Against Eunomius 2.541–2.555
Greek text: PG 45.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 2
2.541PG 45:541–545
Πρὸς ποῖα δὲ βουλεύματα βλέπει τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίας κεχωρισμένα, οἷς ὁμοιοῦται ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφία, σφραγίς γινομένη τῶν βουλευμάτων; Ὁρᾶτε τὸ ἀδιάκριτον καὶ ἀπερίσκεπτον καὶ συρφετὸν τοῦ λόγου, οἷα τοῦ μυστηρίου κατασκευάζει Μήτε λέγει ἐπιστάμενος, μήτε περὶ τίνος ποιεῖ τὸν λόγον. Ὁ γὰρ ὅλον ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ ὅλος ὢν, ὡς Λόγος καὶ Σοφία καὶ δύναμις, καὶ ἀλήθεια καὶ χαρακτὴρ καὶ ἀπαύγασμα, αὐτὸς ἐστιν ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ τὰ πάντα· οὐκ ἄλλων τινῶν ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ πρὸ αὐτοῦ θεωρουμένων· εἰκὼν γινόμενος καὶ σφραγὶς καὶ ὁμοίωμα. Εἶτα χαρίζεται αὐτῷ τὸν ἐπὶ Νῶε διʼ ὕδατος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀφανισμὸν, καὶ τὴν ἐν Σοδόμοις τοῦ πυρὸς ἐπομβρίαν, καὶ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τὴν ἔνδικον τιμωρίαν, ὡς τινα μεγάλα προσμαρτυρῶν τῷ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ ἔχοντι τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης, ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα συνέστηκε, καθώς φησιν ὁ ᾿Απόστολο;· ὥσπερ οὐκ εἰδὼς ὅτι τῷ περιέχοντι τὰ πάντα, καὶ πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν ἄγοντί τε καὶ φέροντι, τά τε ἤδη γεγενημένα, καὶ τὰ ἐσόμενα, οὐ τοσοῦτον προσθήκην ποιεῖ τῆς δόξης, δύο, ἢ τρία μνημονευθέντα θαύματα, ὅσον ἀφαίρεσιν καὶ ζημίαν ἡ τῶν λοιπῶν σιωπή. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων σιωπωμένων, ἀρκεῖ ἡ μία τοῦ Παύλου φωνή περιληπτικῶς τὰ πάντα διʼ ἑαυτῆς ἐνδείξασθαι, ἡ ἐπὶ πάντων αὐτὸν λέγουσα, καὶ διὰ πάντων καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν. Εἶτα, Νομοθετεῖ, φησὶ, κατʼ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ αἰωνίου Θεοῦ. Τίς ὁ αἰώνιός ἐστι Θεός; Καὶ τίς ὁ ὑπουργῶν αὐτῷ περὶ τὴν τοῦ νόμου θέσιν; ᾿Αλλὰ παντὶ δῆλον τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι διὰ Μωσέως νομοθετεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς δεχομένοις τὸν νόμον. Αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ Εὐνομίου τὸν Μονογενῆ Θεὸν εἶναι ὁμολογοῦντος, τὸν Μωσή χρηματίζοντα· πῶς ὁ παρὼν αὐτοῦ λόγος εἰς τὴν τοῦ Μωσέως τάξιν τὸν τοῦ παντὸς Δεσπότην ἀντικαθίστησιν Τὸ δὲ τοῦ αἰωνίου Θεοῦ σημαινόμενον, τῷ Πατρὶ ἀνατίθησι μόνῳ. Ὡς τῇ πρὸς τὸν αἰώνιον διαστολῇ, μὴ αἰώνιον, ἀλλὰ πρόσφατον Μονογενῆ Θεὸν ἀποδεί κνυσθαι, τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ ἐπιλελῆσθαί μοι δοκεῖ ὁ φιλομαθής τε καὶ μνήμων, ὅτι πάντα ταῦτα περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ὁ Παῦλός φησι, διαγγέλλων ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τὸ κήρυγμα, κατʼ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ αἰωνίου Θεοῦ. Ἃ τοίνυν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ διεξέρχεται ὁ Ἀπόστολος, ταῦτα ὁ Εὐνόμιος τῷ Δεσπότῃ τῶν προφητῶν τε καὶ ἀποστόλων ἀνατιθεὶς οὐκ αἰσχύνεται, ἵνα ὁμότιμον καταστήσῃ τῷ Παύλῳ τῷ ἰδίῳ δούλῳ, τὸν Κύριον. Καὶ τί με χρὴ τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστον διελέγ χοντα, πλῆθος ἐπεισάγειν τῷ λόγῳ; Ἐν οἷς ὁ μὲν ἁπλούστερον ἐντυγχάνων τοῖς παρʼ αὐτοῦ γεγραμμέ νοις, οἰήσεται τὰ συγκεχωρημένα παρὰ τῆς Γραφῆς αὐτὸν λέγειν· ὁ δὲ ἐξεταστικῶς ἕκαστον ἀναπτύσσειν δυνάμενος, ἀποδείξει μηδὲν τῆς αἱρετικῆς κακουργίας κεχωρισμένα. Λέγει γὰρ καὶ ὁ ἐκκλησιαστικὸς καὶ ὁ αἱρετικὸς ὅτι Ὁ Πατὴρ κρίνει οὐδένα, ἀλλὰ τὴν κρίσιν πᾶσαν δέδωκε τῷ Υἱῷ. Νοεῖ δὲ οὐχ ὁμοίως τὸ εἰρημένον ἑκάτερος. Διὰ γὰρ τῶν αὐτῶν ῥημάτων, ὁ μὲν ἐκκλησιαστικὸς τὴν ἐπὶ πάντων ἐξουσίαν νοεῖ· οὗτος δὲ κατασκευάζει τὸ ὑποδεές τε καὶ ὑποχείριον. ᾿Αλλʼ ἐκεῖνο χρὴ προσθεῖναι τοῖς εἰρημένοις, ὅπερ κρηπίδα τινὰ ποιοῦνται τῆς ἀσεβείας, ἐν τῷ περὶ τῆς οἰκονομίας λόγῳ· οὐχ ὅλον ἄνθρωπον παρʼ αὐτοῦ σεσῶσθαι διοριζόμενοι, ἀλλὰ τὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἡμίτομον, τὸ σῶμα λέγω. Ὁ δὲ σκοπός ἐστιν αὐτοῖς τῆς τοιαύτης περὶ τὸ δόγμα κακουργίας, τὸ δεῖξαι τὰς ταπεινοτέρας φωνὰς, ἃς ἐκ τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου ποιεῖται ὁ Κύριος, παρʼ αὐτῆς τῆς θεότητος γεγενῆσθαι δοκεῖν, ἵνα διὰ τούτων ἰσχυροτέραν ἀποδείξωσι τὴν βλασφημίαν, διʼ αὐτῆς τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου ὁμολογίας κρατυνομένην· τούτου χάριν φησὶ, Τὸν ἐπʼ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον, οὐκ ἀναλαβόντα τὸν ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἄνθρωπον. Ἐγὼ δὲ πᾶσαν διερευνησάμενος τὴν θεόπνευστόν τε καὶ ἁγίαν Γραφὴν, οὐχ ὁρῶ ταύτην τὴν φωνὴν ἐγγεγραμμένην, ὅτι μόνην τὴν σάρκα δίχα ψυχῆς, ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς κατὰ ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομίας, ὁ τὰ πάντα ποιήσας εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀνεδέξατο. Αναγκαίως οὖν πρός τε τὸν σκοπὸν τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν βλέπων, καὶ πρὸς τὰ δόγματα τῶν Πατέρων, καὶ πρὸς τὰς θεοπνεύστους φωνὰς, τὴν ἐν τῷ μέρει τούτῳ κατασκευαζομένην ἀσέβειαν διελέγξαι πειράσομαι. Ἦλθεν ὁ Κύριος ζητῆσαι καὶ σῶσαι τὸ ἀπολωλός· ἀπώλετο δὲ οὐ σῶμα, ἀλλʼ ὅλος ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἀπὸ ψυχῆς συγκεκραμένος. Καὶ εἰ χρὴ τὸν ἀληθέστερον εἰπεῖν λόγον, τοῦ σώματος ἡ ψυχὴ προαπώλετο. Ἡ γὰρ παρακοή, προαιρέσεως, οὐ σώματος, ἁμαρτία ἐστίν· ἴδιον δὲ ψυχῆς ἡ προαίρεσις, ἀφʼ ἧς πᾶσα ἡ τῆς φύσεως συμφορὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔσχεν· ὡς μαρτυρεῖ τοῖς λόγοις ἡ ἀψευδὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπειλή· ὅτι ἐν ᾗ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων ἅψωνται, ἀνυπερθέτως συναφθήσεται τῇ βρώσει ὁ θάνατος. Διπλοῦ δὲ ὄντος τοῦ ἀνθρωπ[ίν]ου συγκράματος, καταλλήλως καθʼ ἑκάτερον ἐνεργεῖται ὁ θάνατος, τῆς διπλῆς ζωῆς ἐνεργούσης τῷ νεκρουμένῳ τὴν στέρησιν.
Pros poia de bouleumata blepei tēs tou Theou sophias kechōrismena, hois homoioutai hē tou Theou sophia, sphragis ginomenē tōn bouleumatōn? Horate to adiakriton kai aperiskepton kai syrpheton tou logou, hoia tou mystēriou kataskeuazei Mēte legei epistamenos, mēte peri tinos poiei ton logon. Ho gar holon echōn en heautǭ ton Patera, kai en tǭ Patri holos ōn, hōs Logos kai Sophia kai dynamis, kai alētheia kai charaktēr kai apaugasma, autos estin en tǭ Patri ta panta; ouk allōn tinōn en tǭ Patri pro autou theōroumenōn; eikōn ginomenos kai sphragis kai homoiōma. Eita charizetai autǭ ton epi Nōe diʼ hydatos tōn anthrōpōn aphanismon, kai tēn en Sodomois tou pyros epombrian, kai tōn Aigyptiōn tēn endikon timōrian, hōs tina megala prosmartyrōn tǭ en tę̄ cheiri echonti ta perata tēs oikoumenēs, en hǭ ta panta synestēke, kathōs phēsin ho ᾿Apostolo?; hōsper ouk eidōs hoti tǭ periechonti ta panta, kai pros to dokoun agonti te kai pheronti, ta te ēdē gegenēmena, kai ta esomena, ou tosouton prosthēkēn poiei tēs doxēs, dyo, ē tria mnēmoneuthenta thaumata, hoson aphairesin kai zēmian hē tōn loipōn siōpē. Alla kai toutōn siōpōmenōn, arkei hē mia tou Paulou phōnē perilēptikōs ta panta diʼ heautēs endeixasthai, hē epi pantōn auton legousa, kai dia pantōn kai en pasin. Eita, Nomothetei, phēsi, katʼ epitagēn tou aiōniou Theou. Tis ho aiōnios esti Theos? Kai tis ho hypourgōn autǭ peri tēn tou nomou thesin? ᾿Alla panti dēlon touto estin, hoti dia Mōseōs nomothetei ho Theos tois dechomenois ton nomon. Autou de tou Eunomiou ton Monogenē Theon einai homologountos, ton Mōsē chrēmatizonta; pōs ho parōn autou logos eis tēn tou Mōseōs taxin ton tou pantos Despotēn antikathistēsin To de tou aiōniou Theou sēmainomenon, tǭ Patri anatithēsi monǭ. Hōs tę̄ pros ton aiōnion diastolę̄, mē aiōnion, alla prosphaton Monogenē Theon apodei knysthai, ton poiētēn tōn aiōnōn. ᾿Alla kai epilelēsthai moi dokei ho philomathēs te kai mnēmōn, hoti panta tauta peri heautou ho Paulos phēsi, diangellōn en tois anthrōpois tou Euangeliou to kērygma, katʼ epitagēn tou aiōniou Theou. Ha toinyn peri heautou diexerchetai ho Apostolos, tauta ho Eunomios tǭ Despotę̄ tōn prophētōn te kai apostolōn anatitheis ouk aischynetai, hina homotimon katastēsę̄ tǭ Paulǭ tǭ idiǭ doulǭ, ton Kyrion. Kai ti me chrē ta kathʼ hekaston dieleg chonta, plēthos epeisagein tǭ logǭ? En hois ho men haplousteron entynchanōn tois parʼ autou gegramme nois, oiēsetai ta synkechōrēmena para tēs Graphēs auton legein; ho de exetastikōs hekaston anaptyssein dynamenos, apodeixei mēden tēs hairetikēs kakourgias kechōrismena. Legei gar kai ho ekklēsiastikos kai ho hairetikos hoti Ho Patēr krinei oudena, alla tēn krisin pasan dedōke tǭ Huiǭ. Noei de ouch homoiōs to eirēmenon hekateros. Dia gar tōn autōn rhēmatōn, ho men ekklēsiastikos tēn epi pantōn exousian noei; houtos de kataskeuazei to hypodees te kai hypocheirion. ᾿Allʼ ekeino chrē prostheinai tois eirēmenois, hoper krēpida tina poiountai tēs asebeias, en tǭ peri tēs oikonomias logǭ; ouch holon anthrōpon parʼ autou sesōsthai diorizomenoi, alla to tou anthrōpou hēmitomon, to sōma legō. Ho de skopos estin autois tēs toiautēs peri to dogma kakourgias, to deixai tas tapeinoteras phōnas, has ek tou anthrōpinou poieitai ho Kyrios, parʼ autēs tēs theotētos gegenēsthai dokein, hina dia toutōn ischyroteran apodeixōsi tēn blasphēmian, diʼ autēs tēs tou Kyriou homologias kratynomenēn; toutou charin phēsi, Ton epʼ eschatōn tōn hēmerōn genomenon anthrōpon, ouk analabonta ton ek psychēs kai sōmatos anthrōpon. Egō de pasan diereunēsamenos tēn theopneuston te kai hagian Graphēn, ouch horō tautēn tēn phōnēn engegrammenēn, hoti monēn tēn sarka dicha psychēs, en tǭ kairǭ tēs kata anthrōpon oikonomias, ho ta panta poiēsas eis heauton anedexato. Anankaiōs oun pros te ton skopon tēs sōtērias hēmōn blepōn, kai pros ta dogmata tōn Paterōn, kai pros tas theopneustous phōnas, tēn en tǭ merei toutǭ kataskeuazomenēn asebeian dielenxai peirasomai. Ēlthen ho Kyrios zētēsai kai sōsai to apolōlos; apōleto de ou sōma, allʼ holos ho anthrōpos apo psychēs synkekramenos. Kai ei chrē ton alēthesteron eipein logon, tou sōmatos hē psychē proapōleto. Hē gar parakoē, proaireseōs, ou sōmatos, hamartia estin; idion de psychēs hē proairesis, aphʼ hēs pasa hē tēs physeōs symphora tēn archēn eschen; hōs martyrei tois logois hē apseudēs tou Theou apeilē; hoti en hę̄ an hēmerą tōn apēgoreumenōn hapsōntai, anyperthetōs synaphthēsetai tę̄ brōsei ho thanatos. Diplou de ontos tou anthrōp[in]ou synkramatos, katallēlōs kathʼ hekateron energeitai ho thanatos, tēs diplēs zōēs energousēs tǭ nekroumenǭ tēn sterēsin.
