09 - Book III Chapters 1-5

SECTION NINE OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH BY JOHN OF DAMASCUS TRANSLATED BY S. D. F. SALMOND THIS LIBRIVOX RECORDING IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN BOOK THREE, CHAPTER ONE CONCERNING THE DIVINE ECONOMY AND GOD'S CARE OVER US, AND CONCERNING OUR SALVATION MAN THEN WAS THUS SNARED BY THE ASSAULT OF THE ARCH-FIEND, AND BROKE HIS CREATOR'S COMMAND, AND WAS STRIPPED OF GRACE, AND PUT OFF HIS CONFIDENCE WITH GOD, AND COVERED HIMSELF WITH THE ASPERITIES OF A TOILSOME LIFE, FOR THIS IS THE MEANING OF THE FIG-LEAVES, AND WAS CLOTHED ABOUT WITH DEATH, THAT IS, MORTALITY, AND THE GROSSNESS OF FLESH, FOR THIS IS WHAT THE GARMENT OF SKINS SIGNIFIES, AND WAS BANISHED FROM PARADISE BY GOD'S JUST JUDGEMENT, AND CONDEMNED TO DEATH, AND MADE SUBJECT TO CORRUPTION. YET, NOTWITHSTANDING ALL THIS, IN HIS PITY, GOD WHO GAVE HIM HIS BEING, AND WHO IN HIS GRACIOUSNESS BESTOWED ON HIM A LIFE OF HAPPINESS, DID NOT DISREGARD MAN, BUT HE FIRST TRAINED HIM IN MANY WAYS, AND CALLED HIM BACK, BY GROANS AND TREMBLING, BY THE DELUGE OF WATER, AND THE UTTER DESTRUCTION OF ALMOST THE WHOLE RACE, BY CONFUSION AND DIVERSITY OF TONGUES, BY THE RULE OF ANGELS, BY THE BURNING OF CITIES, BY FIGURATIVE MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD, BY WARS AND VICTORIES AND DEFEATS, BY SIGNS AND WONDERS, BY MANIFOLD FACULTIES, BY THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS. FOR BY ALL THESE MEANS, GOD EARNESTLY STROVE TO EMANCIPATE MAN FROM THE WIDESPREAD AND ENSLAVING BONDS OF SIN WHICH HAD MADE LIFE SUCH A MASS OF INIQUITY, AND TO EFFECT MAN'S RETURN TO A LIFE OF HAPPINESS. FOR IT WAS SIN THAT BROUGHT DEATH LIKE A WILD AND SAVAGE BEAST INTO THE WORLD, TO THE RUIN OF THE HUMAN LIFE. BUT IT BEHOOVED THE REDEEMER TO BE WITHOUT SIN, AND NOT MADE LIABLE THROUGH SIN TO DEATH. AND FURTHER, THAT HIS NATURE SHOULD BE STRENGTHENED AND RENEWED AND TRAINED BY LABOR AND TAUGHT THE WAY OF VIRTUE WHICH LEADS AWAY FROM CORRUPTION TO THE LIFE ETERNAL, AND IN THE END IS REVEALED THE MIGHTY OCEAN OF LOVE TO MAN THAT IS ABOUT HIM. FOR THE VERY CREATOR AND LORD HIMSELF UNDERTAKES A STRUGGLE IN BEHALF OF THE WORK OF HIS OWN HANDS, AND LEARNS BY TOIL TO BECOME MASTER. AND SINCE THE ENEMY SNARES MAN BY THE HOPE OF GODHEAD, HE HIMSELF IS SNARED IN TURN BY THE SCREEN OF FLESH, AND SO ARE SHOWN AT ONCE THE GOODNESS AND WISDOM, THE JUSTICE AND MIGHT OF GOD. GOD'S GOODNESS IS REVEALED IN THAT HE DID NOT DISREGARD THE FRAILTY OF HIS OWN HANDIWORK, BUT WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION FOR HIM IN HIS FALL, AND STRETCHED FORTH HIS HAND TO HIM, AND HIS JUSTICE, IN THAT WHEN MAN WAS OVERCOME, HE DID NOT MAKE ANOTHER VICTORIOUS OVER THE TYRANT, NOR DID HE SNATCH MAN BY MIGHT FROM DEATH, BUT IN HIS GOODNESS AND JUSTICE HE MADE HIM WHO HAD BECOME THROUGH HIS SINS THE SLAVE OF DEATH, HIMSELF ONCE