# Against Porphyry

- Author: [Methodius of Olympus](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/methodius-of-olympus/)
- Latin title: *Adversus Porphyrium*
- Date: late 3rd cent. (disputed) (approximate)
- Source: G. Nathanael Bonwetsch, ed., Methodius, GCS 27 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1917) (Greek text and German translation of the Old Slavonic: G. N. Bonwetsch, Methodius (GCS 27, 1917); OCR made for this site)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/
- Passages: 5

## Against Porphyry, fragment 1

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/1/#p-1
- Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:503
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Christ took flesh and was crucified so that, through the very human nature the demons had used to deceive, they might be overthrown; the cross is the sign of victory, seen in the standards, the ship's mast, the bird's wings, and the outstretched arms of man.

### Greek text

Ἐπεδήμησεν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ Χριστὸς ταγαῖς τοῦ πατρὸς τῇ ὁρατῇ κτίσει. ἵνα δὴ τὰ χράτη τῶν τυραννούντων ἀνατρέψας δαιμόνων, ἐξέληται τῆς πικρῶς τὰς ψυχὰς δουλείας. ἀνθ᾽ ὧν φύσις πᾶσα ταῖς προποσίαις τῆς ἀδικίας γεγοητευμένη θορύβου τε καὶ ἀταξίας ἐπεπλήρωτο. οὐκ ἔτι τῶν συμφερόντων εἰς ἀνάμνησιν ἀναδραμεῖν οὐδαμῷς δυναμένη. διόπερ καὶ πρὸς τὰ εἴδωλα ῥαδίως εἵλκετο. ἅτε ἐπιχλύσαντος πάντα τοῦ κακοῦ καὶ πάσας ἐπινενεμημένου τὰς γενεάς, κατὰ τὴν ἀλλοίωσιν τὴν ἐκ τῆς παρακοῆς προσγεγενημένην ταῖς ἐνσάρκοις ἡμῶν σκηναῖς, ἕως ὁ κύριος Χριστὸς δι᾿ ἧς ἐπεφάνη σαρκὸς τῷ βίῳ ἀμυδρώσας τῶν ἡδονῶν τὰς ἐπιβολάς. αἷς αἱ κάτω δυνάμεις καθ' ἡμῶν ὠπλίζοντο καταδουλῶσαι τὸ διανοητικόν. ἐλεύθερον πάντων τὸν ἄνθρωπον διέδειξε κακῶν. τούτου γὰρ ἕνεκα καὶ σάρχα ἐφόρεσεν ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς. καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἐγένετο καὶ προσηλώθη τῷ σταυρῷ οἰκονομούμενος, ὅπως δι᾿ ἧς σαρκὸς οἱ δαίμονες ἀναδεῖξαι θεοὺς ἠλαζονεύσαντο, πρὸς θάνατον τὰς ψυχὰς μεθόδοις ἀπάτης ἀγκιστρευσάμενοι, διὰ ταύτης ἀνατραπέντες κατοπτευθῶσιν οὐχ ὄντες θεοί. χωλύων γὰρ ἐπὶ πλέον ἀρθῆναι τὴν μεγαλαύχησιν αὐτῶν ἄνθρωπος ἐγένετο, ἵνα δὴ δι᾿ οὗ σώματος τὸ λογικὸν γένος τῆς τοῦ ὄντος ἀπαλλοτριώσαντες θεοῦ θρησκείας ἐλυμήναντο, διὰ τούτου ἀρρήτοις τέχναις σοφίας τὸν λόγον χωρήσαντος ὀλετῆρες ἐλεγχθῶσιν. ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ εὐεργέται τῶν ψυχῶν. Οὐκ ἡν μὲν οὖν οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν τῷ Χριστῷ τοῦ θεοῦ καταπλήξει καὶ δυνάμεως ἀτρέπτου μεγέθει τὰς ἀντιστατικὰς ἀμυδρῶσαι φύσεις τῶν δαιμόνων. ἀλλ᾽ Indy ἄχος αὐτοῖς δὴ καὶ σφαθσομὼὸν τοῦτο προσέφερεν (νιχηθῆναι γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ κρείττονος μᾶλλον ἂν εἵλοντο), διὰ τοῦτο δι᾿ ἀνθρώπου τὴν ἐπὶ σωτηρία πάντων ᾠκονομήσατο ἔκβασιν, ὅπως οἱ μέν, τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῖς αὐτῆς σωματικῶς καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐνσκηφάσης, οἱ ἄνθρωποι πρὸς τὴν μόρφωσιν ἀναδράμωσι καὶ τὸν φωτισμὸν ἐπίσχωσιν τοῦ λόγου, τὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὑπερβάντες θέλγητρα, οἱ δὲ πρὸς τοῦ ἀσθενεστέρου νικηθέντες καὶ καταπεφρονημένοι οἱ δαίμονες λήξωσι τοῦ θράσους, τῆς κατὰ τὸν Τυφῶνα δεθέντες φλεγμονῆς. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ μάλιστα εἰσήχθη καὶ ὁ σταυρός. τρόπαιον χατὰ τῆς ἀδικίας καὶ ἔκπληγμα τεθείς, ὥστε μηκέτι τῇ ὀργῇ ὑπεύθυνον εἶναι ἀπεντεῦθεν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀναπαλαίσαντα μὲν τὸ κατὰ τὴν παραχκοὴν ἥττημα, νικήσαντα δὲ τὰς κάτω δυνάμεις ἐννόμως καὶ ἐλεύθερον ὀφλήματος παντὸς δωρεαῖς ἀναδειχθέντα θεοῦ, ἐπειδὴ οὕτω γε ὁ πρωτόγονος λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνης φράξας τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὅπλοις. ἐν ᾧ ἐσκήνωσεν, τὰς δουλωσαμένας ἡμᾶς δυνάμεις κατηγωνίσατο διὰ τοῦ σταυροειδοῦς. ὡς εἴρηται, σχήματος. τὸν τῇ φθορᾷ δεδυναστευμένον ἄνθρωπον δείξας ἐλεύθερον χερσὶν ἡπλωμέναις. Ἔστι γὰρ τοῦτο, εἰ χρὴ ὁριστικῶς εἰπεῖν, τὸ ὄχημα νίκης κραταίωμα, θεοῦ κάθοδος ἐπ᾽ ἄνθρωπον, τρόπαιον κατὰ τῶν ὑλικῶν πνευμάτων, ἀπαλλαγὴ θανάτου, ὑπόθεσις ἀνόδου πρὸς ἀληθινὴν ἡμέραν καὶ διαβάθρα τῶν ἐπειγομένων ἀπολαῦσαι τοῦ ἐκεῖ φωτός, μηχανὴ δι᾿ ἧς οἱ εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν εὐθετοῦντες τῆς ἐκκλησίας κάτωθεν, λίθου τετραγώνου δίκην, ἀνέλκονται ἐναρμοσθησόμενοι τῷ θείῳ λόγῳ. ἐντεῦθεν οἱ τῇδε βασιλεῖς, πάσης πονηρᾶς ἕξεως ἐπὶ σχεδασμῷ τὸ σταυροειδὲς παραλαμβάνεσθαι αἰσθόμενοι σχῆμα, τὰ καλούμενα τῇ Ῥωμαϊκῇ διαλέκτῳ βήξιλλα ἐμηχανήσαντο. ἔνθεν εἴκουσα τούτῳ ἡ θάλασσα τῷ σχήματι πλωτὴν ἑαυτὴν ἀνθρώποις παρέχει. ὅλη γάρ, ὡς εἰπεῖν, τούτῳ ἡ κτίσις πρὸς ἐλευθερίαν ἐνδέδυται τῷ σημείῳ τά τε γὰρ ὄρνεα ὑψιπετοῦντα τὸ σταυροειδὲς κατὰ τὴν ἔχτασιν τῶν πτερύγων σχῆμα αἰνίσσονται, αὐτός τε ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὰς χεῖρας πετάσας οὐδὲν ἄλλο ὑπάρχων φαίνεται ἢ τοῦτο. ὅθεν αὐτῷ δὴ τούτῳ, ᾧπερ ἐκ κατασκευῆς, κεκόσμητο, σχηματισάμενος αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος θεότητι ἐκέρασεν, ἵνα ὄργανον ᾖ λοιπὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἱερόν. πάσης ἀσυμφωνίας τε καὶ ἀρρυθμίας ἀπηλλαγμένον. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔτι μετὰ τὸ ἁρμοσθῆναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον πρὸς θεοσέβειαν καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀκήρατον μέλος ἐνηρμοκέναι, δι᾿ οὗ τὴν θεότητα κεχώρηκε τῷ ξύλῳ τῆς ζωῆς χαθάπερ χορδαί τε καὶ τόνοι προσηρμοσμένον, εἰς ἀσυμμετρίαν καὶ φθορὰν χωρῆσαι δυνατόν.

### English translation (Claude)

The Son of God, Christ, came to dwell, by the commands of the Father, in the visible creation, in order to overthrow the dominion of the demons who were ruling as tyrants and to set souls free from their bitter bondage. For on their account the whole of nature, bewitched by the draughts of injustice, had been filled with tumult and disorder, no longer able in any way to run back to the remembrance of what was good for it. Therefore it was easily drawn to idols, since evil had flooded everything and spread over all generations, through the alteration that came upon our fleshly tabernacles from the disobedience, until the Lord Christ, through the flesh in which he appeared, blunted in his life the assaults of the pleasures, by which the powers below were armed against us to enslave our mind, and showed the human being free from all evils. For this reason the Lord Jesus wore flesh, became a human being, and was nailed to the cross in the divine plan: so that, through the flesh by which the demons had boasted that they showed themselves gods, catching souls on the hook of their deceits and drawing them to death, through this same flesh they might be overthrown and be seen to be no gods. For, to prevent their arrogance from being lifted up any further, he became a human being, so that through the body by which they had ruined the rational race, estranging it from the worship of the God who is, through this body, which contained the Word by the unspeakable arts of wisdom, they might be proved to be destroyers and not benefactors of souls.

It would have been nothing remarkable for the Christ of God to weaken the hostile natures of the demons by the terror and greatness of his unchangeable power. But since this would have brought them … (for they would rather have chosen to be conquered by the stronger), for this reason he arranged the outcome for the salvation of all through a human being: so that human beings, since the life itself and the truth had come upon them in bodily form, might run back to their original form and receive the illumination of the Word, passing beyond the charms of sin; and the demons, conquered and despised by the weaker, might cease from their boldness, bound in the burning as Typhon was. For this above all the cross was brought in, set up as a trophy against injustice and as a thing to strike terror, so that from then on the human being should no longer be liable to wrath, having reversed in a return bout the defeat suffered through the disobedience, having conquered the powers below lawfully, and having been shown free of every debt by the gifts of God. For thus the firstborn Word of God, having armed the human being in whom he dwelt with the armor of righteousness, overcame the powers that had enslaved us through the figure of the cross, as has been said, showing the human being, who had been held under the power of corruption, free with outstretched hands.

For this, if one must give a definition, is the vehicle of victory, the stronghold, the descent of God to the human being, the trophy against the material spirits, the deliverance from death, the foundation of the ascent to the true day, and the ladder for those who hasten to enjoy the light there; the engine by which those who are fit for the building of the church are drawn up from below, like a squared stone, to be fitted to the divine Word. Hence the kings here, perceiving that the figure of the cross is used for the scattering of every evil habit, devised what are called in the Roman tongue vexilla. Hence the sea, yielding to this figure, makes itself navigable for human beings. For the whole creation, so to speak, has been clothed with this sign for freedom: the birds flying on high represent the figure of the cross by the spreading of their wings, and the human being himself, when he stretches out his hands, appears to be nothing else than this. Hence the Lord, having shaped him in the very figure with which he had been adorned from his making, tempered him with Godhead, so that from then on he might be an instrument, a temple of God, freed from all discord and disharmony. For once the human being has been tuned to piety, and has fitted to himself the pure song of the truth, by which he has contained the Godhead, tuned to the tree of life like strings and tones, it is no longer possible for him to fall into disproportion and corruption.