And to what counsels, separate from the wisdom of God, does he look, to which the wisdom of God is likened, becoming the seal of the counsels? See how indiscriminate, heedless and jumbled the statement is, what he makes of the mystery, knowing neither what he says nor about what he speaks. For he who has the whole Father in himself and is whole in the Father, as Word and Wisdom and Power and Truth and character and radiance, is himself all things in the Father, and does not become image and seal and likeness of some other things seen in the Father before him. Then he grants him the destruction of human beings by water in Noah’s time, and the rain of fire on Sodom, and the just punishment of the Egyptians, as though attesting great things to him who holds the ends of the world in his hand, in whom all things hold together, as the Apostle says; as though he did not know that to him who contains all things and leads and carries as he pleases both what has already come to be and what will be, two or three miracles mentioned do not add as much to his glory as the silence about the rest takes away and damages. But even if these are passed over in silence, the one word of Paul suffices to show all things comprehensively by itself, which says that he is over all and through all and in all.
Then, “He legislates,” he says, “by command of the eternal God.” Who is the eternal God? And who is the one who serves him in giving the law? But this is plain to everyone, that God legislates through Moses for those who receive the law. And since Eunomius himself confesses that the only-begotten God is the one who gave the oracles to Moses, how does his present statement put the Master of all in the rank of Moses? And the meaning of “eternal God” he assigns to the Father alone, so that by the contrast with the eternal, the only-begotten God, the maker of the ages, may be shown to be not eternal but new. But this studious and retentive man seems to me to have forgotten that Paul says all this of himself, announcing among human beings the proclamation of the Gospel by command of the eternal God. What, then, the Apostle goes through about himself, this Eunomius is not ashamed to ascribe to the Master of prophets and apostles, so as to set the Lord in equal honor with Paul, his own slave. And why should I refute each point and bring a crowd into the discussion? In these things, one who reads what he has written rather simply will think that he says what Scripture allows, but one who can unfold each point by examination will show that none of it is free of heretical malice. For both the churchman and the heretic say, “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son”; but each does not understand what is said in the same way. Through the same words the churchman understands authority over all, while this man builds up inferiority and subjection.
But we must add to what has been said that which they make a kind of foundation of their impiety in the discussion of the economy: they define that not the whole human being was saved by him, but half of the human being, I mean the body. Their aim in such malice about the doctrine is to make the lowlier words that the Lord utters from his humanity seem to have come from the Godhead itself, so that by these they may show their blasphemy to be stronger, strengthened by the Lord’s own confession. For this reason he says, “who became man in the last days, not taking up the man consisting of soul and body.” But I, having searched all the inspired and holy Scripture, do not see this word written: that the maker of all, at the time of the economy as man, took up into himself the flesh alone without a soul. Of necessity, then, looking to the aim of our salvation, and to the doctrines of the Fathers, and to the inspired words, I shall try to refute the impiety built up in this part. The Lord came to seek and to save the lost; and what was lost was not a body, but the whole human being, blended of soul and body. And if one must give the truer account, the soul was lost before the body. For disobedience is a sin of the will, not of the body; and the will is proper to the soul, from which the whole calamity of the nature had its beginning, as God’s truthful threat testifies to the words: that on whatever day they touched what was forbidden, death would be joined to the eating without delay. And since the human compound is twofold, death operates correspondingly on each part, the deprivation of the twofold life taking effect in what is put to death.
Gen 7:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 19:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:29 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 95:4 (94:4 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Col 1:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 16:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:4 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 5:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 1:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 19:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 2:17 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory mocks Eunomius’s praise of the Son for a few miracles and his phrase “legislates by command of the eternal God,” which Paul used of himself, then turns to Eunomius’s claim that the Son took a body without a human soul, arguing that the soul, as the seat of sin, needed saving first.
- “By command of the eternal God”: Rom 16:26, Paul’s phrase. Eunomius’s statement that the incarnate Word did not take a human soul is quoted from his confession; Gregory’s reply runs to 2.549. Two lines of the scan were interleaved here (“by command of the eternal God. What, then, the Apostle goes through about himself”); restored by logged corrections. “Blended of soul and body”: the printed text has only “of soul”; “and body” is supplied by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (A line from further down was run into this phrase in the scan; restored below.; OCR slip.; Restores the displaced line.): κατʼ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ αἰωγὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ. "Α τοίνυν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ διεξέρχεται ὁ νίου Θεοῦ. → κατʼ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ αἰωνίου Θεοῦ.; κατʼ ἐπιταʼΑπόστολος → κατʼ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ αἰωνίου Θεοῦ. Ἃ τοίνυν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ διεξέρχεται ὁ Ἀπόστολος; μνημονεύθέντα → μνημονευθέντα.
Extrabiblical texts: Eunomius, Exp. fid. (Statement of Faith; quotation)
Topics: Christology, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Eun. 2.541 (PG 45:541–545; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-contra-eunomium/2-541). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-contra-eunomium/2-541
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek of Migne PG 45 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards in full with NPNF2 5 (Migne Book 1 = NPNF I; Book 2 = NPNF II, the Refutation of Eunomius's Confession; Books 3-10 = NPNF III-X).
2.545PG 45:545–549
Σώματος μὲν γὰρ ἐστι θάνατος, ἡ τῶν αἰσθητηρίων σβέσις, καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὰ συγγενῆ τῶν στοιχείων διάλυσις. Ψυχὴ δὲ, φησὶν, ἡ ἁμαρτάνουσα, αὐτὴ ἀποθανεῖται. Ἁμαρτία δέ ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀλλοτρίωσις, ὅς ἐστιν ἡ ἀληθινή τε καὶ μόνη ζωή. Οὐκοῦν πολλὰς ἐτῶν ἑκατοντάδας ἐπεβίω μετὰ τὴν παρακοὴν ὁ πρωτόπλαστος, ἀλλʼ ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ ἐψεύσατο εἰπών· Ἐν ᾗ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε. Διὰ γὰρ τοῦ ἀλλοτριωθῆναι αὐτὸν τῆς ὄντως ζωῆς, αὐθημερὸν ἐκυρώθη κατʼ αὐτοῦ ἡ τοῦ θανάτου ἀπόφασις. Μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ χρόνοις ὕστερον καὶ ὁ σωματικὸς τῷ ᾿Ἀδὰμ ἐπηκολούθησε θάνατος. Ὁ τοίνυν διὰ τοῦτο ἐλθὼν, ἵνα ζητήσῃ καὶ σώσῃ τὸ ἀπολωλὸς, ὅπερ ἐν τῇ παραβολῇ ὁ ποιμὴν πρόβατον ὀνομάζει· καὶ εὑρίσκει τὸ ἀπολωλὸς, καὶ ἀναλαμβάνει ἐπὶ τῶν ἰδίων ὤμων ὅλον τὸ πρόβατον, οὐ μόνην τὴν τοῦ προβάτου δοράν· ἵνα ἄρτιον ποιήσῃ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπον, διὰ ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος ἀνακραθέντα πρὸς τὴν θεότητα. Καὶ οὕτως οὐδὲν ἀφῆκε τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ὃ οὐκ ἀνέλαβεν ὁ κατὰ πάντα πεπειραμένος καθʼ ὁμοιότητα, χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας. Ἡ δὲ ψυχὴ ἁμαρτία οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ δεκτικὴ ἁμαρτίας ἐξ ἀβουλίας ἐγένετο, ἣν διὰ τοῦτο ἁγιάζει διὰ τῆς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀνακράσεως· ἵνα τῇ ἀπαρχῇ ὅλον συναγιάσῃ τὸ φύραμα. Οὗ χάριν καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος μηνύων τῷ Ἰωσὴφ τὴν τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ Κυρίου ἀπώλειαν, φησὶν, ὅτι Τεθνήκασιν οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ παιδίου. Καὶ ὁ Κύριος πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους λέγει, ὅτι Ζητεῖτέ με ἀποκτεῖναι, ἄνθρωπον ὃς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑμῖν λελάληκα; ῎Ανθρωπος δὲ τὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου σῶμα οὐ λέγεται, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων συγκείμενον. Καὶ πάλιν φησὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ὅτι Ἐμοὶ χολᾶτε, ὅτι ὅλον ἄνθρωπον ὑγιῆ ἐποίησα ἐν σαββάτῳ. Ἐφανέρωσε δὲ τὸ τοῦ ὅλου νόημα, ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἄλλοις Εὐαγγελίοις, πρὸς τὸν διὰ τῆς κλίνης ἐν τῷ μέσῳ κεχαλασμένον εἰπὼν, ᾿Αφέωνταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι· ὅπερ ψυχῆς ἐστιν ἴασις· καὶ ὅτι "Ἔγειραι καὶ περιπάτει· ὅπερ εἰς τὴν σάρκα βλέπει. Ἐν δὲ τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην, μετὰ τὸ δοῦναι τὴν ὑγίειαν τῷ σώματι καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐλευθερώσας τῆς ἰδίας νόσου, ἐν οἷς φησιν, ὅτι Ὑγιὴς γέγονας, μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε· ἐντεῦθεν ὁ διʼ ἀμφοτέρων τεθεραπευμένος, ἐν ψυχῇ τε λέγω καὶ σώματι. Οὕτω γάρ φησι καὶ Παῦλος, ἵνα τοὺς δύο κτίσῃ ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον. Καὶ οὕτως ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ πάθους προλέγει, τὸ ἑκουσίως ἀποστῆναι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος, λέγων· Οὐδεὶς αἴρει τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ· ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ τίθημι αὐτὴν ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ. Ἔξουσίαν ἔχω θεῖναι τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔχω πάλιν λαβεῖν αὐτήν. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ ὁ προφήτης Δαβὶδ κατὰ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν τοῦ μεγάλου Πέτρου, εἰς αὐτὸν προορώμενος εἶπεν, ὅτι Οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾄδην, οὐδὲ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν· οὕτω τοῦ ἀποστόλου Πέτρου τὸ ῥητὸν ἑρμηνεύσαντος, ὅτι οὔτε ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ ἐγ· κατελείφθη εἰς τὸν ἄδην, οὔτε ἡ σάρξ αὐτοῦ εἶδε διαφθοράν. Ἡ γὰρ θεότης καὶ πρὸ τῆς σαρκὸς, καὶ ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ, καὶ μετὰ τὸ πάθος ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχει, ὃ ἦν τῇ φύσει πάντοτε οὖσα καὶ εἰς ἀεὶ διαμένουσα. Ἐν δὲ τῷ πάθει τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως, τὴν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν οἰκονομίαν ἐπλήρωσε, διαζεύξασα τὴν ψυχὴν πρὸς καιρὸν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος, χωρισθεῖσα δὲ οὐδετέρου ᾧ ἅπαξ συνανεκράθη, καὶ πάλιν τὰ διεστῶτα συνάψασα, ὥστε ἀκολουθίαν καὶ ἀρχὴν δοῦναι πάσῃ τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως· ἵνα τὸ φθαρτὸν ἅπαν ἐνδύσηται ἀφθαρσίαν, καὶ τὸ θνητὸν τὴν ἀθανασίαν· τῆς ἀπαρχῆς ἡμῶν διὰ τῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀνακράσεως εἰς θείαν φύσιν μεταποιηθείσης· καθὼς εἶπεν ὁ Πέτρος, ὅτι Κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ Χριστὸν ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς, τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε· καὶ πολλὰ τοῦ τοιούτου δόγματος ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων Εὐαγγελίων ἔστιν εἰς συμμαχίαν λαβεῖν· πῶς ὁ Κύριος τῷ κατὰ Χριστὸν ἀνθρωπίνῳ, τὸν κόσμον ἑαυτῷ καταλλάσσων, ἐπεμέρισε τῇ ψυχῇ τε καὶ τῷ σώματι τὴν παρʼ αὐτοῦ γινομένην τοῖς ἀν θρώποις εὐεργεσίαν· θέλων μὲν διὰ τῆς ψυχῆς, ἐφαπτόμενος δὲ διὰ τοῦ σώματος· ἀλλὰ περιττὸν ἂν εἴη πάντα διεξιόντα, ὄχλον ἐπεισάγειν τῷ λόγῳ. Ἐκεῖνο δὲ τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἔτι προσθεὶς, πρὸς τὰ ἐφεξῆς μεταβήσομαι· Λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον, καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν. Ωσπερ ἡμεῖς διὰ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ναὸς γινόμεθα τοῦ ἐνοικοῦντος ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ ἐμπεριπατοῦντος, οὕτως καὶ ὁ Κύριος ναὸν ὀνομάζει τὸ συναμφότερον, οὗ ἡ λύσις τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος σημαίνει διάλυσιν. Εἰ δὲ προφέρουσι τὴν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου φωνὴν, ὅτι ῾Ο Λόγος σάρξ ἐγένετο, ὡς διὰ τοῦ μὴ συμμνημονευθῆναι καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν, κατασκευάζεσθαι τὸ ἄψυχον ἀνειλῆφθαι τὴν σάρκα· μαθέτωσαν ὅτι σύνηθές ἐστι τῇ ἁγίᾳ Γραφῇ τῷ μέρει συμπεριλαμβάνειν τὸ ὅλον.