MORE CONQUEROR, AND RESCUED LIKE BY LIKE, MOST DIFFICULT THOUGH IT SEEMED. AND HIS WISDOM IS SEEN IN DEVISING THE MOST FITTING SOLUTION OF THE DIFFICULTY. FOR BY THE GOOD PLEASURE OF OUR GOD AND FATHER, THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON AND WORD OF GOD AND GOD, WHO IS IN THE BOSOM OF THE GOD AND FATHER, OF LIKE ESSENCE WITH THE FATHER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO WAS BEFORE THE AGES, WHO IS WITHOUT BEGINNING AND WAS IN THE BEGINNING, WHO IS IN THE PRESENCE OF THE GOD AND FATHER, AND IS GOD AND MADE IN THE FORM OF GOD, BENT THE HEAVENS AND DESCENDED TO EARTH, THAT IS TO SAY, HE HUMBLED WITHOUT HUMILIATION HIS LOFTY STATION WHICH YET COULD NOT BE HUMBLED, AND CONDESCENDS TO HIS SERVANTS WITH A CONDESCENSION INEFFABLE AND INCOMPREHENSIBLE, FOR THAT IS WHAT THE DESCENT SIGNIFIES. AND GOD BEING PERFECT BECOMES PERFECT MAN AND BRINGS TO PERFECTION THE NEWEST OF ALL NEW THINGS, THE ONLY NEW THING UNDER THE SUN, THROUGH WHICH THE BOUNDLESS MIGHT OF GOD IS MANIFESTED. FOR WHAT GREATER THING IS THERE THAN THAT GOD SHOULD BECOME MAN? AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH WITHOUT BEING CHANGED OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND MARY, THE HOLY AND EVER VIRGIN ONE, THE MOTHER OF GOD. AND HE ACTS AS MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, HE THE ONLY LOVER OF MAN CONCEIVED IN THE VIRGIN'S CHASED WOMB WITHOUT WILL OR DESIRE OR ANY CONNECTION WITH MAN OR PLEASURABLE GENERATION, BUT THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE FIRST OFFSPRING OF ADAM. AND HE BECOMES OBEDIENT TO THE FATHER WHO IS LIKE UNTO US AND FINDS A REMEDY FOR OUR DISOBEDIENCE IN WHAT HE HAD ASSUMED FROM US AND BECAME A PATTERN OF OBEDIENCE TO US WITHOUT WHICH IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO OBTAIN SALVATION. CHAPTER 2 CONCERNING THE MANNER IN WHICH THE WORD WAS CONCEIVED AND CONCERNING HIS DIVINE INCARNATION. THE ANGEL OF THE LORD WAS SENT TO THE HOLY VIRGIN WHO WAS DESCENDED FROM DAVID'S LINE. FOR IT IS EVIDENT THAT OUR LORD SPRANG OUT OF JUDAH OF WHICH TRIBE NO ONE TURNED HIS ATTENTION TO THE ALTAR AS THE DIVINE APOSTLE SAID. BUT ABOUT THIS WE WILL SPEAK MORE ACCURATELY LATER. AND BEARING GLAD TIDINGS TO HER, HE SAID, HAIL, THOU HIGHLY FAVORED ONE, THE LORD IS WITH THEE. AND SHE WAS TROUBLED AT HIS WORD. AND THE ANGEL SAID TO HER, FEAR NOT, MARY, FOR THOU HAST FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD, AND SHALT BRING FORTH A SON, AND SHALT CALL HIS NAME JESUS, FOR HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. HENCE IT COMES THAT JESUS HAS THE INTERPRETATION SAVIOR. AND WHEN SHE ASKED IN HER PERPLEXITY, HOW CAN THIS BE, SEEING I KNOW NOT A MAN? THE ANGEL ANSWERED HER, THE HOLY SPIRIT SHALL COME UPON THEE, AND THE POWER OF THE HIGHEST SHALL OVERSHADOW THEE. THEREFORE ALSO THAT HOLY THING WHICH SHALL BE BORN OF THEE SHALL BE CALLED