### Scripture references

- Eph 6:14: allusion, medium confidence
- Col 2:15: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Pet 2:5: allusion, medium confidence
- Rom 8:21: allusion, low confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Hesiod, Theog. 820–868 (Hesiod, Theogony): allusion, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Methodius, Against Porphyry, fragments (Bonwetsch, GCS 27, 1917); Tesseract OCR with many slips, corrected where clear by logged corrections and otherwise translated by sense. One phrase is unreadable (“…”).
- “Bound in the burning as Typhon was”: the monster of Greek myth, struck by Zeus's thunderbolt and imprisoned under Etna (Hesiod, Theogony 820–868).
- Vexilla: the Roman military standards, whose crossbar made the figure of a cross.

### Citation (SBL)

Methodius, Porph. 1 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:503; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/1/#p-1).

## Against Porphyry, fragment 2

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/1/#p-2
- Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:505
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Divine power can contract itself into a human body; and as fire and air cannot be cut, much more did the divine Wisdom remain impassible though united to the body that was struck and nailed.

### Greek text

ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δύναμις αὐτῷ τοῦτο ἦν δυνάμεως γὰρ τὸ συστέλλεσθαι μὲν ἐν τοῖς ὀλίγοις καὶ βραχύνεσθαι, χεῖσθαι (de) ἐν τοῖς μεγάλοις καὶ μεγεθύνεσθαι. εἰ δὲ τὸ συνεκτείνεσθαι μὲν τοῖς μεγάλοις καὶ συνεξισάζεσθαι δυνατὸν αὐτῷ, τὸ δὲ βραχύνεσθαι ἐν τοῖς μικροῖς καὶ συστέλλεσθαι ἀδύνατον, οὐχ ἣν δύναμις. δυνάμει γὰρ ἐὰν τόδε μὲν δυνατὸν εἶναι φῇς, τόδε δὲ ἀδύνατον, τοῦ εἶναι αὐτὴν δύναμιν παραγράφῃ. ἀσθενοῦσαν περὶ ἃ μὴ δύναται. οὐ μὴν δέ, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ὑπεροχήν τινα ἔτι θεότητος ἕξει πρὸς τὰ μεταβαλλόμενα" καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ τὰ ἐρχόμενα τῶν ζῴων χαμαί, ἐφ᾽ ὧν μὲν ἂν δύνωνταί τι δρᾶσαι ἐνεργοῦσιν, ἐφ᾽ ὧν δ᾽ ἂν μὴ δύνωνται φθίνουσιν. διόπερ ταύτῃ μᾶλλον κεχώρηται ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. ὅτι μὴ ἦν αὐτῷ τοῦτο ἀδύνατον ὅτι δυνάμει καὶ ἔπαθεν ἀπαθὴς μένων. καὶ ἔθανεν ἀθανασίαν τῷ θνητῷ ποριζόμενος. σῶμα μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ σώματος τυπτόμενον ἢ τεμνόμενον τοσοῦτον τύπτεται ἢ τέμνεται. ὅσον ἂν τὸ τύπτον τύπτῃ καὶ τὸ τέμνον τέμνῃ. κατὰ ἀντιτύπησιν γὰρ τοῦ ὑποχειμένου τῷ τύπτοντι ἡ πληγὴ γίνεται, ἐν ἴσῳ πάθει τῶν ἑκατέρων ὄντων, καὶ τοῦ δρῶντος καὶ τοῦ δρωμένου. ἀμέλει ἐὰν μὴ τὸ τεμνόμενον μετὰ ὀλίγης ἕξεως ἀντιτονήσῃ τῷ τέμνοντι. τὸ τέμνον τέμνειν οὐ δυνήσεται. τῇ γὰρ φορᾷ τοῦ ξίφους οὐχ ἀντιπαραμείναντος τοῦ ὑποκειμένου σώματος, ἀλλὰ συνείξαντος μᾶλλον. ἄπραχτος γίνεται ἡ ἐνέργεια, οἷον καθάπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λεπτομερεστέρων σωμάτων πυρός ἢ ἀέρος" ἐκλύεται γὰρ ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἀνενέργητος (ἡ) τῶν στερεωτέρων ὁρμὴ σωμάτων. εἰ δὲ πῦρ ἢ ἀέρα λίθος ἢ σίδηρος ἢ ξύλον ἢ ἄλλο. οἷς οἱ ἄνθρωποι χρώμενοι καθ' ἑαυτῶν ἀλληλοφονοῦσι, πατάξαι τε καὶ διελεῖν οὐ δύνανται. παρὰ τὸ εἰκτικῆς τε αὐτὰ καὶ λεπτομερεστέρας φύσεως τυγχάνειν, πῶς οὐ μᾶλλον ἀτρωτός γε ἵμεινεν ἡ σοφία καὶ ἀπαθής, οὐδὲν πρὸς οὐδενὸς κακυνομένη. κἂν τεμνομένῳ συνῆν καὶ προσηλωμένῳ τῷ σώματι βελτίων καὶ καὶ UOMTE 6 «φύσεως πόσης; IE τὸ τὸν 7% ννησάμει 41" αὐ τὴν θεὸν ὑπάρχουσα;