Sōmatos men gar esti thanatos, hē tōn aisthētēriōn sbesis, kai hē pros ta syngenē tōn stoicheiōn dialysis. Psychē de, phēsin, hē hamartanousa, autē apothaneitai. Hamartia de estin hē tou Theou allotriōsis, hos estin hē alēthinē te kai monē zōē. Oukoun pollas etōn hekatontadas epebiō meta tēn parakoēn ho prōtoplastos, allʼ ho Theos ouk epseusato eipōn; En hę̄ an hēmerą phagēte, thanatǭ apothaneisthe. Dia gar tou allotriōthēnai auton tēs ontōs zōēs, authēmeron ekyrōthē katʼ autou hē tou thanatou apophasis. Meta tauta de chronois hysteron kai ho sōmatikos tǭ ᾿Adam epēkolouthēse thanatos. Ho toinyn dia touto elthōn, hina zētēsę̄ kai sōsę̄ to apolōlos, hoper en tę̄ parabolę̄ ho poimēn probaton onomazei; kai heuriskei to apolōlos, kai analambanei epi tōn idiōn ōmōn holon to probaton, ou monēn tēn tou probatou doran; hina artion poiēsę̄ ton tou Theou anthrōpon, dia psychēs te kai sōmatos anakrathenta pros tēn theotēta. Kai houtōs ouden aphēke tēs physeōs hēmōn ho ouk anelaben ho kata panta pepeiramenos kathʼ homoiotēta, chōris hamartias. Hē de psychē hamartia ouk estin, alla dektikē hamartias ex aboulias egeneto, hēn dia touto hagiazei dia tēs pros heauton anakraseōs; hina tę̄ aparchę̄ holon synagiasę̄ to phyrama. Hou charin kai ho angelos mēnyōn tǭ Iōsēph tēn tōn echthrōn tou Kyriou apōleian, phēsin, hoti Tethnēkasin hoi zētountes tēn psychēn tou paidiou. Kai ho Kyrios pros tous Ioudaious legei, hoti Zēteite me apokteinai, anthrōpon hos tēn alētheian hymin lelalēka? ᾿Anthrōpos de to tou anthrōpou sōma ou legetai, alla to ex amphoterōn synkeimenon. Kai palin phēsi pros autous, hoti Emoi cholate, hoti holon anthrōpon hygiē epoiēsa en sabbatǭ. Ephanerōse de to tou holou noēma, en men tois allois Euangeliois, pros ton dia tēs klinēs en tǭ mesǭ kechalasmenon eipōn, ᾿Apheōntai sou hai hamartiai; hoper psychēs estin iasis; kai hoti "Egeirai kai peripatei; hoper eis tēn sarka blepei. En de tǭ kata Iōannēn, meta to dounai tēn hygieian tǭ sōmati kai tēn psychēn eleutherōsas tēs idias nosou, en hois phēsin, hoti Hygiēs gegonas, mēketi hamartane; enteuthen ho diʼ amphoterōn tetherapeumenos, en psychę̄ te legō kai sōmati. Houtō gar phēsi kai Paulos, hina tous dyo ktisę̄ en heautǭ eis hena kainon anthrōpon. Kai houtōs en tǭ kairǭ tou pathous prolegei, to hekousiōs apostēnai tēn heautou psychēn apo tou idiou sōmatos, legōn; Oudeis airei tēn psychēn mou apʼ emou; allʼ egō tithēmi autēn apʼ emautou. Exousian echō theinai tēn psychēn mou, kai exousian echō palin labein autēn. ᾿Alla kai ho prophētēs Dabid kata tēn hermēneian tou megalou Petrou, eis auton proorōmenos eipen, hoti Ouk enkataleipseis tēn psychēn mou eis ądēn, oude dōseis ton hosion sou idein diaphthoran; houtō tou apostolou Petrou to rhēton hermēneusantos, hoti oute hē psychē autou eg; kateleiphthē eis ton adēn, oute hē sarx autou eide diaphthoran. Hē gar theotēs kai pro tēs sarkos, kai en tę̄ sarki, kai meta to pathos aei hōsautōs echei, ho ēn tę̄ physei pantote ousa kai eis aei diamenousa. En de tǭ pathei tēs anthrōpinēs physeōs, tēn hyper hēmōn oikonomian eplērōse, diazeuxasa tēn psychēn pros kairon ek tou sōmatos, chōristheisa de oudeterou hǭ hapax synanekrathē, kai palin ta diestōta synapsasa, hōste akolouthian kai archēn dounai pasę̄ tę̄ anthrōpinę̄ physei tēs ek nekrōn anastaseōs; hina to phtharton hapan endysētai aphtharsian, kai to thnēton tēn athanasian; tēs aparchēs hēmōn dia tēs pros ton Theon anakraseōs eis theian physin metapoiētheisēs; kathōs eipen ho Petros, hoti Kyrion auton kai Christon epoiēsen ho Theos, touton ton Iēsoun hon hymeis estaurōsate; kai polla tou toioutou dogmatos ek tōn hagiōn Euangeliōn estin eis symmachian labein; pōs ho Kyrios tǭ kata Christon anthrōpinǭ, ton kosmon heautǭ katallassōn, epemerise tę̄ psychę̄ te kai tǭ sōmati tēn parʼ autou ginomenēn tois an thrōpois euergesian; thelōn men dia tēs psychēs, ephaptomenos de dia tou sōmatos; alla peritton an eiē panta diexionta, ochlon epeisagein tǭ logǭ. Ekeino de tois eirēmenois eti prostheis, pros ta ephexēs metabēsomai; Lysate ton naon touton, kai en trisin hēmerais egerō auton. Ōsper hēmeis dia psychēs kai sōmatos naos ginometha tou enoikountos en hēmin kai emperipatountos, houtōs kai ho Kyrios naon onomazei to synamphoteron, hou hē lysis tēn tēs psychēs ek tou sōmatos sēmainei dialysin. Ei de propherousi tēn tou Euangeliou phōnēn, hoti ῾O Logos sarx egeneto, hōs dia tou mē symmnēmoneuthēnai kai tēn psychēn, kataskeuazesthai to apsychon aneilēphthai tēn sarka; mathetōsan hoti synēthes esti tę̄ hagią Graphę̄ tǭ merei symperilambanein to holon.
For the death of the body is the extinguishing of the senses and the dissolution into the kindred elements; but “the soul that sins,” it says, “shall itself die.” And sin is estrangement from God, who is the true and only life. So the first-formed man lived on for many hundreds of years after the disobedience, and yet God did not lie when he said, “On the day you eat, you shall die by death.” For through his being estranged from the true life, the sentence of death was ratified against him that very day; and afterwards, in later times, bodily death too followed for Adam. He, then, who came for this reason, to seek and to save the lost, which the shepherd in the parable calls a sheep, both finds what was lost and takes the whole sheep upon his own shoulders, not only the sheep’s skin, so as to make God’s man complete, blended with the Godhead through soul and body. And so he left nothing of our nature that he did not take up, he who was tempted in all things according to likeness, without sin. And the soul is not sin, but became receptive of sin through ill counsel; for this reason he sanctifies it by blending it with himself, so as to sanctify the whole lump together with the first fruits. For this reason the angel too, announcing to Joseph the destruction of the Lord’s enemies, says, “Those who sought the child’s soul are dead.” And the Lord says to the Jews, “You seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth?” And it is not the body of a man that is called a man, but what is composed of both. And again he says to them, “Are you angry with me because I made a whole man healthy on the sabbath?” And he made plain the meaning of “whole” in the other Gospels, saying to the one let down on his bed into the middle, “Your sins are forgiven,” which is the healing of the soul, and “Rise and walk,” which looks to the flesh; and in the Gospel according to John, after giving health to the body, he also freed the soul from its own sickness, saying, “You have become healthy; sin no more,” so that he was healed in both, I mean in soul and body. For so Paul too says, “that he might create the two in himself into one new man.” And so, at the time of the passion, he foretells that his own soul would depart from his own body willingly, saying, “No one takes my soul from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay down my soul, and I have authority to take it again.” And the prophet David too, according to the interpretation of the great Peter, foreseeing him, said, “You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your holy one see corruption”; so the apostle Peter interpreted the text, that neither was his soul abandoned to Hades nor did his flesh see corruption. For the Godhead, before the flesh and in the flesh and after the passion, is always the same, being by nature always what it was and remaining so for ever. But in the passion of the human nature it fulfilled the economy on our behalf, separating the soul from the body for a time, yet itself not separated from either of those with which it had once been blended, and joining again what had been parted, so as to give to the whole human nature the sequence and the beginning of the resurrection from the dead, so that all that is corruptible may put on incorruption and the mortal immortality, our first fruits having been transformed into the divine nature through blending with God; as Peter said, “God made him Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” And there are many things from the holy Gospels that could be taken as allies for such a doctrine: how the Lord, reconciling the world to himself by the humanity in Christ, distributed between soul and body the benefit he gives to human beings, willing through the soul and touching through the body. But it would be superfluous to go through everything and bring a crowd into the discussion. Adding this further to what has been said, I will pass to what follows. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” As we, through soul and body, become a temple of him who dwells and walks in us, so too the Lord names the two together a temple, whose destruction signifies the dissolution of the soul from the body. And if they bring forward the Gospel’s word, “The Word became flesh,” as though, because the soul is not mentioned with it, it is made out that flesh without a soul was taken up, let them learn that it is customary for Holy Scripture to include the whole in the part.
Ezek 18:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 2:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 5:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 19:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 15:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 15:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 4:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 2:20 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:40 (quotation, high confidence) · John 7:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 5:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 5:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 5:24 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 2:15 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 16:10 (15:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 2:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 2:31 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:53 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 2:36 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:19 (allusion, high confidence) · John 2:19 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 6:16 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory shows from Scripture that Christ took a human soul as well as a body: Adam died spiritually on the day of his sin, the shepherd carries the whole sheep, Christ healed soul and body, laid down his own soul, and his soul was not left in Hades.
- Gregory’s phrase “our first fruits having been transformed into the divine nature” refers to Christ’s humanity after the resurrection; translated as written. “Soul” is kept where Gregory argues from the word (Matt 2:20; John 10:18; Ps 16:10), though English versions often have “life”. Two lines of the scan were interleaved (“for a time from the body, yet itself not separated from either …” had been displaced into a later sentence); restored by logged corrections.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (A line had been displaced by the scan into a later sentence; restored here.; Removes the displaced line (restored above) and rejoins the word.): διαζεύξασα τὴν ψυχὴν ρου ᾧ ἅπαξ συνανεκράθη → διαζεύξασα τὴν ψυχὴν πρὸς καιρὸν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος, χωρισθεῖσα δὲ οὐδετέρου ᾧ ἅπαξ συνανεκράθη; ἐφπρὸς καιρὸν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος, χωρισθεῖσα δὲ οὐδετέαπτόμενος → ἐφαπτόμενος.
Topics: Christology, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Eun. 2.545 (PG 45:545–549; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-contra-eunomium/2-545). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-contra-eunomium/2-545
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek of Migne PG 45 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards in full with NPNF2 5 (Migne Book 1 = NPNF I; Book 2 = NPNF II, the Refutation of Eunomius's Confession; Books 3-10 = NPNF III-X).
2.549PG 45:549–551
Ὁ γὰρ εἰπὼν, ὅτι Πρὸς σὲ πᾶσα σὰρξ ἤξει, οὐ κεχωρισμένην τῶν ψυχῶν τὴν σάρκα λέγει τῷ Κριτῇ παραστήσεσθαι. Καὶ τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἐν ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε ψυχαῖς ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον καταβάντα παρὰ τῆς ἱστορίας ἀκούσαντες, καὶ τὴν σάρκα μετὰ τῶν ψυχῶν ἐνοήσαμεν. Οὕτως οὖν καὶ ὁ Λόγος σάρξ γενόμενος, ὅλην μετὰ τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀνέλαβε φύσιν. Ὅθεν καὶ τὸ πεινῇν καὶ τὸ διψῇν, καὶ τὸ δειλιᾷν καὶ τὸ φοβεῖσθαι, καὶ τὸ ἐπιθυμεῖν, καὶ τὸ καθεύδειν, καὶ τὸ ταράττεσθαι, καὶ τὸ δακρύειν, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα γίνεσθαι, ἐν αὐτῷ χώραν ἔσχεν, οὔτε γὰρ ἡ θεότης κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν φύσιν τι τοιοῦτον ἀναδέχεται πάθος, οὔτε καθʼ ἑαυτὴν ἡ σὰρξ ἐν ἐκείνοις γίνεται, μὴ ψυχῆς συνδιατιθεμένης τῷ σώματι. Καὶ περὶ μὲν τῆς εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν βλασφημίας τοσαῦτα· ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ ὅσα περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος διεξέρχεται. Μετὰ τοῦτο, Πιστεύομεν, φησὶν, εἰς τὸν Παράκλητον τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας. Ἐγὼ δὲ δῆλον οἶμαι πᾶσιν εἶναι τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν, πρὸς ὅ τι βλέπων παρατρέπει τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου παραδοθεῖσαν τῆς πίστεως ἔκθεσιν ἐν τοῖς περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς λόγοις. Τῆς ἀτοπίας ταύτης ἀπελεγχθείσης, ὅμως δὲ καὶ νῦν διʼ ὀλίγων τὸν σκοπὸν αὐτοῦ τῆς κακουργίας φανερὸν καταστῆσαι πειράσομαι. Ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖ Πατέρα οὐκ εἶπεν, ἵνα μὴ τῇ ἀϊδιότητι τοῦ Πατρὸς τὸν Υἱὸν συνενδείξηται, οὐδὲ τὸν Υἱὸν ὠνόμασεν, ἵνα μὴ τὴν κατὰ τὴν φύσιν οἰκειότητα τῇ φωνῇ ταύτῃ συμπαραστήσῃ· οὕτω καὶ νῦν οὐ λέγει Πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ἵνα μὴ τὸ μεγαλεῖον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ κατὰ πάντα ἡνωμένον Πατρί τε καὶ Υἱῷ διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τούτου συνομολογήσῃ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ, κατὰ τὸ ἶσον ἥ τε τοῦ Πνεύματος καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἁγίου κλῆσις παρὰ τῆς Γραφῆς ἐφαρμόζεται (πνεῦμα γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ πνεῦμα πρὸ προσώπου ἡμῶν Χριστὸς Κύριος, καὶ ἅγιος Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ εἷς ἅγιος, εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς), ἵνα μὴ τις γένηται τοῖς ἀκούουσιν ἁγίου Πνεύματος εὐσεβὴς διὰ τούτων ὑπόληψις, ἡ διὰ τὸ κοινωνεῖν τε τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ τῆς ἐνδόξου κλήσεως ἐγγινομένη· τούτου χάριν παρακρουσάμενος τὴν ἀκοὴν τῶν ἀνοήτων, τῆς παρὰ Θεοῦ προεκτεθείσης πίστεως ἐν τῇ παραδόσει τοῦ μυστηρίου ὑπαλλάσσει τὰ ῥήματα ὥσπερ ὁδοποιήσας διὰ τῆς ἀκολουθίας ταύτης τὴν κατὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου ἀσέβειαν. Εἰ γὰρ εἶπεν ὅτι Πιστεύομεν εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, Πνεῦμα δὲ ὁ Θεὸς, ὑπέκρουσεν ἂν ὁ τὰ θεῖα πεπαιδευμένος, ὅτι Εἰ χρὴ πιστεύειν εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· πνεῦμα δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ὀνομάζεται· οὐκ ἄλλο τι κατὰ τὴν φύσιν ἐστὶν, ἢ ἐκεῖνο πάντως ὃ διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ὀνομάτων κυρίως κατονομάζεται. Ὅσα γὰρ οὐ ψευδῶς, οὐδὲ ἐκ καταχρήσεως, ἀλλὰ κυρίως ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ὀνομάτων δηλοῦται, τούτων ἀνάγκη πᾶσα μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ὁμολογεῖσθαι φύσιν, τὴν τοῖς αὐτοῖς σημαινομένην ὀνόμασι. Διὰ ταῦτα σιωπήσας τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου νομοθετηθεῖσαν ἐν τῇ πίστει φωνὴν, Πιστεύομεν, φησὶν, εἰς τὸν παράκλητον. Ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα κοινὸν ἔμαθον εἶναι παρὰ τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς, Πατρός τε καὶ Υἱοῦ καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου. Ὁ γὰρ Υἱὸς ἐπίσης ἑαυτόν τε καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὀνομάζει Παράκλητον. Ὁ δὲ Πατὴρ διʼ ὧν ἐνεργεῖ τὴν παράκλησιν, οἰκειοῦται πάντως τοῦ παρακλήτου τὸ ὄνομα. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τὸ ἔργον ποιῶν τοῦ παρακλήτου, ἀπαξιοῖ τοῦ ἔργου τὸ ὄνομα. Ο τε γὰρ Δαβὶδ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα φησὶν, ὅτι Σὺ Κύριε ἐβοήθησάς μοι καὶ παρεκάλεσάς με· καὶ ὁ μέγας ᾿Απόστολος τὰ αὐτὰ περὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς διεξέρχεται, λέγων, Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατήρ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ παρακαλῶν ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ πάσῃ τῇ θλίψει ἡμῶν. Τὸν δὲ Υἱὸν ὁ Ἰωάννης ἐν μιᾷ τῶν Καθολικῶν Ἐπιστολῶν διαῤῥήδην ὀνομάζει παράκλητον. Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Κύριος, διʼ ὧν εἶπε καὶ ἄλλον παράκλητον ἡμῖν ἀποσταλήσεσθαι, περὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος λέγων, ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ πάντως τὸ ὄνομα τοῦτο προωμολόγησε. Διπλῆς δὲ οὔσης τῆς τοῦ παρακαλεῖν σημασίας, μιᾶς μὲν, διὰ τῶν τιμητικῶν ῥημάτων τε καὶ σχημάτων, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἄν τινος δεόμενοι τύχωμεν, εἰς συμπάθειαν αὐτὸν ἐπαγόμενοι· ἑτέρας δὲ τῆς θεραπευτικῆς τῶν ψυχικῶν τε καὶ σωματικῶν παθημάτων ἐπινοίας, τῶν καθʼ ἑκάτερον ση μαινομένων ἐπίσης ἡ ἁγία Γραφή προσμαρτυρεῖ τῇ θείᾳ φύσει τοῦ παρακλήτου τὴν ἔννοιαν. Νῦν μὲν γὰρ ὁ Παῦλος τὴν ἰατρικὴν ἡμῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναμιν διὰ τῆς παρακλήσεως ἡμῖν παρίστησι, λέγων· Ὁ παρακαλῶν τοὺς ταπεινοὺς, παρεκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ Τίτου. Πάλιν δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἑτέραν διάνοιαν πρὸς τοὺς Κορινθίους γράφων, ταῦτα διέξεισιν, ὅτι Ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ πρεσβεύομεν ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ παρακαλοῦντος διʼ ἡμῶν. Δεόμεθα ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ, καταλλάγητε τῷ Θεῷ, Τούτων οὖν οὕτως ἐχόντων, ὅπως ἂν ἐπὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος νοήσῃς τοῦ παρακλήτου τὸ ὄνομα, τῆς τοῦ Πατρός τε καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ κοινωνίας, καθʼ ἑκάτερον τῶν σημαινομένων, οὐκ ἀποστήσεις.
Ho gar eipōn, hoti Pros se pasa sarx ēxei, ou kechōrismenēn tōn psychōn tēn sarka legei tǭ Kritę̄ parastēsesthai. Kai ton Iakōb en hebdomēkonta pente psychais epi tēn Aigypton katabanta para tēs historias akousantes, kai tēn sarka meta tōn psychōn enoēsamen. Houtōs oun kai ho Logos sarx genomenos, holēn meta tēs sarkos tēn anthrōpinēn anelabe physin. Hothen kai to peinę̄n kai to dipsę̄n, kai to deiliąn kai to phobeisthai, kai to epithymein, kai to katheudein, kai to tarattesthai, kai to dakryein, kai panta ta toiauta ginesthai, en autǭ chōran eschen, oute gar hē theotēs kata tēn idian physin ti toiouton anadechetai pathos, oute kathʼ heautēn hē sarx en ekeinois ginetai, mē psychēs syndiatithemenēs tǭ sōmati. Kai peri men tēs eis ton Huion blasphēmias tosauta; idōmen de kai hosa peri tou hagiou Pneumatos diexerchetai. Meta touto, Pisteuomen, phēsin, eis ton Paraklēton to Pneuma tēs alētheias. Egō de dēlon oimai pasin einai tois entynchanousin, pros ho ti blepōn paratrepei tēn hypo tou Kyriou paradotheisan tēs pisteōs ekthesin en tois peri tou Huiou kai Patros logois. Tēs atopias tautēs apelenchtheisēs, homōs de kai nyn diʼ oligōn ton skopon autou tēs kakourgias phaneron katastēsai peirasomai. Hōs gar ekei Patera ouk eipen, hina mē tę̄ aïdiotēti tou Patros ton Huion synendeixētai, oude ton Huion ōnomasen, hina mē tēn kata tēn physin oikeiotēta tę̄ phōnę̄ tautę̄ symparastēsę̄; houtō kai nyn ou legei Pneuma hagion, hina mē to megaleion tēs doxēs autou kai to kata panta hēnōmenon Patri te kai Huiǭ dia tou onomatos toutou synomologēsę̄. Epeidē gar tǭ Patri kai tǭ Huiǭ, kata to ison hē te tou Pneumatos kai hē tou hagiou klēsis para tēs Graphēs epharmozetai (pneuma gar ho Theos, kai pneuma pro prosōpou hēmōn Christos Kyrios, kai hagios Kyrios ho Theos, kai heis hagios, heis Kyrios Iēsous Christos), hina mē tis genētai tois akouousin hagiou Pneumatos eusebēs dia toutōn hypolēpsis, hē dia to koinōnein te tǭ Patri kai tǭ Huiǭ tēs endoxou klēseōs enginomenē; toutou charin parakrousamenos tēn akoēn tōn anoētōn, tēs para Theou proektetheisēs pisteōs en tę̄ paradosei tou mystēriou hypallassei ta rhēmata hōsper hodopoiēsas dia tēs akolouthias tautēs tēn kata tou Pneumatos tou hagiou asebeian. Ei gar eipen hoti Pisteuomen eis to Pneuma to hagion, Pneuma de ho Theos, hypekrousen an ho ta theia pepaideumenos, hoti Ei chrē pisteuein eis to Pneuma to hagion; pneuma de ho Theos onomazetai; ouk allo ti kata tēn physin estin, ē ekeino pantōs ho dia tōn autōn onomatōn kyriōs katonomazetai. Hosa gar ou pseudōs, oude ek katachrēseōs, alla kyriōs hypo tōn autōn onomatōn dēloutai, toutōn anankē pasa mian kai tēn autēn homologeisthai physin, tēn tois autois sēmainomenēn onomasi. Dia tauta siōpēsas tēn para tou Kyriou nomothetētheisan en tę̄ pistei phōnēn, Pisteuomen, phēsin, eis ton paraklēton. Egō de kai auto touto to onoma koinon emathon einai para tēs theopneustou Graphēs, Patros te kai Huiou kai Pneumatos hagiou. Ho gar Huios episēs heauton te kai to Pneuma to hagion onomazei Paraklēton. Ho de Patēr diʼ hōn energei tēn paraklēsin, oikeioutai pantōs tou paraklētou to onoma. Ou gar dē to ergon poiōn tou paraklētou, apaxioi tou ergou to onoma. O te gar Dabid pros ton Patera phēsin, hoti Sy Kyrie eboēthēsas moi kai parekalesas me; kai ho megas ᾿Apostolos ta auta peri tou Patros diexerchetai, legōn, Eulogētos ho Theos kai Patēr tou Kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou, ho parakalōn hēmas epi pasę̄ tę̄ thlipsei hēmōn. Ton de Huion ho Iōannēs en mią tōn Katholikōn Epistolōn diarrhēdēn onomazei paraklēton. Kai autos de ho Kyrios, diʼ hōn eipe kai allon paraklēton hēmin apostalēsesthai, peri tou Pneumatos legōn, ephʼ heautou pantōs to onoma touto proōmologēse. Diplēs de ousēs tēs tou parakalein sēmasias, mias men, dia tōn timētikōn rhēmatōn te kai schēmatōn, hyper hōn an tinos deomenoi tychōmen, eis sympatheian auton epagomenoi; heteras de tēs therapeutikēs tōn psychikōn te kai sōmatikōn pathēmatōn epinoias, tōn kathʼ hekateron sē mainomenōn episēs hē hagia Graphē prosmartyrei tę̄ theią physei tou paraklētou tēn ennoian. Nyn men gar ho Paulos tēn iatrikēn hēmōn tou Theou dynamin dia tēs paraklēseōs hēmin paristēsi, legōn; Ho parakalōn tous tapeinous, parekalesen hēmas en tę̄ parousią Titou. Palin de kata tēn heteran dianoian pros tous Korinthious graphōn, tauta diexeisin, hoti Hyper Christou presbeuomen hōs tou Theou parakalountos diʼ hēmōn. Deometha hyper Christou, katallagēte tǭ Theǭ, Toutōn oun houtōs echontōn, hopōs an epi tou Pneumatos noēsę̄s tou paraklētou to onoma, tēs tou Patros te kai tou Huiou koinōnias, kathʼ hekateron tōn sēmainomenōn, ouk apostēseis.
For he who said, “To you all flesh shall come,” does not say that flesh separated from souls will stand before the Judge. And hearing from the history that Jacob went down to Egypt with seventy-five souls, we understood the flesh too with the souls. So too, then, the Word, having become flesh, took up the whole human nature together with the flesh. Hence hungering and thirsting, being afraid and fearing, desiring, sleeping, being troubled, weeping, and all such things had a place in him. For neither does the Godhead in its own nature admit any such passion, nor does the flesh by itself come to be in them unless the soul is affected together with the body.
So much for the blasphemy against the Son. Let us see also what he goes through about the Holy Spirit. After this, he says, “We believe in the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth.” I think it is plain to all readers what he has in view in changing the statement of faith handed down by the Lord, in his words about the Son and the Father. That absurdity has been exposed; nevertheless I shall try now too to make the aim of his malice plain in a few words. For as there he did not say Father, so as not to show the Son together with the Father’s eternity, nor named the Son, so as not to present along with this word the kinship of nature, so now too he does not say Holy Spirit, so as not to confess, through this name, the majesty of his glory and his union in all things with Father and Son. For since Scripture applies equally to the Father and the Son both the title “Spirit” and the title “holy” (for “God is spirit,” and “the spirit before our face, Christ the Lord,” and “holy is the Lord God,” and “one is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ”), so that the hearers might not form through these a reverent view of the Holy Spirit, arising from his sharing in the glorious title with the Father and the Son, for this reason he beguiles the hearing of the senseless and changes the words of the faith set out beforehand by God in handing down the mystery, as though paving the way by this sequence for impiety against the Holy Spirit. For if he had said, “We believe in the Holy Spirit,” while “God is spirit,” anyone instructed in divine things would have objected: “If we must believe in the Holy Spirit, and God is named spirit, he is certainly nothing other in nature than that which is properly named by the same names.” For whatever things are signified by the same names, not falsely nor by misuse but properly, of these it is necessary to confess one and the same nature, signified by the same names. For these reasons, keeping silent about the word laid down by the Lord in the faith, he says, “We believe in the Paraclete.”
But I have learned from the inspired Scripture that this very name too is common to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. For the Son names both himself and the Holy Spirit equally Paraclete; and the Father, through the things by which he works consolation, certainly claims the name of Paraclete; for while doing the work of the Paraclete he does not disdain the name of the work. For David says to the Father, “You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me”; and the great Apostle goes through the same about the Father, saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who comforts us in all our affliction.” And John, in one of the Catholic Letters, expressly names the Son Paraclete. And the Lord himself, when he said that another Paraclete would be sent to us, speaking of the Spirit, certainly confessed this name of himself beforehand. And since the meaning of “to call to one’s side” (παρακαλεῖν) is twofold (one, when by respectful words and gestures we move someone to sympathy for whatever we happen to ask of him; the other, the idea of healing the sufferings of soul and body), Holy Scripture equally attests the sense of “Paraclete,” in each of its meanings, to the divine nature. Now Paul presents God’s healing power for us through consolation, saying, “He who comforts the lowly comforted us by the coming of Titus”; and again, writing to the Corinthians in the other sense, he says, “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were appealing through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” This being so, however you understand the name Paraclete in the case of the Spirit, you will not separate him, in either of the meanings, from fellowship with the Father and the Son.
Ps 65:2 (64:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 7:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 46:27 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 4:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 19:28 (allusion, medium confidence) · Mark 14:33 (allusion, medium confidence) · Mark 4:38 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 11:33 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 11:35 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 14:16 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:17 (quotation, high confidence) · John 4:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 4:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 99:9 (98:9 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 8:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 28:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 86:17 (85:17 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 1:4 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 2:1 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 7:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Scripture speaks of the whole by the part, so “the Word became flesh” includes a human soul; Gregory then shows that Eunomius avoids the name “Holy Spirit” and that the name “Paraclete” is given in Scripture to Father, Son and Spirit alike.
- “Paraclete” (παράκλητος) is kept as a title; the verb παρακαλεῖν means both “comfort” and “appeal, entreat,” and Gregory argues from both senses. “The spirit before our face, Christ the Lord”: Lam 4:20 LXX. “One is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ” is the people’s response in the eucharistic liturgy, echoing 1 Cor 8:6. “Seventy-five souls”: Acts 7:14 (Gen 46:27 LXX).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Marginal words leaked into the text.; OCR slip.): γίὸν → Υἱὸν; Ὁ Εἰ παρακαλεῖν παρακαλῶν → Ὁ παρακαλῶν.
Extrabiblical texts: Eunomius, Exp. fid. (Statement of Faith; quotation)
Topics: Christology, Trinity, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Eun. 2.549 (PG 45:549–551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-contra-eunomium/2-549). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-contra-eunomium/2-549
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek of Migne PG 45 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards in full with NPNF2 5 (Migne Book 1 = NPNF I; Book 2 = NPNF II, the Refutation of Eunomius's Confession; Books 3-10 = NPNF III-X).