THE SON OF GOD. AND SHE SAID TO HIM, BEHOLD, THE HANDMADE OF THE LORD, BE IT UNTO ME ACCORDING TO THY WORD. SO THEN, AFTER THE ASCENT OF THE HOLY VIRGIN, THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDED ON HER ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD WHICH THE ANGEL SPOKE, PURIFYING HER AND GRANTING HER POWER TO RECEIVE THE DIVINITY OF THE WORD, AND LIKEWISE POWER TO BRING FORTH. AND THEN WAS SHE OVERSHADOWED BY THE INHIPOSTATIC WISDOM AND POWER OF THE MOST HIGH GOD, THE SON OF GOD, WHO IS OF LIKE ESSENCE WITH THE FATHER AS OF DIVINE SEED. AND FROM HER HOLY AND MOST PURE BLOOD HE FORMED FLESH ANIMATED WITH THE SPIRIT OF REASON AND THOUGHT, THE FIRST FRUITS OF OUR COMPOUND NATURE, NOT BY PROCREATION, BUT BY CREATION THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT, NOT DEVELOPING THE FASHION OF THE BODY BY GRADUAL ADDITIONS, BUT PERFECTING IT AT ONCE. HE HIMSELF, THE VERY WORD OF GOD, STANDING TO THE FLESH IN THE RELATION OF SUBSISTANCE. FOR THE DIVINE WORD WAS NOT MADE ONE WITH FLESH THAT HAD AN INDEPENDENT PREEXISTENCE, BUT TAKING UP HIS ABODE IN THE WOMB OF THE HOLY VIRGIN, HE UNRESERVEDLY, IN HIS OWN SUBSISTANCE, TOOK UPON HIMSELF THROUGH THE PURE BLOOD OF THE ETERNAL VIRGIN, A BODY OF FLESH ANIMATED WITH THE SPIRIT OF REASON AND THOUGHT, THUS ASSUMING TO HIMSELF THE FIRST FRUITS OF MAN'S COMPOUND NATURE, HIMSELF, THE WORD, HAVING BECOME A SUBSISTANCE IN THE FLESH, SO THAT HE IS AT ONCE FLESH AND AT THE SAME TIME FLESH OF GOD THE WORD, AND LIKEWISE, FLESH ANIMATED, POSSESSING BOTH REASON AND THOUGHT. WHEREFORE WE SPEAK NOT OF MAN AS HAVING BECOME GOD, BUT OF GOD AS HAVING BECOME MAN. FOR BEING BY NATURE PERFECT GOD, HE NATURALLY BECAME LIKEWISE PERFECT MAN, AND DID NOT CHANGE HIS NATURE NOR MAKE THE DISPENSATION AN EMPTY SHOW, BUT BECAME WITHOUT CONFUSION OR CHANGE OR DIVISION, ONE IN SUBSISTANCE WITH THE FLESH, WHICH WAS CONCEIVED OF THE HOLY VIRGIN, AND ANIMATED WITH REASON AND THOUGHT, AND HAD FOUND EXISTENCE IN HIM, WHILE HE DID NOT CHANGE THE NATURE OF HIS DIVINITY INTO THE ESSENCE OF FLESH, NOR THE ESSENCE OF FLESH INTO THE NATURE OF HIS DIVINITY, AND DID NOT MAKE ONE COMPOUND NATURE OUT OF HIS DIVINE NATURE AND THE HUMAN NATURE HE HAD ASSUMED. CHAPTER 3 CONCERNING CHRIST'S TWO NATURES IN APPOSITION TO THOSE WHO HOLD THAT HE HAS ONLY ONE. FOR THE TWO NATURES WERE UNITED WITH EACH OTHER WITHOUT CHANGE OR ALTERATION, NEITHER THE DIVINE NATURE DEPARTING FROM ITS NATIVE SIMPLICITY, NOR YET THE HUMAN BEING EITHER CHANGED INTO THE NATURE OF GOD OR REDUCED TO NONEXISTENCE, NOR ONE COMPOUND NATURE BEING PRODUCED OUT OF THE TWO. FOR THE COMPOUND NATURE CANNOT BE OF THE SAME ESSENCE AS EITHER OF THE NATURES OUT OF WHICH IT IS COMPOUNDED, AS MADE ONE THING OUT OF OTHERS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE BODY IS COMPOSED OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS, BUT IS NOT OF THE