### English translation (Claude)

For since this was power in him; for it belongs to power to be contracted and made short among small things, and to be extended and made great among great things. If it were possible for him to be extended along with great things and made equal to them, but impossible to be made short and contracted among small things, it would not be power. For if you say of power that this is possible for it but that impossible, you strike it out from being power, as weak in what it cannot do. Nor, indeed, would it any longer have any pre-eminence of divinity over the things that change; for human beings and the animals that walk on the ground act in the things they are able to do and fail in those they are not able to do. Therefore the Son of God was contained in a human being in this way rather, because this was not impossible for him; because by his power he both suffered while remaining impassible and died while providing immortality to what is mortal. For a body struck or cut by a body is struck or cut as much as the striker strikes and the cutter cuts. For the blow takes place through the resistance of what lies under the striker, both being equally affected, the agent and the patient. Indeed, unless what is cut resists the cutter with some little firmness, the cutter will not be able to cut. For when the body beneath does not stand against the stroke of the sword but rather yields to it, the action has no effect, as is the case with the finer bodies of fire or air; for in such bodies the impulse of the more solid bodies is dissolved without effect. And if stone, or iron, or wood, or anything else that human beings use in killing one another, cannot strike and divide fire or air, because they are of a yielding and finer nature, how much more did Wisdom remain invulnerable and impassible, harmed in nothing by anything, even though it was united to the body as it was cut and nailed, being better and purer than every nature … being God?

### Translation notes

- The end of the fragment is garbled in the OCR text; “purer than every nature … being God” is translated by sense and the unreadable words marked “…”.

### Citation (SBL)

Methodius, Porph. 2 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:505; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/1/#p-2).

## Against Porphyry, fragment 3

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/1/#p-3
- Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:506
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God's standard of beauty is not human opinion: the cross, despised by men, frees souls, restores humanity to the tree of life, and makes Christ the death of death while he remains impassible and immortal.

