέπτων, τὰ δὲ παραλογισμοῖς σοφιζόμενος, ἀνοίγει θύραν ἀπολογίας τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, μικρὸν αὐτοῖς τὸ κατὰ τὸν σταυρὸν ἔγκλημα δείξαι βουλόμενος· ὡς ἄνθρωπον σταυρωσάντων μόνον, καὶ οὐδὲν τετολμηκότων κατά Θεόν. Οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας ξυναχθέντες ἅγιοι Πατέρες αὐτὸν τὸν Μονογενῆ Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸν γεννηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ οὐ ποιηθέντα, τουτέστιν, ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς, τὸν ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ σαρκωθῆναι, καὶ ἐνανθρωπῆσαι, καὶ παθεῖν λέγουσι· σιωπήσαντες τέως διὰ βραχυλογίαν, τοῦ ἀπαθοῦς τὸν τρόπον. Οὐ γὰρ φύσιν θεότητος εἰσάγουσι παθητὴν, ἀλλὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ παθητὸν ἄκραν ἕνωσιν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου διδάσκουσιν· ἣν καὶ αἰτίαν τὴν τοῦ θεϊκοῦ λέγουσι πάθους· καὶ τοῦ θανάτου τὸ χρήσιμον ἐκδιδάσκοντες, δεικνύουσι τὸν ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, δι᾽ ἡμᾶς καὶ διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν σαρκωθέντα, παθόντα, καὶ ἀναστάντα τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, ἀνελθόντα εἰς οὐρανοὺς, ἐρχόμενον κρίναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς. Ἵνα γὰρ τὸν κριτὴν ἔχωμεν συγγενῆ, Θεὸς ἀναλλοίωτος ἄνθρωπος γίνεται· ἵνα τῇ τοῦ κριτοῦ συγγενείᾳ θαῤῥήσωμεν, οἱ ἐξ οἰκείων κατορθωμάτων παῤῥησίαν οὐκ ἔχοντες. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ φοβερός ἐστιν ὡς Θεὸς, καὶ ποθεινὸς ἡμῖν ὡς ἄνθρωπος γίνεται· ἵν᾿ ὁμοῦ τε φοβηθῶμεν τὸν αὐτὸν, καὶ ποθήσωμεν· τῆς μὲν ἐξουσίας ἐμποιούσης τὸν φόβον, τῆς δὲ συγγενείας παρεχούσης τὸν πόθον. Ἔρχεται οὖν κρίναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκροὺς ὁ ἐμοὶ κοινωνήσας τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων, ἵνα κριτὴς δίκαιος ᾖ τούτοις δικάζων, οἷς αὐτὸς πρότερον τῶν παθῶν ἐκοινώνησε• καὶ συγγνώμων γένηται δικαστὴς, κατὰ τὸν μέγαν ᾿Απόστολον, «ἐξ ὧν ἔπαθε μαθὼν τὴν ὑπακοήν.» γὰρ καὶ πάντα γινώσκει, Θεὸς ῶν, ὁ Μονογενής ἀλλὰ προσέλαβε πεῖραν ὧν ἡ φύσις τῆς Θεότητος, οὔτε ἦν οὔτε γέγονε δεκτική. Τὴν γὰρ προσληφθεῖσαν ἐκ Μαρίας φύσιν ἑνώσας ἑαυτῷ, ταύτῃ δέχεται πεῖραν ὧν ἡ φύσις τῆς θεότητος ἀπείρατος ἦν.","t":"But the deceiver did not remain unrefuted, even though he removed the more crucial parts of the passage. For since he was ashamed to steal much of the passage, fearing even to be caught in theft, he set down, unwillingly but still, what Paul said next about the Only-begotten, and was clearly convicted of setting aside the more crucial part of the economy: the fellowship of God the Word with human things. For by saying of him what Paul said, “Becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross,” he is clearly convicted of falsifying the faith and wrongly assigning the sufferings to a man alone. For if he who was in the form of God and was equal to God became obedient to death, even death on a cross, it is plain that he himself was the one who suffered, not in the nature of the Godhead, but in his own flesh, which he united to himself exactly. But the deceived man, coming to grips with all the limits of nature, stealing some things and playing the sophist with others by false reasoning, opens a door of defence for the Jews, wishing to show their guilt over the cross as small, as though they had crucified only a man and had dared nothing against God. But the holy Fathers gathered at Nicaea say that the only-begotten Son of God himself, begotten from the Father and not made, that is, from the substance of the Father, consubstantial with the Father, was made flesh, became man, and suffered; keeping silent for the moment, for brevity, about the manner of the impassible one's suffering. For they do not introduce a passible nature of Godhead, but teach the utmost union of God the Word with what is passible, which they also declare to be the cause of the divine suffering. And teaching the benefit of the death, they show Jesus Christ, consubstantial with the Father, made flesh for us and for our salvation, having suffered, risen on the third day, gone up into the heavens, coming to judge the living and the dead. For so that we may have a judge who is our kinsman, God without change becomes man, so that we, who have no confidence from our own achievements, may take courage from our kinship with the judge. For since he is fearsome as God, he also becomes desirable to us as man, so that we may both fear and long for the same one, his authority producing the fear and his kinship granting the longing. So he who shared human things with me comes to judge the living and the dead, so that he may be a just judge, judging those whose sufferings he first shared himself, and may be a judge who pardons, according to the great Apostle, “having learned obedience from what he suffered.” For [even if] the Only-begotten, being God, knows all things, yet he took on experience of things which the nature of the Godhead neither was nor became capable of. For having united to himself the nature taken from Mary, in it he receives experience of things of which the nature of the Godhead had no experience.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 21 (PG 77:1343; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/21)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/22":{"o":"Ὁ δὲ τὸν τῆς Παρθένου διαβάλλων τοῦ Θεοῦ τόκον, ἔοικε τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίας ἀγνοεῖν τὸ μυστήριον. Οὐ γὰρ οὗτος ὁ τόκος ἀρχὴ θεότητος γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ προοίμιον ἦν τοῦ σάρκα γενέσθαι τὸν Λόγον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἴλατο γενέσθαι ἄνθρωπος, ῶν πρὸ αἰώνων Θεός· ἀρχὴ δὲ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ὁ τόκος ἐστί· δέχεται τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς οἰκονομίας τοῖς πράγμασι κρηπίδα ταύτην ὑποτιθείς. ᾿Αεὶ ὢν τοῦ εἶναι ἄνθρωπος ἄρχεται · τὸ μὲν, ὢν Θεὸς, τὸ δὲ ὡς ἑλόμενος γενέσθαι καὶ ἄνθρωπος. Ὁ δὴ καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας Πατέρες δηλοῦντες σαφῶς ἔγραψαν, περὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς εἰπόντες· « Τοὺς δὲ λέγοντας· ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν· καὶ, Πρὶν γεννηθῆναι οὐκ ἦν· καὶ, ὅτι ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐγένετο, ἢ ἐξ ἑτέρας ὑποστάσεως, ἢ οὐσίας· φάσκοντας εἶναι, ἢ τρεπτὸν, ἢ ἀλλοιωτὸν τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τούτους ἀναθεματίζει ἡ καθολική καὶ ἀποστολικὴ Ἐκκλησία.» Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ ἀρχὴν θεότητος τοῦ Μονογενοῦς τὸν τόκον νοῆς, ἀναθεματίζουσι τοὺς λέγοντας· «Ην ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν·, ἐξορίζουσι δὲ τῆς Χριστιανῶν ἐλπίδος καὶ τοὺς λέγοντας· « ὅτι πρὶν γεννηθῆναι οὐκ ἦν· · ξένους τε τῆς ἡμῶν τιθέντας σωτηρίας, καὶ τοὺς λέγοντας τὸν Χριστὸν ὅτι «ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐγένετο.» Καὶ μὴν εἰ μόνον ἄνθρωπος ἦν κατὰ τοὺς πεπλανημένους, θεϊκῇ τετιμημένος ἀξίᾳ, ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐγένετο, κατὰ τὴν δύσφημον γλῶσσαν ἐκείνην. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπειδὴ ὁ ὢν πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος, τοὺς ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γεγενῆσθαι λέγοντας τὸν Χριστὸν, τῆς σωτηρίας καὶ τῆς τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐλπίδος ἐξέβαλεν.","t":"He who slanders the Virgin's giving birth to God seems ignorant of the mystery of God's wisdom. For this birth was not the beginning of the Godhead, but the prelude to the Word's becoming flesh. For since he chose to become man, though he was God before the ages, and birth is the beginning of manhood, he accepts the beginning of the economy, laying this down as the foundation for what followed. Being always, he begins to be man: the one, as being God; the other, as having chosen to become man also. The Fathers at Nicaea also showed this clearly in writing, when they said about the Only-begotten: “But those who say, ‘There was once when he was not,’ and ‘Before he was begotten he was not,’ and that he came into being from things that are not, or who claim that the Son of God is of another hypostasis or substance, or changeable, or alterable, these the catholic and apostolic church anathematizes.” For so that you may not think the birth the beginning of the Only-begotten's Godhead, they anathematize those who say, “There was once when he was not”; and they banish from the Christian hope those who say “that before he was begotten he was not”, making strangers to our salvation those also who say of Christ that “he came into being from things that are not”. And yet if he were only a man, as those who have gone astray hold, honoured with divine dignity, he would have come into being from things that are not, according to that blasphemous tongue. But since he who was before the ages became man, it cast out from salvation and from the Christian hope those who say that Christ came into being from things that are not.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 22 (PG 77:1345; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/22)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/23":{"o":"Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὕτως. Ἵνα δὲ μὴ κατὰ τροπὴν θεότητος ἄνθρωπον τὸν Μονογενή γεγονέναι νοήσωμεν, ἀναθεματίζουσι καὶ τοὺς λέγοντας, ἢ τρεπτὸν ἢ ἀλλοιωτὸν τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ μεταβολή θεϊκῆς φύσεως τὸν Μονογενῆ ἄνθρωπον ἔδειξεν, ἀλλ᾽ οἰκονομία τις καὶ ἀπόῤῥητος θεοσοφίας θαυματουργία. Τοῦτο γάρ φαμεν τὸ παράδοξον, ὅτι γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος ὁ Θεὸς μείνας Θεός· ὅπερ θαῦμα οἱ πεπλανημένοι κοινὸν πρᾶγμα δεῖξαι βουλόμενοι, λογισμοῖς ἐρευνῶσι τὰ ὑπὲρ ἔννοιαν · καὶ διὰ λόγων φιλονεικοῦντες τὸ παράδοξον καταλῦσαι, πρὸς ματαίων λογισμῶν ἐξετράπησαν ζήτησιν. Μάταιον γὰρ ὄντως καὶ εἰκαῖόν ἐστι, λόγοις ἐρευνᾷν τὰ ὑπὲρ λόγον θαυματουργούμενα. Εἰ γὰρ ἅπαντα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ θαύματα μέλλοιεν λογισμοῖς ψηλαφᾷν, οὐδὲν μὲν ᾔτησε τοῦ θαύματος τὴν ἀπόδειξιν, καταδικάζεται θαυμάτων ἑάσωσιν· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ σημεῖόν τι παρὰ Θεοῦ γίνεσθαι συγχωρήσωσι, καὶ τεράστιον οἱ φυσιολόγοι, ἅπαντα τὰ τεράστια βιαζόμενοι· τὸ γὰρ πάντων τοὺς λόγους ἐρευνᾷν, καταλύειν ἐστὶ θαύματα, καὶ παροργίζειν Θεὸν ἐν ταῖς θαυματουργίαις αὐτοῦ παρ' ἡμῶν εὐθυμούμενον. Διὰ τοῦτο οὖν καὶ Ζαχαρίαν τὸν πατέρα Ἰωάννου τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ σιωπῇ κατεδίκασεν ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι χάριτος θαυματουργούσης ὁ Ζαχαρίας πολυπραγμονεῖ τὸν τρόπον, μὴ πιστεύσας ὡς θαύματι, ἀλλὰ λογισμοὺς τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ θαυματουργίας ἐπιζητῶν. Καὶ τοῦ Γαβριὴλ εἰπόντος, « Ἐλισάβετ ἡ γυνή σου, (ἦν δὲ στεῖρα) τέξεταί σοι υἱόν αὐτὸς ἐζήτει τῶν εἰρημένων ἀπόδειξιν, εἰπών, «Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι ὅτι ἔσται μοι τοῦτο;» ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ σιωπῇ· ἀπόδειξιν τῶν ζητουμένων τὴν τιμωρίαν δεξάμενος. Καὶ κολάζεται γλῶσσα τῷ ἱερεῖ πρὸς ἀπιστίαν ὑπηρετήσασα· ἵνα ἡ σιωπὴ τοῦ Ζαχαρίου διδάξῃ πάντας ἡμᾶς, μετὰ σιωπῆς τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ παράδοξα δέχεσθαι· καὶ πείσῃ πάντας πιστεύειν θαυματουργοῦντι Θεῷ, καὶ λόγον μὴ ἀπαιτεῖν τῶν ὑπὲρ πάντα λόγον καινουργουμένων.","t":"So much for that. But so that we may not think the Only-begotten became man by a change of the Godhead, they anathematize also those who say that the Son of God is changeable or alterable. For it was not a change of the divine nature that showed the Only-begotten as man, but an economy, and an unspeakable wonder of divine wisdom. For this is what we call the paradox: that God became man while remaining God. Wishing to make this