SAME ESSENCE AS FIRE OR AIR OR WATER OR EARTH, NOR DOES IT KEEP THESE NAMES. IF THEREFORE, AFTER THE UNION, CHRIST'S NATURE WAS, AS THE HERETICS HOLD, A COMPOUND UNITY, HE HAD CHANGED FROM A SIMPLE INTO A COMPOUND NATURE, AND IS NOT OF THE SAME ESSENCE AS THE FATHER, WHOSE NATURE IS SIMPLE, NOR AS THE MOTHER, WHO IS NOT A COMPOUND OF DIVINITY AND HUMANITY, NOR WILL HE THEN BE IN DIVINITY AND HUMANITY, NOR WILL HE BE CALLED EITHER GOD OR MAN, BUT SIMPLY CHRIST. AND THE WORD CHRIST WILL BE THE NAME NOT OF THE SUBSISTENCE, BUT OF WHAT IN THEIR VIEW IS THE ONE NATURE. WE, HOWEVER, DO NOT GIVE IT AS OUR VIEW THAT CHRIST'S NATURE IS COMPOUND, NOR YET THAT HE IS ONE THING MADE OF OTHER THINGS, AND DIFFERING FROM THEM, AS MAN IS MADE OF SOUL AND BODY, OR AS THE BODY IS MADE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS, BUT HOLD THAT, THOUGH HE IS CONSTITUTED OF THESE DIFFERENT PARTS, HE IS YET THE SAME. FOR WE CONFESS THAT HE, ALIKE IN HIS DIVINITY AND IN HIS HUMANITY BOTH, IS AND IS SAID TO BE PERFECT GOD, THE SAME BEING, AND THAT HE CONSISTS OF TWO NATURES, AND EXISTS IN TWO NATURES. FURTHER, BY THE WORD CHRIST, WE UNDERSTAND THE NAME OF THE SUBSISTENCE, NOT IN THE SENSE OF ONE KIND, BUT AS SIGNIFYING THE EXISTENCE OF TWO NATURES. FOR IN HIS OWN PERSON HE ANOINTED HIMSELF, AS GOD ANOINTING HIS BODY WITH HIS OWN DIVINITY, AND AS MAN BEING ANOINTED. FOR HE IS HIMSELF BOTH GOD AND MAN. AND THE ANOINTING IS THE DIVINITY OF HIS HUMANITY. FOR IF CHRIST, BEING OF ONE COMPOUND NATURE, IS OF LIKE ESSENCE TO THE FATHER, THEN THE FATHER ALSO MUST BE COMPOUND, AND OF LIKE ESSENCE WITH THE FLESH, WHICH IS ABSURD AND EXTREMELY BLASPHEMOUS. HOW INDEED COULD ONE AND THE SAME NATURE COME TO EMBRACE OPPOSING AND ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCES? OR HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE SAME NATURE COULD BE AT ONCE CREATED AND UNCREATED, MORTAL AND IMMORTAL, CIRCUMSCRIBED AND UNCIRCUMSCRIBED? BUT IF THOSE WHO DECLARE THAT CHRIST HAS ONLY ONE NATURE SHOULD SAY ALSO THAT THAT NATURE IS A SIMPLE ONE, THEY MUST ADMIT EITHER THAT HE IS GOD PURE AND SIMPLE, AND THUS REDUCE THE INCARNATION TO A MERE PRETENSE, OR THAT HE IS ONLY MAN, ACCORDING TO NISTORIUS. AND HOW THEN ABOUT HIS BEING PERFECT IN DIVINITY AND PERFECT IN HUMANITY? AND WHEN CAN CHRIST BE SAID TO BE OF TWO NATURES IF THEY HOLD THAT HE IS OF ONE COMPOSITE NATURE AFTER THE UNION? FOR IT IS SURELY CLEAR TO EVERYONE THAT BEFORE THE UNION CHRIST'S NATURE WAS ONE. BUT THIS IS WHAT LEADS THE HERETICS ASTRAY, NAMELY, THAT THEY LOOK UPON NATURE AND SUBSISTANCE AS THE SAME THING. FOR WHEN WE SPEAK OF THE NATURE OF MEN AS ONE, OBSERVE THAT IN SAYING THIS WE ARE NOT LOOKING TO THE QUESTION OF SOUL AND BODY. FOR WHEN WE COMPARE TOGETHER THE SOUL AND THE BODY, IT CANNOT BE SAID THAT THEY ARE OF ONE NATURE. BUT SINCE THERE ARE VERY MANY SUBSISTANCES OF MEN, AND YET ALL HAVE THE