### Greek text

Οἴονταί τινες καὶ τὸν θεόν. πρὸς τὸ τῆς οἰχείας διαθέσεως μέτρον ἰσάξοντες αὐτόν, τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς φαύλοις ἢ ἐπαινετὰ ἢ ψεκτὰ ἡγεῖσθαι, ὥσπερ κανόνι καὶ μέτρῳ χρώμενοι ταῖς δόξαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὐ συννοήσαντες διὰ τὴν οὐσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἄγνοιαν. ὅτι πᾶσα δήπουθεν ἡ κτίσις ἐνδεής ἐστι τοῦ κάλλους τοῦ θεοῦ. αὐτὸς 700 ἐξ ὕλης τῆς πάσης οὐσίας τε καὶ φύσεως τῷ ἑαυτοῦ τὰ πάντα εἰς τὸ ζῆν ἐφέλκεται λόγῳ. εἴτε γὰρ τὸ ἀγαθὸν θέλει. αὐτὸς ὧν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐν ἑαυτῷ μένει" εἴτε τὸ καλὸν ὑπάρχειν ἐραστὸν αὐτῷ. αὐτὸς ὧν τὸ μόνον καλὸν εἰς ἑαυτὸν βλέπει, ἐν οὐδενὶ τὰ πρὸς τῶν ἀνθρώπων θαυμαζόμενα τιθέμενος. κάλλιστον γὰρ ταῖς ἀληθείαις καὶ ἐπαινετὸν κλητέον τοῦτο, ὅπερ ἂν αὐτὸς εἶναι ὁ θεὸς ἡγήσηται καλόν. κἂν ὑπὸ πάντων ἐξουθενῆταί τε καὶ χλευάζηται, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὅπερ οἱ ἄνθρωποι νομίζουσιν. ὅθεν, εἰ καὶ διὰ τούτου τοῦ σχήματος τῶν θυμοφθόρων ἐλευθερῶσαι τὰς ψυχὰς παθῶν ἐβουλήθη, καταισχύνων τὰ πλήθη τῶν δαιμόνων, ἀποδέχεσθαι ἐχρῆν, ἀλλὰ μὴ δυσφημεῖν, ἐλευθεροποιὸν αὐτὸ καὶ λυτήριον τῶν ἐκ τῆς παρακοῆς κατασκευασθέντων ἡμῖν δεσμῶν ὁρῶντες δοθέν. ἔπαθε γὰρ σαρχὶ τῷ σταυρῷ ᾿προσπαγεὶς ὁ λόγος, ἵνα ἁπλώσῃ ἀπονεναρκωμένον πλάνῃ τὸν ἄνθρωπον. πρὸς τὸ ἄνω τε καὶ θεῖον ᾿μέγεθος τῷ ξύλῳ ἐξισώσας τῆς ζωῆς αὐτὸν οὗ πρόσθεν ἀπήλαστο, ὅτι τούτῳ τὰ πάθη τῷ σχήματι ἤμβλυνται. πάθος παθῶν διὰ τοῦ παθεῖν γενόμενος καὶ θάνατος διὰ τοῦ θανεῖν" θανάτου, οὐ χειρωθεὶς ὑπὸ θανάτου, οὐδὲ ἀλγυνθεὶς ὑπὸ πάθους. οὔτε γὰρ πάθος ὅλως αὐτὸν ἐξέστησεν οὔτε θάνατος ἐλυμήνατο, ἀλλ᾽ ἦν ἐν τῷ παθητῷ μένων ἀπαθὴς καὶ ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ἀθάνατος, πᾶν ὅσον ἀὴρ καὶ μέσον καὶ ἄνω κατειληφὼς καὶ τὸ θνητὸν θεότητι κεράσας ἀθανάτῳ, ἡττήθη τε τελέως ὁ θάνατος, εἰς ἀφθαρσίας ἐκτύπωμα ἀνασταυρωθείσης τῆς σαρχός.