2.551PG 45:551–555
Οὐκοῦν ἐν τῷ μέρει τούτῳ οὐδὲ βουλόμενος κατασμικρύνειν τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος δόξαν δεδύνηται, ἐκεῖνο προσμαρτυρῶν αὐτῷ, ὅπερ καὶ τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ παρὰ τῆς ἁγίας Γραφῆς ἀνατίθεται. Πνεῦμα δὲ ἀληθείας εἰπὼν Εὐνόμιος, αὐτὸς μὲν, ὡς οἶμαι, τὸ ὑποχείριον ἠβουλήθη διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης παραστῆσαι φωνῆς. Ἐπειδὴ ἀλήθεια μὲν ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν· ἐκεῖνο δὲ Πνεῦμα ἀληθείας ὠνόμασεν. Ὡς εἴ τις λέγοι κτῆμα τῆς ἀληθείας εἶναι καὶ ὑποχείριον, οὐκ εἰδὼς ὅτι δικαιοσύνη ὁ Θεὸς λέγεται· καὶ οὐ δήπου κτῆμα τῆς δικαιοσύνης τὸν Θεὸν ἐνοήσαμεν. "Ὥστε καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας μαθόντες, τὴν θεοπρεπῆ διά νοιαν παρὰ τῆς φωνῆς ἐδεξάμεθα, τῷ ἐπαχθέντι λόγῳ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον χειραγωγούμενοι. Εἰπὼν γὰρ ὁ Κύριος, Τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ἐπήγαγεν εὐθὺς, ὃ παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται. Ὅπερ οὐδενὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ κτίσει νοουμένων ἡ φωνὴ τοῦ Κυρίου προσεμαρτύρησεν, οὐ τοῖς ὁρωμένοις, οὐ τοῖς ἀοράτοις, οὐ θρόνοις, οὐκ ἀρχαῖς, οὐκ ἐξουσίαις, οὐ κυριότησιν, οὐκ ἄλλῳ τινὶ ὀνομαζομένῳ ὀνόματι· οὔτε ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, οὔτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι. Οὗ τοίνυν πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις ἀμέτοχος, δῆλον ἂν εἴη πάντως ὅτι τοῦτο τῆς ἀκτίστου φύσεως ἴδιόν ἐστι καὶ ἐξαίρετον. Οὗτος δὲ πιστεύειν κελεύει εἰς τὸν καθηγητὴν τῆς εὐσεβείας. Οὐκοῦν πιστευέτω εἰς τὸν Παῦλόν τε καὶ Βαρνάβαν, καὶ Τίτον, καὶ Σιλουανὸν, καὶ Τιμόθεον, καὶ πάντας ἐκείνους διʼ ὧν πρὸς τὴν πίστιν καθωδηγήθημεν. Εἰ[ς] γὰρ τὸ καθηγούμενον εἰς εὐσέβειαν μετὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ πιστεύεσθαι χρὴ, πάντὲς οἱ προφῆται καὶ νομοθέται, καὶ πατριάρχαι, κήρυκές τε καὶ εὐαγγελισταὶ, καὶ ἀπόστολοι, ποιμένες τε καὶ διδάσκαλοι ὁμοτίμως ἔχουσι πρὸς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καθηγηταὶ τοῖς μετʼ ἐκείνους τῆς εὐσεβείας γενόμενοι. Γενόμενος, φησὶν, ὑπὸ τοῦ μόνου Θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς. ᾿Ανακεφαλαιοῦται πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀσέβειαν διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων. Πάλιν μόνον Θεὸν τὸν Πατέρα κατονομάζει ὀργάνῳ κεχρημένον τῷ Μονογενεῖ πρὸς τὴν κατασκευὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος. Ποίαν εὑρὼν ἐκ τῆς Γραφῆς σκιὰν τοῦ τοιούτου νοήματος, ταῦτα τολμᾷ; Ἐκ ποίας ἀρχῆς διʼ ἀκολούθου πρὸς τὸ τοιοῦτο πέρας προήγαγε τὴν ἀσέβειαν; Τίς τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν φησι; τίς ἀπόστολος; τίς προφήτης; Πᾶν μὲν οὖν τὸ ἐναντίον πᾶσα Γραφὴ θεόπνευστος, ἡ διὰ τῆς ἐπιπνοίας τοῦ Πνεύματος ἀναγραφεῖσα, μαρτυρεῖ τῷ Πνεύματι τὴν θεότητα. Οἷον (κρεῖττον γὰρ διʼ αὐτῶν τῶν μαρτυριῶν ἀποδεῖξαι τὸν λόγον) οἱ λαβόντες ἐξουσίαν τοῦ τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι, μαρτυροῦσι τῷ Πνεύματι τὴν θεότητα. Τίς γὰρ ἀγνοεῖ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴν, ὅτι Οἱ ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος γεννηθέντες, Θεοῦ τέκνα εἰσίν; Οὕτω γὰρ διαῤῥήδην μαρτυρεῖ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ τέκνων τὴν γέννησιν, εἰπὼν, ὅτι "Ωσπερ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς, σάρξ ἐστιν· οὕτως καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος, πνεῦμα ἐστιν. Ὅσοι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐγεννήθησαν, Θεοῦ τέκνα προσηγορεύθησαν. Οὕτως καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου διὰ τοῦ προσφυσήματος δεδωκότος τοῖς μαθηταῖς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, φησὶν ὁ Ἰωάννης, Ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐλάβομεν. Ἐν αὐτῷ δὲ κατοικεῖν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος, ὁ μέγας Παῦλος διαμαρτύρεται. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔτι διὰ τοῦ προφήτου Ἠσαΐου περὶ τῆς γενομένης αὐτῷ θεοφανείας, ὅτε εἶδε τὸν καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου, ἡ μὲν ἀρχαιοτέρα παράδοσις τὸν Πατέρα εἶναι λέγει τὸν ὀφθέντα· ὁ δὲ εὐαγγελιστὴς Ἰωάννης, εἰς τὸν Κύριον ἀναφέρει τὴν προφητείαν, λέγων περὶ τῶν μὴ πεπιστευκότων Ἰουδαίων τὰς τῷ προφήτῃ ῥηθείσας περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου φωνάς, ὅτι Ταῦτα εἶπεν Ἠσαΐας, ὅτε εἶδε τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐλάλησε περὶ αὐτοῦ. Ὁ δὲ μέγας Παῦλος τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτον λόγον προσεμαρτύρησεν, ἐν τῇ γενομένῃ αὐτῷ πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους κατὰ τὴν Ῥώμην δημηγορίᾳ. Ὅτε φησὶν, Καλῶς εἶπε περὶ ὑμῶν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ὅτι ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε, καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε· δεικνὺς, ὡς οἶμαι, διʼ αὐτῆς τῆς ἁγίας Γραφῆς, ὅτι πᾶσα ὀπτασία θειοτέρα, καὶ πᾶσα θεοφάνεια, καὶ πᾶς λόγος ἐκ προσώπου Θεοῦ λεγόμενος, ἐπὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς νοεῖται, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου. Διὰ τοῦτο τοῦ Δαβὶδ εἰπόντος, ὅτι παρώργισαν τὸν Θεὸν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καὶ παρώξυναν αὐτὸν ἐν γῇ ἀνύδρῳ, ὁ ᾿Απόστολος εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἀναφέρει τὰ παρὰ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγενημένα, οὕτως γράψας τῷ ῥήματι Διὸ, καθὼς λέγει τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, Μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὗ ἐπείρασάν με οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἀνατίθησιν, ὅσα ἡ προφητεία πρὸς Θεὸν ἀναφέρει. Οἱ δὲ τρεῖς ἡμῖν θεοὺς διὰ τῶν τοιούτων ἐπιθρυλλοῦντες δογμάτων, οὔπω τάχα οὐδὲ ἀριθμεῖν ἐδιδάχθησαν. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ οὐ μερίζονται ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων εἰς δυϊκὴν σημασίαν (ἓν γάρ εἰσι, καὶ οὐχὶ δύο, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνήν· ἓν δὲ καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον), πῶς τὸ ἑνὶ συντιθέ μενον εἰς τριῶν θεῶν ἀριθμὸν διασχίζεται;
Oukoun en tǭ merei toutǭ oude boulomenos katasmikrynein tēn tou hagiou Pneumatos doxan dedynētai, ekeino prosmartyrōn autǭ, hoper kai tǭ Patri kai tǭ Huiǭ para tēs hagias Graphēs anatithetai. Pneuma de alētheias eipōn Eunomios, autos men, hōs oimai, to hypocheirion ēboulēthē dia tēs toiautēs parastēsai phōnēs. Epeidē alētheia men ho Christos estin; ekeino de Pneuma alētheias ōnomasen. Hōs ei tis legoi ktēma tēs alētheias einai kai hypocheirion, ouk eidōs hoti dikaiosynē ho Theos legetai; kai ou dēpou ktēma tēs dikaiosynēs ton Theon enoēsamen. "Hōste kai to Pneuma tēs alētheias mathontes, tēn theoprepē dia noian para tēs phōnēs edexametha, tǭ epachthenti logǭ pros to kreitton cheiragōgoumenoi. Eipōn gar ho Kyrios, To Pneuma tēs alētheias, epēgagen euthys, ho para tou Patros ekporeuetai. Hoper oudeni tōn en tę̄ ktisei nooumenōn hē phōnē tou Kyriou prosemartyrēsen, ou tois horōmenois, ou tois aoratois, ou thronois, ouk archais, ouk exousiais, ou kyriotēsin, ouk allǭ tini onomazomenǭ onomati; oute en tǭ aiōni toutǭ, oute en tǭ mellonti. Hou toinyn pasa hē ktisis ametochos, dēlon an eiē pantōs hoti touto tēs aktistou physeōs idion esti kai exaireton. Houtos de pisteuein keleuei eis ton kathēgētēn tēs eusebeias. Oukoun pisteuetō eis ton Paulon te kai Barnaban, kai Titon, kai Silouanon, kai Timotheon, kai pantas ekeinous diʼ hōn pros tēn pistin kathōdēgēthēmen. Ei[s] gar to kathēgoumenon eis eusebeian meta tou Patros kai Huiou pisteuesthai chrē, pantes hoi prophētai kai nomothetai, kai patriarchai, kērykes te kai euangelistai, kai apostoloi, poimenes te kai didaskaloi homotimōs echousi pros to Pneuma to hagion, kathēgētai tois metʼ ekeinous tēs eusebeias genomenoi. Genomenos, phēsin, hypo tou monou Theou dia tou Monogenous. ᾿Anakephalaioutai pasan autou tēn asebeian dia tōn eirēmenōn. Palin monon Theon ton Patera katonomazei organǭ kechrēmenon tǭ Monogenei pros tēn kataskeuēn tou Pneumatos. Poian heurōn ek tēs Graphēs skian tou toioutou noēmatos, tauta tolmą? Ek poias archēs diʼ akolouthou pros to toiouto peras proēgage tēn asebeian? Tis tōn euangelistōn phēsi? tis apostolos? tis prophētēs? Pan men oun to enantion pasa Graphē theopneustos, hē dia tēs epipnoias tou Pneumatos anagrapheisa, martyrei tǭ Pneumati tēn theotēta. Hoion (kreitton gar diʼ autōn tōn martyriōn apodeixai ton logon) hoi labontes exousian tou tekna Theou genesthai, martyrousi tǭ Pneumati tēn theotēta. Tis gar agnoei tēn tou Kyriou phōnēn, hoti Hoi ek tou Pneumatos gennēthentes, Theou tekna eisin? Houtō gar diarrhēdēn martyrei tǭ hagiǭ Pneumati tōn tou Theou teknōn tēn gennēsin, eipōn, hoti "Ōsper to gegennēmenon ek tēs sarkos, sarx estin; houtōs kai to gegennēmenon ek tou pneumatos, pneuma estin. Hosoi de hypo tou Pneumatos egennēthēsan, Theou tekna prosēgoreuthēsan. Houtōs kai tou Kyriou dia tou prosphysēmatos dedōkotos tois mathētais to Pneuma to hagion, phēsin ho Iōannēs, Ek tou plērōmatos autou hēmeis pantes elabomen. En autǭ de katoikein to plērōma tēs theotētos, ho megas Paulos diamartyretai. Alla kai eti dia tou prophētou Ēsaïou peri tēs genomenēs autǭ theophaneias, hote eide ton kathēmenon epi thronou hypsēlou kai epērmenou, hē men archaiotera paradosis ton Patera einai legei ton ophthenta; ho de euangelistēs Iōannēs, eis ton Kyrion anapherei tēn prophēteian, legōn peri tōn mē pepisteukotōn Ioudaiōn tas tǭ prophētę̄ rhētheisas peri tou Kyriou phōnas, hoti Tauta eipen Ēsaïas, hote eide tēn doxan autou, kai elalēse peri autou. Ho de megas Paulos tǭ hagiǭ Pneumati ton auton touton logon prosemartyrēsen, en tę̄ genomenę̄ autǭ pros tous Ioudaious kata tēn Rhōmēn dēmēgorią. Hote phēsin, Kalōs eipe peri hymōn to Pneuma to hagion, hoti akoę̄ akousete, kai ou mē synēte; deiknys, hōs oimai, diʼ autēs tēs hagias Graphēs, hoti pasa optasia theiotera, kai pasa theophaneia, kai pas logos ek prosōpou Theou legomenos, epi tou Patros noeitai, kai epi tou Huiou, kai epi tou Pneumatos tou hagiou. Dia touto tou Dabid eipontos, hoti parōrgisan ton Theon en tę̄ erēmǭ, kai parōxynan auton en gę̄ anydrǭ, ho ᾿Apostolos eis to Pneuma to hagion anapherei ta para tōn Israēlitōn kata tou Theou gegenēmena, houtōs grapsas tǭ rhēmati Dio, kathōs legei to Pneuma to hagion, Mē sklērynēte tas kardias hymōn hōs en tǭ parapikrasmǭ kata tēn hēmeran tou peirasmou en tę̄ erēmǭ, hou epeirasan me hoi pateres hymōn, kai ta alla panta tǭ prosōpǭ tou hagiou Pneumatos anatithēsin, hosa hē prophēteia pros Theon anapherei. Hoi de treis hēmin theous dia tōn toioutōn epithryllountes dogmatōn, oupō tacha oude arithmein edidachthēsan. Ei gar ho Huios kai ho Patēr ou merizontai apʼ allēlōn eis dyïkēn sēmasian (hen gar eisi, kai ouchi dyo, kata tēn tou Kyriou phōnēn; hen de kai to Pneuma to hagion), pōs to heni syntithe menon eis triōn theōn arithmon diaschizetai?
So in this part, even wishing to belittle the glory of the Holy Spirit, he has not been able to, since he attests to him what Holy Scripture ascribes to the Father and the Son as well. And by saying “Spirit of truth,” Eunomius himself, I think, wished to present subjection by such a word: since Christ is the truth, he named that one the Spirit of truth, as if one were to say that he is a possession of the truth and subject to it; not knowing that God is called righteousness, and surely we have not understood God to be a possession of righteousness. So, learning “the Spirit of truth” too, we received from the word the sense befitting God, guided toward the better by the words that follow. For the Lord, having said “the Spirit of truth,” immediately added, “who proceeds from the Father,” which the Lord’s voice attested of nothing conceived in creation: not of things seen, not of things unseen, not of thrones, not rulers, not authorities, not dominions, nor of any other name that is named, either in this age or in the age to come. That, then, in which all creation has no share would certainly be plainly proper and special to the uncreated nature.