SAME KIND OF NATURE, FOR ALL ARE COMPOSED OF SOUL AND BODY, AND ALL HAVE PART IN THE NATURE OF THE SOUL AND POSSESS THE ESSENCE OF THE BODY AND THE COMMON FORM, WE SPEAK OF THE ONE NATURE OF THESE VERY MANY AND DIFFERENT SUBSISTANCES, WHILE EACH SUBSISTANCE TO WIT HAS TWO NATURES AND FULFILLS ITSELF IN TWO NATURES, NAMELY SOUL AND BODY. BUT A COMMON FORM CANNOT BE ADMITTED IN THE CASE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, FOR NEITHER WAS THERE EVER, NOR IS THERE, NOR WILL THERE EVER BE ANOTHER CHRIST CONSTITUTED OF DEITY AND HUMANITY, AND EXISTING IN DEITY AND HUMANITY, AT ONCE PERFECT GOD AND PERFECT MAN. AND THUS, IN THE CASE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WE CANNOT SPEAK OF ONE NATURE MADE UP OF DIVINITY AND HUMANITY, AS WE DO IN THE CASE OF THE INDIVIDUAL MADE UP OF SOUL AND BODY, FOR IN THE LATTER CASE WE HAVE TO DO WITH AN INDIVIDUAL, BUT CHRIST IS NOT AN INDIVIDUAL, FOR THERE IS NO PREDICTABLE FORM OF CHRISTLIHOOD, SO TO SPEAK, THAT HE POSSESSES. AND THEREFORE WE HOLD THAT THERE HAS BEEN A UNION OF TWO PERFECT NATURES, ONE DIVINE AND ONE HUMAN, NOT WITH DISORDER OR CONFUSION OR INTERMIXTURE OR COMMINGLING, AS IS SAID BY THE GOD ACCURSED DIOSCORAS AND BY EUTECHES AND SEVERUS, AND ALL THAT IMPIOUS COMPANY, AND NOT IN A PERSONAL OR RELATIVE MANNER OR AS A MATTER OF DIGNITY OR AGREEMENT AND WILL, OR EQUALITY IN HONOR OR IDENTITY IN NAME OR GOOD PLEASURE, AS NISTORIUS HATED OF GOD SAID, AND DIODORUS AND THEODORUS OF MOPSWESTIA AND THEIR DIABOLICAL TRIBE, BUT BY SYNTHESIS, THAT IS, IN SUBSTANCE WITHOUT CHANGE OR CONFUSION OR ALTERATION OR DIFFERENCE OR SEPARATION, AND WE CONFESS THAT IN TWO PERFECT NATURES THERE IS BUT ONE SUBSISTENCE OF THE SON OF GOD INCARNATE, HOLDING THAT THERE IS ONE AND THE SAME SUBSISTENCE BELONGING TO HIS DIVINITY AND HIS HUMANITY, AND GRANTING THAT THE TWO NATURES ARE PRESERVED IN HIM AFTER THE UNION, BUT WE DO NOT HOLD THAT EACH IS SEPARATE AND BY ITSELF, BUT THAT THEY ARE UNITED TO EACH OTHER IN ONE COMPOUND SUBSISTENCE, FOR WE LOOK UPON THE UNION AS ESSENTIAL, THAT IS, AS TRUE AND NOT IMAGINARY. WE SAY THAT IT IS ESSENTIAL, MOREOVER, NOT IN THE SENSE OF TWO NATURES RESULTING IN ONE COMPOUND NATURE, BUT IN THE SENSE OF A TRUE UNION OF THEM IN ONE COMPOUND SUBSISTENCE OF THE SON OF GOD, AND WE HOLD THAT THEIR ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE IS PRESERVED. FOR THE CREATED REMAINETH CREATED, AND THE UNCREATED UNCREATED. THE MORTAL REMAINETH MORTAL, THE IMMORTAL IMMORTAL. THE CIRCUMSCRIBED CIRCUMSCRIBED. THE UNCIRCUMSCRIBED UNCIRCUMSCRIBED. THE VISIBLE VISIBLE. THE INVISIBLE INVISIBLE. THE ONE PART IS ALL GLORIOUS WITH WONDERS, WHILE THE OTHER IS THE VICTIM OF INSULTS. MOREOVER, THE WORD APPROPRIATES TO HIMSELF THE ATTRIBUTES OF HUMANITY, FOR ALL THAT PERTAINS TO HIS HOLY FLESH IS HIS, AND HE IMPARTS TO THE FLESH HIS OWN ATTRIBUTES BY WAY OF COMMUNICATION IN VIRTUE