wonder a common thing, those who have gone astray search out with reasonings things beyond understanding; and, striving to destroy the paradox by arguments, they have turned aside to an inquiry of vain reasonings. For it is truly vain and rash to search out with arguments things worked as wonders beyond reason. For if they were to grope at all God's wonders with reasonings, they would leave nothing of the wonders; nor would the natural philosophers allow any sign or portent to come from God, doing violence to all portents. For to search out the reasons of all things is to destroy wonders, and to provoke God, when he is called to account by us in his works of wonder. For this reason God condemned Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, to silence, because when grace was working a wonder, Zechariah pried into the manner of it, not believing it as a wonder but seeking reasons for God's working. And when Gabriel said, “Your wife Elizabeth” (she was barren) “will bear you a son,” he sought a proof of what was said, saying, “How shall I know that this will be so for me?” But since … [he was condemned] to silence, receiving the punishment as the proof of what he sought. And the priest's tongue, which had served unbelief, is punished, so that the silence of Zechariah may teach us all to receive God's paradoxes in silence, and may persuade all to believe God when he works wonders, and not to demand a reason for things made new beyond all reason.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 23 (PG 77:1345; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/23)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/24":{"o":"Ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας Πατέρες ξυναχθέντες ἔγνωσάν τε καὶ τὰς Ἐκκλησίας πιστεύειν ἐδίδαξαν. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος οὐκ οὔσης τότε ζητήσεως, ἠρκέσθησαν τὴν θεϊκὴν ἀξίαν μηνύσαι βραχέσι τοῖς ῥήμασιν, εἰπόντες· μετὰ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ πιστεύειν καὶ εἰς τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα. Οἱ γὰρ εἰπόντες, καὶ εἰς τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα πιστεύειν ἡμᾶς, ὡς πιστεύομεν εἰς Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν, ἴσην τῶν πιστευομένων τὴν ἀξίαν ἐμήνυσαν. Ἡ γὰρ ὁμότιμος πίστις, ὁμότιμον τῶν πιστευομένων τὴν θεότητα δείκνυσι. Οὐ γὰρ ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι διδάσκειν αὐτοὺς πιστεύειν ἡμᾶς εἰς δοῦλον ὁμοῦ καὶ Δεσπότην, ἢ εἰς Κτίστην καὶ εἰς κτίσμα, ἢ εἰς μείζονα Θεὸν καὶ μικρόν · οἷς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι τῆς φύσεως κοινωνία, τούτοις οὐκ ἂν παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων μία πίστις ἁρμότειεν. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὡς ἐν παρέργῳ νῦν εἰρήσθω περὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου, ἐντελέστερον ἡμῶν περὶ τῆς θεϊκῆς δεσποτείας αὐτοῦ διειλεγμένων ἐν τρισὶν ἑτέροις βιβλίοις, οἷς ἐντυχών ξυνδοξαζόμενον Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον παρὰ τῆς θείας διδαχθήσῃ Γραφῆς. Ἡμεῖς δὲ νῦν ταῦτα δῶρα τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀνατιθέμεθα λόγων ὦ φίλη κεφαλή, πρὸς ἀξίαν μὲν τῆς διατάξεως εἰπεῖν οὐ δυνάμενοι, ἱκανὸν δὲ τὸν ἔλεγχον τῶν νῦν ἠπατημένων ἐκθέμενοι, οὐκ οἶκοθεν καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν, ἀλλ᾿ ἔκ τε τῆς θείας Γραφῆς καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἐκτεθείσης πίστεως τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας ξυναχθέντων ἁγίων Πατέρων.","t":"These things, then, the Fathers gathered at Nicaea knew about the Only-begotten, and taught the churches to believe. About the Holy Spirit, since there was no inquiry at that time, they were content to indicate his divine dignity in a few words, saying that we believe, with the Father and the Son, also in the Holy Spirit. For by saying that we believe also in the Holy Spirit, as we believe in the Father and the Son, they indicated the equal dignity of those believed in. For a faith of equal honour shows the Godhead of those believed in to be of equal honour. For no one would suppose that they teach us to believe at once in a slave and a Master, or in the Creator and a creature, or in a greater God and a lesser; for where there is no fellowship of nature, one faith would not be fitting for them on the part of men. But let this be said now in passing about the Holy Spirit, since we have discussed his divine lordship more fully in three other books; reading them, you will be taught from the divine Scripture that the Holy Spirit is glorified together with the Father and the Son. And now, dear friend, we dedicate to you these gifts of our words, unable to speak worthily of what you commanded, but having set out a sufficient refutation of those now deceived, not from ourselves and from our own resources, but both from the divine Scripture and from the exposition of faith of the holy Fathers gathered at Nicaea.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 24 (PG 77:1347; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/24)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/4":{"o":"Καὶ ἵνα μὴ τοῦτον μὲν, ἄλλον, ἕτερον δὲ ἐκεῖνον νοῇς, τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις ὁ Παῦλος ἀναμίξας τὰ θεϊκὰ, ἑκάτερα περὶ ἑνὸς καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ λέγει· Θεὸν δεικνὺς γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν αὐτὸν τὰ μὲν ἐνεργοῦντα θεϊκῶς, τὰ δὲ ὡς ἄνθρωπον ὑπομένοντα· οὐ μεταβληθέντος Θεοῦ, οὐδὲ τὸ φαινόμενον ψευσαμένου. Παράδοξος γὰρ ἡ ἕνωσις γέγονεν· εἰ γὰρ σύγχυσις φύσεων ἐποίει τὴν ἕνωσιν. οὐκ ἦν θαῦμα τὸ γεγενημένον· νῦν δὲ σημεῖόν τί σοι καὶ παράδοξον δείκνυσι. Μὴ τοίνυν ζήτει λόγον τῶν ὑπὲρ λόγον γενομένων καὶ θαυματουργηθέντων ἐκ δυνάμεως θεϊκῆς· καταλαβούσης μὲν τὸν λόγον τῆς φύσεως, ὑπερβαλούσης δὲ τὰς ἀνθρώπων ἐννοίας. Εἰ γὰρ τοῦ κατὰ σάρκα τόκου λόγον οὐκ ἔχεις εἰπεῖν· τὸ γὰρ τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι Παρθένον, καὶ γεγονέναι Μητέρα, οὐ γνωρίζει μὲν ὁ λόγος τῆς φύσεως, ἡ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναμις ἔδοξε· καὶ τοῦτο πάντες ἂν ἡμῖν συνομολογήσαιεν, οἱ αὐχοῦντες εἶναι Χριστιανοί· πῶς τὴν ἀπόῤῥητον ἕνωσιν Θεοῦ πρὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον λόγῳ ζητεῖς; ᾿Αλλ' οἶμαι τὸν εὐφρονοῦντα προσῆκεν εἰδέναι τί μὲν ζητεῖν περὶ Θεοῦ, τί δὲ πιστεύειν ὀφείλομεν· ὅσα μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἐνεργεῖ φύσιν, ἔστι ζητεῖν διερευνᾷν ταῖς ἐννοίαις· ὅσα δὲ ὑπὲρ τὸν ἡμέτερον λόγον καὶ τὴν φύσιν θαυματουργεῖ, πίστει κρατεῖν ὀφείλομεν, οὐ ζητεῖν λόγοις. Οἷον αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο νῦν τὸ τῷ λόγῳ προκείμενον. Εἵλατο Θεὸς ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων παθεῖν· πεποίηκεν ὅπερ ἠθέλησε. « Πάντα γὰρ ὅσα ἠθέλησεν ὁ Κύριος ἐποίησεν. » Οὐ κατὰ τὴν θεϊκὴν φύσιν γενόμενος παθητὸς, ἄπαγε· ἀλλὰ δυνηθεὶς ὅπερ ἠθέλησεν, εἴλατο τόκον ἐκ Παρθένου· ἐπειδὴ πρὸ τούτου γενέσθαι ἄνθρωπος κατεδέξατο. Ὁ οὖν τὸ γένος ἑλόμενος, τὸν τόκον οὐ παρῃτήσατο. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ σημαίνων ὁ μέγας Παῦλός φησιν· « Ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός·, ὅτι τὸν ὄντα καὶ τὸν γενόμενον, ἕνα ἡ χάρις ἐποίησε, θαυματουργοῦντος Θεοῦ, οὐκ ἀμείβοντος φύσεις.","t":"And so that you may not think of this one as one subject and that one as another, Paul, mingling the divine things with the human, says both about one and the same, showing God become man, and therefore the same one doing some things divinely and enduring others as man; God was not changed, nor did he falsify what appeared. For the union was a wonder beyond expectation; for if a confusion of natures had produced the union, what happened would have been no marvel; but as it is, it shows you a sign and a wonder. Do not, then, seek a reason for things that happened beyond reason and were worked as wonders by divine power, which took hold of the order of nature and surpassed the thoughts of men. For if you cannot give a reason for the birth according to the flesh (for that the same woman should be a virgin and become a mother the order of nature does not know, but the power of God decreed it; and all who boast of being Christians would agree with us on this), how do you seek by reasoning the unspeakable union of God with man? But I think the sensible man ought to know what he should inquire into concerning God and what he ought to believe. Whatever God works according to our nature may be inquired into and searched out by our thoughts; but whatever he works as a wonder beyond our reason and nature we ought to hold by faith, not inquire into with arguments. Such is this very matter now set before our discussion. God chose to suffer for men; he did what he willed. “For the Lord has done all things whatsoever he willed.” Not that he became passible in the divine nature (far from it!); but, being able to do what he willed, he chose birth from a virgin, since before this he had consented to become man. So he who chose our race did not refuse the birth. And signifying this, the great Paul says: “God sent forth his Son, born of a woman”; because grace made him who is and him who became one, God working a wonder, not exchanging natures.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 4 (PG 77:1317; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/4)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/5":{"o":"Ποῦ ποτε νῦν ἐστιν ὁ βοῶν· Οὐκ ἔτεκεν, ὦ βέλτιστε, Μαρία Θεόν; ᾿Αλύεις, ἄνθρωπε, τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους συγκατάβασιν· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συγκατέβη Θεὸς, ὅτι ὧν τὴν φύσιν Θεός, κατεδέξατο τόκον, ἀνθρώπων σωτήριον. ᾿Αναιρεῖς τὸν τόκον ; οὐκοῦν τὴν σωτήριον συγκατάβασιν ἔλυσας. ᾿Αθετεῖς τὴν χάριν; οὐκοῦν τὴν σωτηρίαν ἀπώλεσας. Ἐπαισχύνῃ τὸν γενόμενον; οὐκοῦν ἐπαισχυνθήσεταί σε Κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν. « \"Ὃς γὰρ ἂν ἐπαισχυνθῇ με, φησὶ, καὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς λόγους, ἐπαισχυνθήσομαι κἀγὼ αὐτὸν παρὰ τῷ Πατρί μου τῷ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. » Καὶ μὴν εἰ μὴ Θεὸς ἦν ὑπομένων ἀνθρώπινα, ἀλλὰ ἀνθρωπότης καθ' ἡμᾶς διεστήκει θεότητος, οὐδετέρα τῶν φύσεων αἰσχύνην εἰργάζετο. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἐκήρυσσεν ἀρετὴν, ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ἰᾶτο νοσήματα. Τί οὖν ἦν ὅπερ ἔλεγε μὴ δεῖν ἐπαισχύνεσθαι; οὐδὲ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τι πράξαντος ἄξιον αἰσχύνης, οὐδὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ καταδεξαμένου ἔλαττόν τι τῆς ἰδίας θεότητος; ἀλλ᾿ ἐπειδὴ Θεὸς ὢν ὑπέμεινε τὰ ἀνθρώπινα, ἵνα μὴ πάθη ἐπονειδίσῃς Θεῷ, καὶ ἐπαισχυνθῆς οἰκονομίαν ἣν διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν εἰργάσατο, φησίν· « Ὃς ἂν ἐπαισχυνθῇ με καὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς λόγους, ἐπαισχυνθήσομαι κἀγὼ αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν.» Τούτων ἀκούσας ὁ μέγας Παῦλος τῶν λόγων ἐβόα λέγων· « Οὐ γὰρ ἐπαισχύνομαι τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον. » Τί γὰρ αἰσχύνης ἔχει τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, ὦ θαυμάσιε Παῦλε; τί ὑφορώμενος λέγεις, « Οὐκ ἐπαισχύνομαι τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον;» ἀρετὴν κηρύττεις, φιλανθρωπίαν διδάσκεις Θεοῦ, ἀῤῥώστους ἴασαι, ἐλαύνεις τοὺς δαίμονας, ἀνιστᾷς τοὺς νεκρούς. Τί οὖν ἐστιν ὁ καυχώμενος λέγεις, Οὐκ ἐπαισχύνομαι;» Θεὸν, φησὶ, λέγω ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων παθόντα τὰ ἀνθρώπινα· ὅ τοῖς πολλοῖς αἰσχύνη δοκεῖ, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ἐπαισχύνομαι. Οὐ γὰρ παθητὴν εἰσάγω τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ Θεοῦ διδάσκω φιλανθρωπίαν. Χριστὸν γὰρ κηρύττομεν, φησίν, ἐσταυρωμένον, Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον, ἔθνεσι δὲ μωρίαν. Καὶ τίς ἐστιν ὁ σταυρωθεὶς Χριστός; λέγε. « Αὐτοῖς δὲ τοῖς κλητοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τε φησὶ καὶ Ἕλλησι κηρύττομεν Χριστὸν Θεοῦ δύναμιν, καὶ Θεοῦ σοφίαν. » Ταῦτα τοῖς Ἕλλησι μωρία νομίζεται· σοφίαν γὰρ Θεοῦ ἀκούοντες ἐσταυρωμένην οἱ Ἕλληνες, πλατὺν ἐκτείνουσι γέλωτα, θεότητα οἰόμενοι παθητὴν λέγεσθαι τῷ πιστεύοντι.","t":"Where now is the man who cries out: “My good sir, Mary did not give birth to God”? You are undoing, man, God's condescension toward men; for this is how God came down to men: that, being God by nature, he accepted birth for the salvation of men. Do you abolish the birth? Then you have undone the saving condescension. Do you set aside the grace? Then you have lost salvation. Are you ashamed of him who was born? Then the Lord Jesus will be ashamed of you in the kingdom of heaven. “For whoever is ashamed of me,” he says, “and of my words, I too will be ashamed of him before my Father who is in heaven.” And yet if it was not God who endured human things, but a manhood like ours stood apart from the Godhead, neither of the natures would have been producing shame. For the man would have been preaching virtue, and God healing diseases. What, then, was it that he said one must not be ashamed of, when the man had done nothing worthy of shame, nor had God accepted anything less than his own Godhead? But since, being God, he endured human things, he says, so that you may not reproach God with sufferings and be ashamed of the economy which he carried out out of love for mankind: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, I too will be ashamed of him in the kingdom of heaven.” Hearing these words, the great Paul cried out: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel.” For what shame does the gospel have, wonderful Paul? What do you suspect, that you say, “I am not ashamed of the gospel”? You preach virtue, you teach God's love for mankind, you heal the sick, you drive out the demons, you raise the dead. What then is it that you boast of when you say, “I am not ashamed”? I speak, he says, of God who suffered human things for men; which seems a shame to the many, but I am not ashamed. For I do not introduce a passible nature, but I teach God's love for mankind. “For we preach Christ crucified,” he says, “to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.” And who is the Christ who was crucified? Tell us. “But to those who are called,” he says, “both Jews and Greeks, we preach Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” These things are thought foolishness by the Greeks; for when the Greeks hear of the wisdom of God crucified, they break into broad laughter, supposing that the believer speaks of a passible Godhead.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 5 (PG 77:1319; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/5)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/6":{"o":"Μὴ οὖν ἀσθενὴ νομίσῃς Θεὸν, προσέχων τοῖς πάθεσιν· ἀλλὰ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ τὴν περιουσίαν ἐννόει, διὰ νομιζομένης ἀσθενείας τὴν ἡμῶν ἀσθένειαν λύσαντος. « Τὸ γὰρ ἀσθενὲς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἰσχυρότερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων, » ὁ Παῦλός φησι. Καὶ τί ποτέ ἐστιν ἄρα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀσθενὲς, εἰ μή τις ἐκείνου τὴν ἐμὴν ἀσθένειαν γεγονέναι λογίσοιτο; Πῶς γὰρ ἀσθενὴς ὁ τῶν οὐρανῶν ποιητής; τίς ἀσθένεια τοῦ λόγῳ τὰ πάντα δημιουργήσαντος; Ὁποῖον Θεοῦ ἀσθενὲς τοῦ τὴν γῆν ἐπ᾿ ἀδήλοις ὅροις πεδήσαντος; ᾿Αλλ' ἐπειδὴ τὴν ἐμὴν ἀσθένειαν ἰδίαν πεποίηται ὁ τὰς ἡμῶν ἀσθενείας διαλῦσαι βουλόμενος, φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος, « Τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀσθενὲς, ἰσχυρότερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν. · Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ, «Τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφώτερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶν, » ὁ Παῦλος ἔφη, τι ἂν εἴποιεν μωρὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἰ μὴ τοῦτο, ὅπερ ἡμεῖς περὶ Θεοῦ λέγομεν, τὸν ἀπαθῆ τῇ φύσει δέξασθαι πάθη; ὅπερ μωρὸν μὲν οἱ Ἕλληνες κρίνουσι, πιστεύειν οὐκ εἰδότες τοῖς πράγμασιν, ἀλλὰ πάντα πολυπραγμονεῖν ταῖς ἐννοίαις. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ταῦτα δύναμιν Θεοῦ καὶ περιουσίαν φαμέν. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο, φησὶν, ὃ μωρὸν μὲν παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι κρίνεται, παρ' ἡμῖν δὲ σοφία πιστεύεται, σοφώτερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο. ὧν γὰρ οὐκ ἔλυσε κακίαν ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σοφία, ταύτην ἐσκέδασε τὸ μωρὸν τοῦτο νομιζόμενον τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὁ ἡμῖν μὲν ἔστι πιστὸν, Ἕλλησι δὲ καὶ ἀπίστοις μωρία νενόμισται. ᾿Αλλ᾿ ἡμεῖς τῆς πίστεως τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν ἔχομεν, τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ νομιζομένης ἀσθενείας τὴν ὠφέλειαν καρπούμενοι· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὴ τὰς ἡμῶν νόσους ἰάσατο. Καὶ τὸ μωρὸν νομιζόμενον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐνίκησεν εὐσεβείᾳ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου σοφίαν. Οὐκοῦν μὴ καταγίνωσκε πάθους, μηδὲ διάβαλλε τὸ φαινόμενον τοῖς ἀπίστοις μωρόν· ταυτὶ γὰρ τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπίστων λεγόμενα τὴν οἰκονομίαν διώρθωσε. Τί οὖν ζητεῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ θαυμάτων τὸν λόγον, καὶ οὐ προσέχεις τοῖς κατορθώμασιν;","t":"Do not, then, think God weak by attending to the sufferings; but consider the abundance of his power, who through a supposed weakness undid our weakness. “For the weakness of God is stronger than men,” Paul says. And what, then, is the weakness of God, unless one reckons that my weakness has become his? For how is the maker of the heavens weak? What weakness has he who created