But this man bids us believe in “the guide of godliness.” Then let him believe in Paul and Barnabas and Titus and Silvanus and Timothy and all those through whom we were guided to the faith. For if what guides to godliness must be believed in together with the Father and the Son, all the prophets and lawgivers and patriarchs, heralds and evangelists and apostles, shepherds and teachers have equal honor with the Holy Spirit, since they became guides of godliness to those after them. “Made,” he says, “by the only God through the Only-begotten.” He sums up all his impiety in these words. Again he names the Father only God, who used the Only-begotten as an instrument for constructing the Spirit. What shadow of such a thought has he found in Scripture, that he dares these things? From what beginning has he advanced his impiety by consequence to such an end? Which of the evangelists says it? Which apostle? Which prophet? On the contrary, all inspired Scripture, written by the inspiration of the Spirit, testifies to the Spirit’s Godhead. For example (for it is better to prove the statement by the testimonies themselves), those who received authority to become children of God testify to the Spirit’s Godhead. For who does not know the Lord’s word, that those born of the Spirit are children of God? For so he expressly attests to the Holy Spirit the birth of God’s children, saying, “As what is born of the flesh is flesh, so also what is born of the Spirit is spirit”; and as many as were born of the Spirit were called children of God. So too, when the Lord had given the Holy Spirit to the disciples by breathing on them, John says, “From his fullness we have all received”; and the great Paul testifies that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him. And further, concerning the theophany given to the prophet Isaiah, when he saw the one sitting on a high and lifted-up throne, the older tradition says that the one seen was the Father; but the evangelist John refers the prophecy to the Lord, saying, about the Jews who did not believe, of the words spoken by the prophet about the Lord: “Isaiah said these things when he saw his glory and spoke about him.” And the great Paul attested this same saying to the Holy Spirit in the address he made to the Jews at Rome, when he says, “Well did the Holy Spirit speak about you: ‘You will indeed hear and not understand’”; showing, I think, by Holy Scripture itself, that every more divine vision, every theophany, and every word spoken in the person of God is understood of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. For this reason, when David said that they provoked God in the wilderness and embittered him in a dry land, the Apostle refers to the Holy Spirit what the Israelites did against God, writing thus: “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me,’” and all the rest that the prophecy refers to God he ascribes to the person of the Holy Spirit. But those who babble that we have three gods because of such doctrines have perhaps not yet been taught even to count. For if the Son and the Father are not divided from each other into a meaning of two (for they are one and not two, according to the Lord’s word), and the Holy Spirit too is one, how is what is put together with the one split into a number of three gods?
John 15:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 23:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 1:30 (allusion, medium confidence) · Col 1:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 1:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 13:2 (allusion, low confidence) · John 1:12 (allusion, high confidence) · John 3:6 (quotation, high confidence) · John 20:22 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 2:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 6:1 (allusion, high confidence) · John 12:41 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 28:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 28:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 6:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 78:40 (77:40 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 3:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 3:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 3:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 95:8 (94:8 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · John 10:30 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Tim 3:16 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory argues that Christ’s words “the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father” place the Spirit above all creation, rejects Eunomius’s claim that the Spirit was made by the Father through the Son, and shows that Scripture ascribes to the Spirit the divine new birth and the words God spoke through Isaiah and David.
- “The guide of godliness” and “made by the only God through the Only-begotten” are quoted from Eunomius’s article on the Spirit. Isaiah’s vision (Isa 6:1–10) is read of the Father by “the older tradition,” of the Son by John 12:41, and of the Spirit by Acts 28:25; Gregory concludes that it belongs to all three. God called “righteousness”: Jer 23:6; 1 Cor 1:30.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip.; Split word rejoined.): φων νῆς → φωνῆς; ἐξουτίαν → ἐξουσίαν; ὁ Πατὴς → ὁ Πατὴρ.
Extrabiblical texts: Eunomius, Exp. fid. (Statement of Faith; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Eun. 2.551 (PG 45:551–555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-contra-eunomium/2-551). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-contra-eunomium/2-551
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek of Migne PG 45 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards in full with NPNF2 5 (Migne Book 1 = NPNF I; Book 2 = NPNF II, the Refutation of Eunomius's Confession; Books 3-10 = NPNF III-X).
2.555PG 45:555–559
ἢ δῆλον πάντως ἐστὶν, ὅτι οὐκ ἄν τις ἐπικαλέσειεν ἡμῖν τριῶν θεῶν ἀριθμὸν, μὴ πρότερον αὐτὸς θεῶν δυάδα ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ δόγματι κατασκευάζων. Τοῖς γὰρ δύο τὸ ἓν συντιθέμενον, τὴν Τριάδα τῶν θεῶν ἀπεργάζεται· παρʼ ὧν δὲ εἷς προσκυνεῖται Θεὸς, ἐπʼ ὀνόματι Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου, ποίαν ἔχει χώραν ἡ τῶν τριῶν θεῶν κατηγορία; ᾿Αλλʼ ἐπαναλάβωμεν πάντα τοῦ Εὐνομίου τὸν λόγον. Γενόμενος, φησὶν, παρὰ τοῦ μόνου Θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς καὶ τοῦτο. Τίς οὖν ἀπόδειξις τοῦ καὶ τοῦτο ἓν τῶν παρὰ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς εἶναι; Πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ γεγενῆσθαι πάντως ἐροῦσιν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς πᾶσι συμπεριειλῆφθαι καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς οὓς ἐροῦμεν ὅτι Πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο· ἐγένετο δὲ, καθὼς ὁ Παῦλός φησιν, ὁρατὰ καὶ ἀόρατα, θρόνοι, ἐξουσίαι, ἀρχαὶ, κυριότητες, δυνάμεις· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἀπηριθμημένοις διὰ τῶν θρόνων τε καὶ τῶν δυνάμεων, τὰ Χερουβὶμ καὶ τὰ Σεραφὶμ ὑπὸ τοῦ Παύλου κατείλεκται· ἕως τούτου τὰ πάντα. Τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ὡς ὑπὲρ τὴν φύσιν τῶν γεγονότων ἐν τῇ ἀπαριθμήσει τῶν ὄντων ὁ Παῦλος ἀπεσιώπησεν, οὔτε τὸ γενέσθαι, οὔτε τὸ ὑποτετάχθαι διὰ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ λόγων ἡμῖν ἐνδειξάμενος· ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ὁ Προφήτης ἀγαθὸν, καὶ εὐθὲς, καὶ ἡγεμονικὸν ὀνομάζει τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, διὰ τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ τὸ ἀρχικὸν ἐνδεικνύμενος· οὕτω καὶ ὁ ᾿Απόστολος πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν ἐνεργεῖν, καθὼς βούλεται, διοριζόμενος, τὴν αὐθεντικὴν ἐξουσίαν προσμαρτυρεῖ τῇ ἀξίᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος· ὁ δὲ Κύριος τὴν αὐτεξούσιον αὐτοῦ δύναμίν τε καὶ ἐνέργειαν ἐν τῷ πρὸς Νικόδημον λόγῳ φανερὰν ποιεῖ, λέγων, ὅτι Τὸ Πνεῦμα ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ. Πῶς οὖν καὶ ὁ Εὐνόμιος ἓν καὶ τοῦτο τῶν γεγονότων εἶναι παρὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ διορίζεται, τῇ ἀϊδίῳ ὑποταγῇ καταδεδικασμένον· Καθάπαξ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὑποτεταγμένον· οὐκ οἶδα ποίῳ τῆς ὑποταγῆς εἶδει τὸ ἡγεμονικόν τε καὶ ἀρχικὸν ὑποζεύξας. Πολύσημος γὰρ ἡ τοιαύτη φωνὴ παρὰ τῇ ἁγία Γραφῇ, καὶ πολυτρόπως νοουμένη καὶ λεγομένη. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὴν ἄλογον φύσιν ὑποτετάχθαι φησὶν ὁ Προφήτης, καὶ τοὺς ἐν πολέμῳ κεκρατημένους τῷ αὐτῷ ὑπάγει ὀνόματι, καὶ δούλους τοῖς ἰδίοις δεσπόταις ὑποτάσσεσθαι νομοθετεῖ ὁ Ἀπόστολος, καὶ τὰ τέκνα ἐν ὑποταγῇ ἔχειν τοὺς τῆς ἱερωσύνης προεστηκότας διακελεύεται· ὡς τῆς γινομένης παρʼ αὐτῶν ἀταξίας, καθʼ ὁμοιότητα τῶν Ἠλεὶ τοῦ ἱερέως παίδων, εἰς τοὺς πατέρας διαβαινούσης. Ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὑποταγὴν, ὅταν ἑνωθέντες οἱ πάντες ἀλλήλοις, διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἓν σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου τοῦ ἐν πᾶσιν ὄντος γενώμεθα, τοῦ Υἱοῦ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα ὑποταγὴν ὁ Ἀπόστολος λέγει, τῆς παρὰ πάντων ὁμοθυμαδὸν γινομένης τῷ Υἱῷ προσκυνήσεως παρά τε τῶν ἐπουρανίων, καὶ τῶν ἐπιγείων, καὶ τῶν καταχθονίων, εἰς τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς δόξαν διαβαινούσης· οὕτως εἰπόντος τοῦ Παύλου, ὅτι Αὐτῷ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων, καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται, ὅτι Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ Πατρός. Οὗ γενομένου, τὸν ἐν πᾶσιν ὄντα Υἱὸν διὰ τῆς τῶν πάντων, ἐν οἷς ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς, ὑποταγῆς αὐτὸν ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ Πατρὶ, ἡ μεγάλη τοῦ Παύλου διαβεβαιοῦται σοφία. Τίνα οὖν ἐπιθρυλλεῖ τῷ Πνεύματι τὴν καθάπαξ ὑποταγὴν ὁ Εὐνόμιος; οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τῆς προσριφείσης παρʼ αὐτοῦ διδαχθῆναι φωνῆς τῶν ἀλόγων, ἢ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων, ἢ τῶν οἰκετῶν, ἢ τῶν σωφρονιζομένων τέκνων, ἢ τῶν διὰ τῆς ὑποταγῆς σωζομένων. Ἡ γὰρ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὑποταγή, σωτηρία τοῖς ὑποτασσομένοις ἐστί. Κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Προφήτου φωνὴν ἡ φησιν, ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ θεῷ τὴν ψυχὴν, ἐπειδὴ παρʼ αὐτοῦ γίνεται διὰ τῆς ὑποταγῆς τὸ σωτήριον· ὡς εἶναι τὴν ὑποταγὴν, τῆς ἀπωλείας ἀλεξιτήριον. Ὥσπερ τοίνυν ἰατρικὴ τοῖς νοσοῦσι σπουδάζεται, οὕτως καὶ ἡ ὑποταγὴ τοῖς δεομένοις τῆς σωτηρίας. Τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τὸ ζωοποιοῦν τὰ πάντα, ποίας ἐνδεές ἐστι ζωῆς, ἵνα διὰ τῆς ὑποταγῆς τὴν σωτηρίαν ἑαυτῷ κατακτήσηται Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν οὔτε ἀπό τινος θείας φωνῆς τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐπιθρυλλεῖν ἔχει τῷ Πνεύματι, οὔτε ἐκ τῆς τῶν εἰκότων λογισμῶν ἀκολουθίας ταύτην, κατὰ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος τὴν βλασφημίαν προήκατο· δῆλον ἂν εἴη τοῖς νοῦν ἔχουσιν, ὅτι ἀσυνηγόρητον ἐκτίθεται κατʼ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀσέβειαν, οὔτε μαρτυρίᾳ τινὶ Γραφικῇ, οὔτε μὴν ἀκολουθίᾳ λογισμῶν κρατυνομένην. Προστίθησι δὲ τούτοις, ὅτι Οὔτε κατὰ τὸν Πατέρα, οὔτε τῷ Πατρὶ συναριθμούμενος, εἶς γάρ ἐστι καὶ μόνος Πατήρ ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεός· οὔτε τῷ Υἱῷ συνεξισούμενος, μονογενής γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς, οὐδένα ἔχων ὁμογενῆ. Ἐγὼ μὲν, εἴγε μόνον τοῦτο τῷ λόγῳ προσέθηκε, τὸ μὴ εἶναι πατέρα τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, μάταιον καὶ τούτοις ὤμην τοῖς παρὰ μηδενὸς ἀμφισβητουμένοις ἐμφιλοχωρεῖν, ἐκεῖνα περὶ αὐτοῦ νοεῖν κωλύοντα, ἅπερ οὐδʼ ἂν τῶν ἄγαν τις ἀνοήτων ὑπονοήσειεν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ διὰ τῶν ἀνοικείων τε καὶ ἀπροσκόλλων κατασκευάζειν ἐπιχειρεῖ τὴν ἀσέβειαν, διʼ ὧν μὴ εἶναι λέγει τοῦ Μονογενοῦς πατέρα τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, διὰ τούτων ἀποδεικνύειν οἰόμενος τὸ εἶναι ὑποτεταγμένον καὶ ὑποχείριον, τούτου χάριν εἰς ἔλεγχον τῆς ἀνοίας αὐτοῦ τῶν ῥημάτων τούτων τὴν μνήμην ἐποιησάμην.