OF THE INTERPENETRATION OF THE PARTS ONE WITH ANOTHER, AND THE ONENESS ACCORDING TO SUBSISTANCE, AND INASMUCH AS HE WHO LIVED AND ACTED BOTH AS GOD AND AS MAN, TAKING TO HIMSELF EITHER FORM AND HOLDING INTERCOURSE WITH THE OTHER FORM WAS ONE AND THE SAME. HENCE IT IS THAT THE LORD OF GLORY IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED, ALTHOUGH HIS DIVINE NATURE NEVER ENDURED THE CROSS, AND THAT THE SON OF MAN IS ALLOWED TO HAVE BEEN IN HEAVEN BEFORE THE PASSION, AS THE LORD HIMSELF SAID. FOR THE LORD OF GLORY IS ONE AND THE SAME WITH HIM WHO IS IN NATURE AND IN TRUTH THE SON OF MAN, THAT IS, WHO BECAME MAN, AND BOTH HIS WONDERS AND HIS SUFFERINGS ARE KNOWN TO US, ALTHOUGH HIS WONDERS WERE WORKED IN HIS DIVINE CAPACITY AND HIS SUFFERINGS ENDURED AS MAN. FOR WE KNOW THAT JUST AS IS HIS ONE SUBSISTANCE, SO IS THE ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE OF THE NATURE PRESERVED. FOR HOW COULD DIFFERENCE BE PRESERVED IF THE VERY THINGS THAT DIFFER FROM ONE ANOTHER ARE NOT PRESERVED? FOR DIFFERENCE IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THINGS THAT DIFFER. INSOFAR AS CHRIST'S NATURES DIFFER FROM ONE ANOTHER, THAT IS, IN THE MATTER OF ESSENCE, WE HOLD THAT CHRIST UNITES IN HIMSELF TWO EXTREMES. IN RESPECT OF HIS DIVINITY, HE IS CONNECTED WITH THE FATHER AND THE SPIRIT, WHILE IN RESPECT OF HIS HUMANITY, HE IS CONNECTED WITH HIS MOTHER AND ALL MANKIND. AND INSOFAR AS HIS NATURES ARE UNITED, WE HOLD THAT HE DIFFERS FROM THE FATHER AND THE SPIRIT ON THE ONE HAND, AND FROM THE MOTHER AND THE REST OF MANKIND ON THE OTHER. FOR THE NATURES ARE UNITED IN HIS SUBSISTANCE, HAVING ONE COMPOUND SUBSISTANCE, IN WHICH HE DIFFERS FROM THE FATHER AND THE SPIRIT, AND ALSO FROM THE MOTHER AND US. CHAPTER IV CONCERNING THE MANNER OF THE MUTUAL COMMUNICATION NOW WE HAVE OFTEN SAID ALREADY THAT ESSENCE IS ONE THING AND SUBSISTANCE ANOTHER. AND THAT ESSENCE SIGNIFIES THE COMMON AND GENERAL FORM OF SUBSISTANCES OF THE SAME KIND, SUCH AS GOD, MAN, WHILE SUBSISTANCE MARKS THE INDIVIDUAL, THAT IS TO SAY, FATHER, SON, HOLY SPIRIT, OR PETER, PAUL. OBSERVE THEN THAT THE NAMES DIVINITY AND HUMANITY DENOTE ESSENCES OR NATURES, WHILE THE NAMES GOD AND MAN ARE APPLIED BOTH IN CONNECTION WITH NATURES, AS WHEN WE SAY THAT GOD IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE ESSENCE AND THAT GOD IS ONE, AND WITH REFERENCE TO SUBSISTANCES, THAT WHICH IS MORE SPECIFIC HAVING THE NAME OF THE MORE GENERAL APPLIED TO IT, AS WHEN THE SCRIPTURE SAYS THEREFORE GOD, THY GOD HATH ANOINTED THEE, OR AGAIN, THERE WAS A CERTAIN MAN IN THE LAND OF UZ, FOR IT WAS ONLY TO JOB THAT REFERENCE WAS MADE. THEREFORE, IN THE CASE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, SEEING THAT WE RECOGNIZE THAT HE HAS TWO NATURES, BUT ONLY ONE SUBSISTANCE COMPOUNDED OF BOTH, WHEN WE CONTEMPLATE HIS NATURES, WE SPEAK OF HIS DIVINITY AND HIS HUMANITY, BUT WHEN WE