all things by a word? What sort of weakness belongs to God, who bound the earth within unseen limits? But since he who wished to dissolve our weaknesses has made my weakness his own, Paul says: “The weakness of God is stronger than men.” And since Paul also said, “The foolishness of God is wiser than men,” what would they call the foolishness of God, if not this which we say of God: that he who is impassible by nature accepted sufferings? This the Greeks judge foolish, not knowing how to believe the facts, but busying themselves over everything with their thoughts. But we call these things the power and abundance of God. But this, he says, which is judged foolish among the Greeks but believed as wisdom among us, has proved wiser than men. For the wickedness of men which the wisdom of the world did not undo, this supposed foolishness of God scattered; which to us is a matter of faith, but has been thought foolishness by Greeks and unbelievers. But we have the proof of our faith in the facts, reaping the benefit of the supposed weakness in God; for it healed our diseases. And the supposed foolishness of God conquered the wisdom of the world by piety. So do not condemn the suffering, nor slander what seems foolish to unbelievers; for these very things that the unbelievers speak of brought the economy to success. Why, then, do you seek a reason for God's wonders, and not attend to his achievements?","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 6 (PG 77:1321; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/6)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/7":{"o":"᾿Αλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῖς τῶν ἀπίστων λογισμοῖς ἐκδόντες τινὲς ἑαυτοὺς, Χριστιανοὶ μὲν νομίζεσθαι βούλονται, τοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ δὲ θαύμασι πιστεύειν οὐ θέλουσιν, οἱ λέγοντες μὲν ἕνα Υἱὸν, νοοῦντες δὲ δύο, τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Υἱοῦ σημαινόμενα· καὶ λέγοντες ἕνα Χριστὸν, ὁμώνυμον δὲ ταύτην τὴν προσηγορίαν τεθέμενοι, ἵνα διαστήσωσιν ἄνθρωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ Θεὸν Λόγον ἀνθρώπου χωρίσωσιν, καὶ διέλωσιν ἕνωσιν, ἣν οἰκονομήσας Θεὸς οὐρανὸν ἀνθρώποις ἀνέῳξεν. Ἡ γὰρ Θεοῦ ἐπὶ γῆς ἐμφάνεια οὐρανῶν πολίτας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐποίησε· καὶ ἀναιροῦσι τῆς ἡμετέρας φύσεως τὴν τιμὴν, ἀθετῆσαι βουλόμενοι τὴν ἐκ φιλανθρωπίας οἰκονομηθεῖσαν πρὸς ἀνθρώπους κοινωνίαν Θεοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ μήτε Θεὸς ἀνθρώποις ἐκοινώνησε πραγμάτων, ὡς ἠθέλησέ τε καὶ ἐνεδέχετο· μήτε ἄνθρωπος ἡνώθη θεότητι, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἰδίοις ἰδιώμασί τε καὶ φύσει διῃρημένος τοῦ ἑτέρου ὁ ἕτερος, τίς ἡ οἰκονομία, λέγοιντο ἡμῖν; ποίαν ἐροῦσι Θεοῦ συγκατάβασιν ; τίς ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν ἐν μορφῇ ὑπάρχων Θεοῦ; τίς ἑαυτὸν ἐταπείνωσεν ἐν περιωπῇ θεότητος ὧν; τίς ἐπτώχευσε, πλουτῶν τὴν θεότητα; Πῶς ὁ Κύριος τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωται, εἰ μὴ ἄρα ἕνωσιν πρὸς τὸν καθηλωθέντα ἐκτήσατο; πῶς δὲ τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς ἀπέκτειναν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, εἰ μὴ κατὰ πάντα ἥνωται τῷ τεθνηκότι, μηδὲν διϊστάμενος; πῶς δὲ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβέβηκεν, εἰ μὴ τῷ καταβάντι κατὰ ἀκρίβειαν ἥνωται, οὐχ ἵνα μείνῃ κάτω, ἀλλ᾽ ἕνα ἑαυτῷ ξυναγάγῃ τὸν ἑνώμενον ἡνωμένον κείμενον; Οὐ ξυνανέρχῃ, ἄνθρωπε, Θεῷ, εἰ μὴ Θεοῦ ὁμολογήσεις τὴν συγκατάβασιν. Εἷς ἐστιν ὁ καταβὰς, οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἀναβὰς, ὁ ὁ Παῦλός φησιν· οὐκ ἄλλος καὶ ἄλλος, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ αὐτός ἐστιν οὐκέτι διαιρούμενος, οὐκέτι μετὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν δύο νοούμενος. Ὁ γὰρ « Καταβὰς, φησὶν, αὐτὸς ἐστι καὶ ὁ ἀναβὰς ὑπεράνω τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἵνα πληρώσῃ τὰ πάντα. » Τὰ θεωρηθέντα ποτὲ δύο, ἡ οἰκονομία ἓν εἰργάσατο. Οὐκοῦν μηκέτι λέγε δύο μετὰ τὴν ἄλυτον ἕνωσιν. Ὁ ἥνωσεν ἡ χάρις, μὴ διαιρείτω ἔννοια.","t":"But some have given themselves over to the reasonings of unbelievers: they wish to be thought Christians, but are unwilling to believe the wonders of God. They say one Son, but think of two things signified by “Son”; they say one Christ, but make this title a shared name, in order to set man apart from God, and separate God the Word from man, and divide the union by which God, in his economy, opened heaven to men. For God's appearing on earth made men citizens of heaven. And they abolish the honour of our nature, wishing to set aside the fellowship of God with men that was brought about out of love for mankind. For if neither God shared in the affairs of men, as he both willed and as was possible, nor man was united to the Godhead, but each is divided from the other by its own properties and nature, what is the economy, let them tell us? What condescension of God will they speak of? Who emptied himself, being in the form of God? Who humbled himself, being in the eminence of the Godhead? Who became poor, being rich in Godhead? How has the Lord of glory been crucified, unless he had acquired a union with him who was nailed? And how did the Jews kill the Author of life, unless he is united in every respect to him who died, in no way standing apart? And how has the Son of Man come down from heaven, unless he is exactly united to him who came down, not so as to remain below, but so as to draw up with himself the one united to him who lay below? You do not go up with God, man, unless you confess God's condescension. One is he who came down, and so also he who went up, as Paul says; not one and another, but he is the same, no longer divided, no longer thought of as two after the union. For “He who came down,” he says, “is himself also he who went up far above men, that he might fill all things.” The things once regarded as two the economy has made one. So no longer say two after the indissoluble union. What grace has united, let thought not divide.