ē dēlon pantōs estin, hoti ouk an tis epikaleseien hēmin triōn theōn arithmon, mē proteron autos theōn dyada en tǭ idiǭ dogmati kataskeuazōn. Tois gar dyo to hen syntithemenon, tēn Triada tōn theōn apergazetai; parʼ hōn de heis proskyneitai Theos, epʼ onomati Patros kai Huiou kai Pneumatos hagiou, poian echei chōran hē tōn triōn theōn katēgoria? ᾿Allʼ epanalabōmen panta tou Eunomiou ton logon. Genomenos, phēsin, para tou monou Theou dia tou Monogenous kai touto. Tis oun apodeixis tou kai touto hen tōn para tou Monogenous einai? Panta diʼ autou gegenēsthai pantōs erousin, en de tois pasi symperieilēphthai kai touto pros hous eroumen hoti Panta diʼ autou egeneto; egeneto de, kathōs ho Paulos phēsin, horata kai aorata, thronoi, exousiai, archai, kyriotētes, dynameis; en de tois apērithmēmenois dia tōn thronōn te kai tōn dynameōn, ta Cheroubim kai ta Seraphim hypo tou Paulou kateilektai; heōs toutou ta panta. To de Pneuma to hagion, hōs hyper tēn physin tōn gegonotōn en tę̄ aparithmēsei tōn ontōn ho Paulos apesiōpēsen, oute to genesthai, oute to hypotetachthai dia tōn heautou logōn hēmin endeixamenos; allʼ hōsper ho Prophētēs agathon, kai euthes, kai hēgemonikon onomazei to Pneuma to hagion, dia tou hēgemonikou to archikon endeiknymenos; houtō kai ho ᾿Apostolos panta en pasin energein, kathōs bouletai, diorizomenos, tēn authentikēn exousian prosmartyrei tę̄ axią tou Pneumatos; ho de Kyrios tēn autexousion autou dynamin te kai energeian en tǭ pros Nikodēmon logǭ phaneran poiei, legōn, hoti To Pneuma hopou thelei pnei. Pōs oun kai ho Eunomios hen kai touto tōn gegonotōn einai para tou Huiou diorizetai, tę̄ aïdiǭ hypotagę̄ katadedikasmenon; Kathapax gar, phēsin, hypotetagmenon; ouk oida poiǭ tēs hypotagēs eidei to hēgemonikon te kai archikon hypozeuxas. Polysēmos gar hē toiautē phōnē para tę̄ hagia Graphę̄, kai polytropōs nooumenē kai legomenē. Kai gar kai tēn alogon physin hypotetachthai phēsin ho Prophētēs, kai tous en polemǭ kekratēmenous tǭ autǭ hypagei onomati, kai doulous tois idiois despotais hypotassesthai nomothetei ho Apostolos, kai ta tekna en hypotagę̄ echein tous tēs hierōsynēs proestēkotas diakeleuetai; hōs tēs ginomenēs parʼ autōn ataxias, kathʼ homoiotēta tōn Ēlei tou hiereōs paidōn, eis tous pateras diabainousēs. Alla kai pantōn tōn anthrōpōn tēn pros ton Theon hypotagēn, hotan henōthentes hoi pantes allēlois, dia tēs pisteōs hen sōma tou Kyriou tou en pasin ontos genōmetha, tou Huiou pros ton Patera hypotagēn ho Apostolos legei, tēs para pantōn homothymadon ginomenēs tǭ Huiǭ proskynēseōs para te tōn epouraniōn, kai tōn epigeiōn, kai tōn katachthoniōn, eis tēn tou Patros doxan diabainousēs; houtōs eipontos tou Paulou, hoti Autǭ kampsei pan gony epouraniōn kai epigeiōn kai katachthoniōn, kai pasa glōssa exomologēsetai, hoti Kyrios Iēsous Christos eis doxan Theou Patros. Hou genomenou, ton en pasin onta Huion dia tēs tōn pantōn, en hois estin ho Huios, hypotagēs auton hypotassesthai tǭ Patri, hē megalē tou Paulou diabebaioutai sophia. Tina oun epithryllei tǭ Pneumati tēn kathapax hypotagēn ho Eunomios? ouk estin ek tēs prosripheisēs parʼ autou didachthēnai phōnēs tōn alogōn, ē tōn aichmalōtōn, ē tōn oiketōn, ē tōn sōphronizomenōn teknōn, ē tōn dia tēs hypotagēs sōzomenōn. Hē gar pros ton Theon tōn anthrōpōn hypotagē, sōtēria tois hypotassomenois esti. Kata tēn tou Prophētou phōnēn hē phēsin, hypotassesthai tǭ theǭ tēn psychēn, epeidē parʼ autou ginetai dia tēs hypotagēs to sōtērion; hōs einai tēn hypotagēn, tēs apōleias alexitērion. Hōsper toinyn iatrikē tois nosousi spoudazetai, houtōs kai hē hypotagē tois deomenois tēs sōtērias. To de Pneuma to hagion to zōopoioun ta panta, poias endees esti zōēs, hina dia tēs hypotagēs tēn sōtērian heautǭ kataktēsētai Epeidē toinyn oute apo tinos theias phōnēs to toiouton epithryllein echei tǭ Pneumati, oute ek tēs tōn eikotōn logismōn akolouthias tautēn, kata tou hagiou Pneumatos tēn blasphēmian proēkato; dēlon an eiē tois noun echousin, hoti asynēgorēton ektithetai katʼ autou tēn asebeian, oute martyrią tini Graphikę̄, oute mēn akolouthią logismōn kratynomenēn. Prostithēsi de toutois, hoti Oute kata ton Patera, oute tǭ Patri synarithmoumenos, eis gar esti kai monos Patēr ho epi pantōn Theos; oute tǭ Huiǭ synexisoumenos, monogenēs gar estin ho Huios, oudena echōn homogenē. Egō men, eige monon touto tǭ logǭ prosethēke, to mē einai patera tou Huiou to Pneuma to hagion, mataion kai toutois ōmēn tois para mēdenos amphisbētoumenois emphilochōrein, ekeina peri autou noein kōlyonta, haper oudʼ an tōn agan tis anoētōn hyponoēseien. Epeidē de dia tōn anoikeiōn te kai aproskollōn kataskeuazein epicheirei tēn asebeian, diʼ hōn mē einai legei tou Monogenous patera to Pneuma to hagion, dia toutōn apodeiknyein oiomenos to einai hypotetagmenon kai hypocheirion, toutou charin eis elenchon tēs anoias autou tōn rhēmatōn toutōn tēn mnēmēn epoiēsamēn.
Or is it not entirely plain that no one would charge us with a number of three gods unless he had himself first constructed a pair of gods in his own doctrine? For the one added to the two produces the triad of gods; but among those by whom one God is worshiped, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, what place has the charge of three gods?
But let us take up again the whole of Eunomius’s statement. “Made,” he says, “by the only God through the Only-begotten, this too.” What proof is there, then, that this too is one of the things that are from the Only-begotten? They will certainly say that all things came to be through him, and that this too is included among all things. To them we shall say: “All things came to be through him”; and there came to be, as Paul says, things visible and invisible, thrones, authorities, rulers, dominions, powers; and among those enumerated, under thrones and powers Paul has listed the cherubim and the seraphim: so far is “all things.” But the Holy Spirit Paul passed over in silence in his enumeration of existing things, as being above the nature of things made, showing us by his words neither that he came to be nor that he was subjected. But as the Prophet names the Holy Spirit good and upright and governing, indicating his ruling character by “governing,” so too the Apostle, defining that he works all things in all as he wills, attests sovereign authority to the Spirit’s dignity; and the Lord makes plain his self-determining power and activity in his discourse to Nicodemus, saying, “The Spirit blows where he wills.” How, then, does Eunomius too define this as one of the things made by the Son, condemned to eternal subjection? For he says, “subjected once for all”; I do not know under what kind of subjection he has yoked what is governing and ruling. For such a word has many meanings in Holy Scripture and is understood and used in many ways. For the Prophet says that the irrational nature has been subjected, and brings those overcome in war under the same name; and the Apostle lays down that slaves be subject to their own masters, and orders those who preside in the priesthood to keep their children in subjection, since disorder on their part passes over to the fathers, as with the sons of Eli the priest. And the subjection of all human beings to God, when all, united with one another, become through faith one body of the Lord who is in all, the Apostle calls the subjection of the Son to the Father, since the worship offered with one accord to the Son by all, by those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, passes over to the Father’s glory; for Paul says, “To him every knee shall bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” When this has come to pass, the great wisdom of Paul affirms that the Son, who is in all, is subjected to the Father through the subjection of all in whom the Son is. What “subjection once for all,” then, does Eunomius babble of in the Spirit? It cannot be learned from the word he has thrown out: whether that of irrational beings, or of captives, or of servants, or of children being disciplined, or of those saved by subjection. For human beings’ subjection to God is salvation for those subjected, according to the word of the Prophet, which says that the soul is subjected to God, since salvation comes from him through subjection; so that subjection is a safeguard against destruction. As, then, medicine is practiced for the sick, so too subjection for those who need salvation. But the Holy Spirit, who gives life to all things, what life does he lack, that he should gain salvation for himself through subjection? Since, then, he can babble such a thing of the Spirit neither from any divine word nor from a sequence of reasonable arguments, but has uttered this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, it would be plain to those who have sense that he sets out his impiety against him without an advocate, strengthened neither by any testimony of Scripture nor by a sequence of reasonings.
He adds to these: “Neither ranked with the Father nor numbered with the Father, for there is one and only Father, the God over all; nor made equal with the Son, for the Son is only-begotten, having no one of the same kind.” For my part, if he had only added to his statement that the Holy Spirit is not the Father of the Son, I would have thought it vain to linger over things that no one disputes, forbidding thoughts about him that not even a very foolish person would suspect. But since he tries to build up his impiety by unsuitable and unconnected statements, thinking that by these, by which he says that the Holy Spirit is not Father of the Only-begotten, he proves that he is subjected and subordinate, for this reason I have mentioned these words of his, to expose his folly,
John 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 1:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 143:10 (142:10 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 51:12 (50:14 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 12:11 (allusion, high confidence) · John 3:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 8:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Eph 6:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Titus 2:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Tim 3:4 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 2:12 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:27 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 15:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 2:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 62:1 (61:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · John 6:63 (allusion, medium confidence) · Eph 4:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory turns the charge of “three gods” back on Eunomius, argues that Paul’s list of created things omits the Spirit, who rules and acts as he wills, and examines the senses of “subjection,” none of which fits the life-giving Spirit.
- The Spirit as “good, upright, governing”: Ps 143:10 and Ps 51:10–12 LXX. The soul subjected to God: Ps 62:1 (LXX 61:2). Gregory’s reading of 1 Cor 15:28 (the Son’s subjection is the subjection of all humanity in him) is translated as written. A line from the next section (“thinking that … he proves that he is subjected and subordinate”) had been displaced by the scan; restored here by logged corrections. The sentence continues in 2.559.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Restores a line that the scan displaced into the next column (2.559).): ἀποδεικνύειν του χάριν → ἀποδεικνύειν οἰόμενος τὸ εἶναι ὑποτεταγμένον καὶ ὑποχείριον, τούτου χάριν.
Extrabiblical texts: Eunomius, Exp. fid. (Statement of Faith; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Eun. 2.555 (PG 45:555–559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-contra-eunomium/2-555). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-contra-eunomium/2-555
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek of Migne PG 45 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards in full with NPNF2 5 (Migne Book 1 = NPNF I; Book 2 = NPNF II, the Refutation of Eunomius's Confession; Books 3-10 = NPNF III-X).