CONTEMPLATE THE SUBSISTANCE COMPOUNDED OF THE NATURES, WE SOMETIMES USE TERMS THAT HAVE REFERENCE TO HIS DOUBLE NATURE, AS CHRIST, AND AT ONCE GOD AND MAN, AND GOD INCARNATE, AND SOMETIMES THOSE THAT IMPLY ONLY ONE OF HIS NATURES, AS GOD ALONE, OR SON OF GOD, AND MAN ALONE, OR SON OF MAN, SOMETIMES USING NAMES THAT IMPLY HIS LOFTINESS, AND SOMETIMES THOSE THAT IMPLY HIS LOWLINESS, FOR HE WHO IS ALIKE GOD AND MAN IS ONE, BEING THE FORMER FROM THE FATHER EVER WITHOUT CAUSE, BUT HAVING BECOME THE LATTER AFTERWARDS FOR HIS LOVE TOWARDS MAN, WHEN THEN WE SPEAK OF HIS DIVINITY, WE DO NOT ASCRIBE TO IT THE PROPERTIES OF HUMANITY, FOR WE DO NOT SAY THAT HIS DIVINITY IS SUBJECT TO PASSION OR CREATED, NOR AGAIN DO WE PREDICATE OF HIS FLESH OR OF HIS HUMANITY THE PROPERTIES OF DIVINITY, FOR WE DO NOT SAY THAT HIS FLESH OR HIS HUMANITY IS UNCREATED, BUT WHEN WE SPEAK OF HIS SUBSISTENCE, WHETHER WE GIVE IT A NAME IMPLYING BOTH NATURES, OR ONE THAT REFERS TO ONLY ONE OF THEM, WE STILL ATTRIBUTE TO IT THE PROPERTIES OF BOTH NATURES, FOR CHRIST, WHICH NAME IMPLIES BOTH NATURES, IS SPOKEN OF AS AT ONCE GOD AND MAN, CREATED AND UNCREATED, SUBJECT TO SUFFERING AND INCAPABLE OF SUFFERING, AND WHEN HE IS NAMED SON OF GOD AND GOD, IN REFERENCE TO ONLY ONE OF HIS NATURES, HE STILL KEEPS THE PROPERTIES OF THE CO-EXISTING NATURE, THAT IS THE FLESH, BEING SPOKEN OF AS GOD WHO SUFFERS, AND AS THE LORD OF GLORY, CRUCIFIED, NOT IN RESPECT OF HIS BEING GOD, BUT IN RESPECT OF HIS BEING AT THE SAME TIME MAN, LIKEWISE ALSO, WHEN HE IS CALLED MAN AND SON OF MAN, HE STILL KEEPS THE PROPERTIES AND GLORIES OF THE DIVINE NATURE, A CHILD BEFORE ALL AGES, A MAN WHO KNEW NO BEGINNING, IT IS NOT HOWEVER AS A CHILD OR MAN, BUT AS GOD, THAT HE IS BEFORE THE AGES AND BECAME A CHILD IN THE END, AND THIS IS THE MANNER OF THE MUTUAL COMMUNICATION, EITHER NATURE GIVING IN EXCHANGE TO THE OTHER ITS OWN PROPERTIES THROUGH THE IDENTITY OF THE SUBSISTENCE AND THE INTERPENETRATION OF THE PARTS WITH ONE ANOTHER, ACCORDINGLY, WE CAN SAY OF CHRIST, THIS OUR GOD WAS SEEN UPON THE EARTH AND LIVED AMONGST MEN, AND THIS MAN IS UNCREATED AND IMPASSIBLE AND UNCIRCUMSCRIBED. CHAPTER V CONCERNING THE NUMBER OF THE NATURES IN THE CASE THEREFORE OF THE GODHEAD, WE CONFESS THAT THERE IS BUT ONE NATURE, BUT HOLD THAT THERE ARE THREE SUBSISTANCES ACTUALLY EXISTING, AND HOLD THAT ALL THINGS THAT ARE OF NATURE AND ESSENCE ARE SIMPLE, AND RECOGNIZE THE DIFFERENCE OF THE SUBSISTANCES ONLY IN THE THREE PROPERTIES OF INDEPENDENCE OF CAUSE AND FATHERHOOD, OF DEPENDENCE ON CAUSE AND SONSHIP, OF DEPENDENCE ON CAUSE AND PROCESSION. AND WE KNOW FURTHER THAT THESE ARE INDIVISIBLE AND INSEPARABLE FROM EACH OTHER AND UNITED INTO ONE, AND INTERPENETRATING ONE ANOTHER WITHOUT CONFUSION. YEA, I REPEAT, UNITED WITHOUT CONFUSION, FOR THEY ARE THREE ALTHOUGH UNITED, AND THEY ARE DISTINCT ALTHOUGH INSEPARABLE, FOR ALTHOUGH EACH HAS AN