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 7 (PG 77:1323; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/7)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/8":{"o":"Τοῦτο καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἐδίδαξαν Παρὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων διαδεξάμενοι τὸ τῆς οἰκονομίας μυστήριον. Τοῦτο περὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἐθέσπισαν οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Νικαίας ξυναχθέντες ὀκτωκαίδεκα καὶ τριακόσιοι. Οἷς πείθεσθαι λέγων ὁ τὸν Χριστὸν δύο νοῶν, μάχεται ταῖς ἐννοίαις, τὴν ἐκείνων πίστιν παντελῶς ἡρνημένος. Πάντων γὰρ ἐκείνων, ὥσπερ ἕνα Πατέρα, οὕτω καὶ ἕνα Υἱὸν εἰπόντων, οὗτος δύο σημαίνεσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ Υἱοῦ προσηγορίας τιθέμενος, τὴν πίστιν ἐκείνων ἠρνήσατο, εἰπόντων ἕνα Υἱόν. Μᾶλλον δὲ ἕνα σαφὲς γένηται τὸ ῥηθὲν, αὐτῶν τῶν ῥημάτων τῶν Πατέρων ἐκθήσομεν, τὴν ἑρμηνείαν αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔξωθεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν αὐτοῖς εἰρημένων ποιούμενοι. Ἔχει οὖν τῆς πίστεως ἐκείνων ἡ ἔκθεσις ὧδε· Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν Πατέρα παγκράτορα, πάντων ὁρατῶν τε καὶ ἀοράτων ποιητήν. Καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, γενηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς μονογενῆ, τουτέστιν, ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς, Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ, φῶς ἐκ φωτὸς, Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ· γεννηθέντα οὐ ποιηθέντα, ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, τά τε ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Τὸν δι᾽ ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν κατελθόντα καὶ σαρκωθέντα, καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα, παθόντα, καὶ ἀναστάντα τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, καὶ ἀνελθόντα εἰς οὐρανοὺς, ἐρχόμενον κρίναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς. Καὶ εἰς τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα. Τοὺς δὲ λέγοντας, ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν· καὶ πρὶν γεννηθῆναι οὐκ ἦν καὶ ὅτι ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐγένετο, ἢ ἐξ ἑτέρας ὑποστάσεως ἢ οὐσίας φάσκοντας εἶναι, ἢ τρεπτὸν, ἢ ἀλλοιωτὸν τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τούτους ἀναθεματίζει ἡ καθολικὴ καὶ ἀποστολικὴ Ἐκκλησία. • Οὗτοι μὲν οἱ τῶν Πατέρων λόγοι τὴν περὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς πίστιν ἡμῖν ἐκτιθέμενοι, καθάπερ τινὰ κανόνα, πᾶσαν ἐπίνοιαν ἀνθρώπων διορθούμενοι. \"Ωσπερ γὰρ σφαλλομένην αἴσθησιν περὶ τὴν εὐθύτητα τοῦ ξύλου διορθοῦται κανὼν, τῆς διαστροφῆς ἔλεγχος γενόμενος· οὕτως ὁ λόγος οὗτος τῶν ἀνθρώπων διορθοῦται τὴν ἔννοιαν, ἐπινοίας τὴν πίστιν ἡμῶν διαστρέφειν ἐθέλουσι. Τούτοις ἐπώμεθα, τοῖς λόγοις πιστεύοντες, οὐ προβλήματα πλέκοντες. Πιστεύομεν γὰρ εἶπον ἐκεῖνοι, οὐκ ἀποδείξεις τὰς διὰ λόγων παρέχομεν. Τοιγαροῦν πιστεύσωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς οὕτως ἔχειν τὰ εἰρημένα, ἀπάσης περιέργου ζητήσεως παντελῶς ἀπεχόμενοι. Οὐ γὰρ εὐθύνομεν τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν Πατέρων πεπιστευμένα· ἀλλ᾽ ὁμολογοῦμεν ταῦθ' οὕτως γεγενῆσθαι παρὰ Θεοῦ, τῆς πίστεως ἡμῖν βεβαιούσης τὴν ἔννοιαν. Ώστε Χριστιανῶν ἀλλότριός ἐστι πᾶς ὁ τῆς ἐκθέσεως ταύτης παρηλλαγμένα φρονῶν, κἂν πιθανόν τι περὶ τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν λέγειν δοκῇ. Οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ τῶν ἔξω τις ἀπόδειξιν ἀπαιτεῖ τῆς τῶν μαθημάτων ἀρχῆς· ἀλλὰ πίστει παρὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑποδέχεται, οὐδένα κατὰ ταύτης κινῶν λογισμόν.","t":"This the fathers too taught, having received the mystery of the economy from the apostles. This the three hundred and eighteen gathered at Nicaea decreed concerning the Only-begotten. Whoever says he obeys them while thinking of Christ as two fights against their meaning and has utterly denied their faith. For while all of them spoke of one Son, as of one Father, this man, holding that two are signified by the title “Son”, has denied the faith of those who spoke of one Son. But so that what has been said may become clearer, we will set out the very words of the Fathers, drawing their interpretation not from outside, but from what they themselves said. The exposition of their faith runs thus: “We believe in one God, Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten from the Father as only-begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things came into being, both those in heaven and those on earth; who for us men and for our salvation came down and was made flesh and became man, suffered, and rose on the third day, and went up into the heavens, and is coming to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit. But those who say, ‘There was once when he was not,’ and ‘Before he was begotten he was not,’ and that he came into being from things that are not, or who claim that the Son of God is of another hypostasis or substance, or changeable, or alterable, these the catholic and apostolic church anathematizes.” These words of the Fathers set out for us the faith concerning the Only-begotten like a rule, correcting every human notion. For as a rule corrects a mistaken perception about the straightness of a piece of wood, becoming the proof of its crookedness, so this statement corrects the thinking of men against notions that wish to distort our faith. Let us follow these, believing the words, not weaving problems. For they said, “We believe”; they do not offer demonstrations by arguments. Let us therefore also believe that what has been said is so, abstaining entirely from all curious inquiry. For we do not call to account what was believed by the Fathers; but we confess that these things were so brought about by God, faith confirming our understanding. So everyone who thinks otherwise than this exposition is a stranger to Christians, even if he seems to say something plausible about our faith. For not even among those outside does anyone demand a proof of the first principle of what he learns; he receives the principle from his teacher by faith, moving no argument against it.","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 8 (PG 77:1323; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/8)."