### English translation (Claude)

Some suppose that God too, measuring him by the standard of their own disposition, considers the same things praiseworthy or blameworthy as the base do, using the opinions of human beings as a rule and measure; not perceiving, because of the ignorance that is in them, that all creation is, of course, in need of the beauty of God. For he draws all things to life by his own Word, out of all matter, essence, and nature. For whether he wills the good, being himself the good he abides in himself; or whether the beautiful is to be lovely to him, being himself the only beautiful he looks to himself, counting as nothing the things that human beings admire. For that must in truth be called most beautiful and praiseworthy which God himself considers beautiful, even if it is despised and mocked by all, and not what human beings think. Hence, even if he willed through this figure to free souls from the passions that destroy the spirit, putting to shame the multitudes of demons, one ought to accept it, not to speak ill of it, seeing that it has been given as a thing that sets free and a release from the bonds that the disobedience fashioned for us. For the Word suffered in the flesh, fixed to the cross, in order to stretch out the human being, who had been numbed by error, to the heavenly and divine greatness, making him equal to the tree of life, from which he had formerly been driven away; because by this figure the passions are blunted. He became the passion of passions by suffering, and the death of death by dying, not overcome by death nor pained by suffering. For neither did suffering drive him at all out of himself, nor did death harm him; but he remained impassible in what could suffer and immortal in what was mortal, having taken hold of all the air, both what lies between and what is above, and having tempered the mortal with immortal Godhead; and death was utterly defeated, the flesh having been crucified to be an image of incorruption.

### Scripture references

- Gen 3:24: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Pet 4:1: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 1:18: allusion, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Some OCR slips are corrected by logged corrections; the readings ψεκτά (“blameworthy”) and διαθέσεως (“disposition”) are the sense required by the context.

### Citation (SBL)

Methodius, Porph. 3 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:506; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/1/#p-3).

## Against Porphyry, fragment 4

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/1/#p-4
- Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:507
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Repentance blots out sin only if it is immediate, uprooting evil before it takes root.

### Greek text

Μετάνοια τότε ἁμαρτήματος παντὸς γίνεται ἀπαλειπτική, ὅταν ἐπὶ τῷ γενομένῳ ψυχῆς σφάλματι ἀναβολὴν μὴ δέξηται, μηδὲ παραπέμψη τὸ πάθος εἰς χρονικὸν διάστημα" οὕτω γὰρ οὐχ ἕξει καταλεῖψαι ἴχνος ἐν ἡμῖν τὸ κακόν, ἅτε ἅμα τῷ ἐπιβῆναι ἀποσπασθὲν δίκην φυτοῦ ἀρτισυστάτου.

### English translation (Claude)

Repentance becomes the blotting out of every sin when, upon a fault of the soul that has taken place, it admits no delay and does not let the passion run on into an interval of time; for in this way the evil will not be able to leave a trace in us, being torn out at the moment of its coming, like a newly planted shoot.

### Translation notes

- “The passion” (τὸ πάθος) corrects a damaged word in the OCR text.

### Citation (SBL)

Methodius, Porph. 4 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:507; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/1/#p-4).

## Against Porphyry, fragment 5

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/1/#p-5
- Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:507
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Evil is unlikeness to and ignorance of God; good is likeness to him, conversion, and faith.

### Greek text

Ἡμέτερον μὲν ὄντως ἐστὶ κακὸν ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀνομοιότης τε καὶ ἄγνοια" ἀγαθὸν δὲ ἔμπαλιν πηλίκον ἡ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐξομοίωσις; φαίνεται γοῦν οἰκεῖον μὲν ἀληθῶς ἀγαθὸν ἡ περὶ τὸ ἀφθαρτόν τε καὶ θεῖον ἐπιστροφὴ καὶ πίστις, καχὸν δὲ ἡ περὶ αὐτὸ ἄγνοια καὶ ῥᾳθυμία. εἴ γε τὰ ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ ἐξ ἡμῶν φυόμενα, ταῦτα ἡμέτερα τυγχάνουσι, κακοποιητικὰ ὄντα πονηρίας.

### English translation (Claude)

Our evil truly is unlikeness to God and ignorance of him; and how great a good, on the other hand, is likeness to him! It appears, then, that the truly proper good is turning toward and faith in what is incorruptible and divine, and evil is ignorance of it and indifference; if indeed the things that are in us and grow from us are ours, being productive of wickedness.

### Citation (SBL)

Methodius, Porph. 5 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:507; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-adversus-porphyrium/1/#p-5).