INDEPENDENT EXISTENCE, THAT IS TO SAY, IS A PERFECT SUBSISTANCE AND HAS AN INDIVIDUALITY OF ITS OWN, THAT IS, HAS A SPECIAL MODE OF EXISTENCE, YET THEY ARE ONE IN ESSENCE AND IN NATURAL PROPERTIES, AND IN BEING INSEPARABLE AND INDIVISIBLE FROM THE FATHER'S SUBSISTANCE, AND THEY BOTH ARE AND ARE SAID TO BE ONE GOD. IN THE VERY SAME WAY, THEN, IN THE CASE OF THE DIVINE AND INEFFABLE DISPENSATION, EXCEEDING ALL THOUGHT AND COMPREHENSION, I MEAN THE INCARNATION OF THE ONE GOD, THE WORD OF THE HOLY TRINITY, AND OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WE CONFESS THAT THERE ARE TWO NATURES, ONE DIVINE AND ONE HUMAN, JOINED TOGETHER WITH ONE ANOTHER AND UNITED IN SUBSISTANCE, SO THAT ONE COMPOUND SUBSISTANCE IS FORMED OUT OF THE TWO NATURES, BUT WE HOLD THAT THE TWO NATURES ARE STILL PRESERVED EVEN AFTER THE UNION IN THE ONE COMPOUND SUBSISTANCE, THAT IS, IN THE ONE CHRIST, AND THAT THESE EXIST IN REALITY AND HAVE THEIR NATURAL PROPERTIES, FOR THEY ARE UNITED WITHOUT CONFUSION AND ARE DISTINGUISHED AND ENUMERATED WITHOUT BEING SEPARABLE, AND JUST AS THE THREE SUBSISTANCES OF THE HOLY TRINITY ARE UNITED WITHOUT CONFUSION AND ARE DISTINGUISHED AND ENUMERATED WITHOUT BEING SEPARABLE, THE ENUMERATION NOT ENTAILING DIVISION OR SEPARATION OR ALIENATION OR CLEAVAGE AMONG THEM, FOR WE RECOGNIZE ONE GOD THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, SO IN THE SAME WAY THE NATURES OF CHRIST ALSO, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE UNITED, YET, ARE UNITED WITHOUT CONFUSION, AND ALTHOUGH THEY INTERPENETRATE ONE ANOTHER, YET THEY DO NOT PERMIT OF CHANGE OR TRANSMUTATION OF ONE INTO THE OTHER, FOR EACH KEEPS ITS OWN NATURAL INDIVIDUALITY STRICTLY UNCHANGED, AND THUS IT IS THAT THEY CAN BE ENUMERATED WITHOUT THE ENUMERATION INTRODUCING DIVISION, FOR CHRIST INDEED IS ONE, PERFECT BOTH IN DIVINITY AND IN HUMANITY, FOR IT IS NOT THE NATURE OF NUMBER TO CAUSE SEPARATION OR UNITY, BUT ITS NATURE IS TO INDICATE THE QUANTITY OF WHAT IS ENUMERATED, WHETHER THESE ARE UNITED OR SEPARATED, FOR WE HAVE UNITY FOR INSTANCE WHEN FIFTY STONES COMPOSE A WALL, BUT WE HAVE SEPARATION WHEN THE FIFTY STONES LIE ON THE GROUND, AND AGAIN, WE HAVE UNITY WHEN WE FIRE AND WOOD, BUT WE HAVE SEPARATION IN THAT THE NATURE OF FIRE IS ONE THING, AND THE NATURE OF WOOD ANOTHER THING, FOR THESE THINGS ARE UNITED AND SEPARATED NOT BY NUMBER, BUT IN ANOTHER WAY, SO THEN, JUST AS EVEN THOUGH THE THREE SUBSISTANCES OF THE GODHEAD ARE UNITED WITH EACH OTHER, WE CANNOT SPEAK OF THEM AS ONE SUBSISTANCE, BECAUSE WE SHOULD CONFUSE AND DO AWAY WITH THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SUBSISTANCES, SO ALSO, WE CANNOT SPEAK OF THE TWO NATURES OF CHRIST AS ONE NATURE, UNITED THOUGH THEY ARE IN SUBSISTANCE, BECAUSE WE SHOULD THEN CONFUSE AND DO AWAY WITH AND REDUCE TO NOTHING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO NATURES. END OF SECTION 9