},"theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/9":{"o":"Αρχὴ τοίνυν τῆς περὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς πίστεως «ἡ ἔκθεσις αὕτη τῶν Πατέρων γένηται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ περὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς αὐτοῖς ἡ σκέψις ἐγένετο, τότε ᾿Αρείου, καθάπερ νῦν Νεστορίου, τῷ σπόρῳ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐπισπείραντος ζιζάνια, καὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς τὴν δόξαν παρατιτρώσκειν ἐπιχειρήσαντος· καὶ Λόγον μὲν τοῦ Πατρὸς εἶναι λέγοντος τὸν μονογενῆ, τῆς δὲ Δεσποτικῆς ἀξίας καὶ δόξης ἀπολειπόμενον· τούτου χάριν ξυναχθέντες οἱ Πατέρες καὶ νῦν, ποιοῦσι τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἡμῶν νόμον, τοῖς περὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς πᾶσι σοφίσμασι τὴν τῶν ἀπλουστέρων κλείσαντες ἀκοὴν. Διὸ καὶ περὶ Μονογενοῦς αὐτοῖς προκειμένης τῆς σκέψεως, τὸν κανόνα τῆς πίστεως οἱ Πατέρες ἐξέθεντο, ἀπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν ποιησάμενοι· τάττουσι τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸν ἕνα Πατέρα, ἵν᾿ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ καὶ μὲν οὐδέποτε ζήτησις ἐγένετο περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρός. Πῶς οὖν ἀπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἐκθέσεως πεποίηνται, ζητήσεως οὐδεμιᾶς οὔσης περὶ αὐτοῦ; ἀλλά τι σοφὸν καὶ μέγα πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν ἡμῶν τῆς πίστεως κατασκευάζοντες, πρῶτον εἶπον Πατέρα. Εἰσόμεθα δὲ τὴν σοφίαν αὐτῶν, προσέχοντες αὐτῶν μετὰ ἀκριβείας τοῖς ῥήμασι. « Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, πάντων ὁρατῶν τε καὶ ἀοράτων ποιητήν. » Τίς γὰρ ἀγνοεῖ τοῦτο τῶν εὖ φρονούντων, καὶ κατὰ φύσιν ταῖς ἐννοίαις χρωμένων; \"Απασι μὲν τοῦτο δῆλόν ἐστιν· ἀλλ' οὕτως οἱ Πατέρες ἄρχονται τοῦ λόγου, οὐχ ἵνα τὸ πᾶσι γνώριμον εἴπωσιν· ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ ὡς ἕνα Πατέρα, οὗτως καὶ ἕνα ᾔδεισαν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, προΠατρὸς τὸν, « Ἕνα νενόηκας Θεὸν παντοκράτορα, οὐτως καὶ περὶ τοῦ μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ, ἕνα νοήσομεν, οὐδαμοῦ δύο νοοῦντες ὑπὸ τῆς προσηγορίας τοῦ Υἱοῦ σημαινόμενα. Ωσπερ γὰρ ἕνα εἰπόντες Πατέρα, διττὴν τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἀπεφήναντο ἔννοιαν· οὕτως καὶ ἕνα εἰπόντες Υἱὸν τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, οὐ βούλονται κατ' οὐδένα τρόπον δηλοῦσθαι διττόν. Ἐπὶ γὰρ Θεοῦ οὔτε Πατρὸς προσηγορία δύο σημαίνει, οὔτε Υἱοῦ τὸ ὄνομα τὰ σημαινόμενα δύο δηλοῖ. Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν διδάσκοντες οἱ Πατέρες, τῆς περὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς Πατρὸς διδασκαλίας ἀρξάμενοι, ἕνα ἐπήγαγον καὶ Υἱὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν· ἵνα τῇ ἑνότητι τοῦ Πατρὸς τὴν περὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς Υἱοῦ κατανοήσωμεν ἔννοιαν. πιστεύσασιν εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν οὕτως,","t":"Let this exposition of the Fathers, then, be the starting point of faith concerning the Only-begotten. For their inquiry concerned the Only-begotten: Arius then, as Nestorius now, had sown tares over the seed of piety and attempted to wound the glory of the Only-begotten, saying that the only-begotten is the Word of the Father, but falls short of the Master's dignity and glory. For this reason the Fathers, gathered then as now, made our piety a law, closing the ears of the simpler against all the sophisms about the Only-begotten. Therefore, though the inquiry set before them concerned the Only-begotten, the Fathers set out the rule of faith making their beginning from the Father: they place first the one Father of the Son, so that, as in the case of the … and yet there was never any inquiry about the God and Father. Why, then, did they make the beginning of the exposition from the Father, when there was no inquiry about him? But they said “Father” first because they were contriving something wise and great for the security of our faith. We shall come to know their wisdom by attending carefully to their words. “We believe in one God, Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible.” For who among those of sound mind, who use their thoughts according to nature, does not know this? It is clear to all; but the Fathers begin their statement thus, not to say what is known to all, but because, as they knew one Father, so they also knew one Lord Jesus Christ; … as you have conceived of “one God almighty”, so also concerning the only-begotten Son we shall conceive of one, nowhere thinking of two things signified by the title “Son”. For just as, having said one Father, they did not declare a double notion of him, so also, having said one Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, they do not wish him to be shown double in any way. For in the case of God neither does the title “Father” signify two, nor does the name “Son” indicate two things signified. Teaching this, then, the Fathers began from the teaching about the one Father and then added one only-begotten Son also, our Lord Jesus Christ, so that by the oneness of the Father we might grasp the notion of the one Son. … to those who have believed thus in one Lord Jesus Christ,","f":"Theodotus of Ancyra, <i>Exp. symb.</i> 9 (PG 77:1325; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodotus-ancyra-expositio-symboli/9)."}}