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Gregory of Nyssa, On Christian Perfection

Editors' preface

Editors' notes and page, col. 251

Editors' prose

EJUSDEM DE PERFECTIONE ET QUALEM OPORTEAT ESSE CHRISTIANUM, AD OLYMPIUM MONACHUM. Francisco Zino interprete. (Migne's Latin title and translator's line, printed full width across cols 251–252 below the Greek title (which is set in layer 1 under the 252 rail), set untranslated per UNIT.md. The rest of this column is Migne's Latin translation, not set.)

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marginal letters: A ‹Quaeris qua ratione›; B ‹Bonus Dominus noster›; C ‹nomen ipsum a Christo› (gutter, shared with col 252)
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ΤΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΕΛΕΙΟΤΗΤΟΣ, ΚΑΙ ΟΠΟΙΟΝ ΧΡΗ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΤΟΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΟΝ, ΠΡΟΣ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΟΝ ΜΟΝΑΧΟΝ.

OF THE SAME, ON PERFECTION, AND WHAT KIND OF MAN THE CHRISTIAN OUGHT TO BE, TO OLYMPIUS THE MONK.

Πρέπουσα τῇ προαιρέσει ἡ σπουδὴ περὶ τοῦ γνῶναι πῶς ἄν τις διὰ τοῦ κατ' ἀρετὴν βίου τελειωθείη, ὥστε διὰ πάντων κατορθωθῆναί σου τῇ ζωῇ τὸ ἀμώμητον. Ἐγὼ δὲ περὶ παντὸς μὲν ἂν ἐποιησάμην, ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ βίῳ τῶν σοὶ σπουδαζομένων εὑρεθῆναι τὰ ὑποδείγματα, ὥστε τοῖς ἔργοις πρὸ τῶν λόγων ἐπιζητουμένην ὑπὸ σοῦ παρασχεῖν διδασκαλίαν. Οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ἀξιόπιστος ἦν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἡ ὑφήγησις, τοῦ βίου τοῖς λόγοις συμφθεγγομένου. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦτο μὲν εὔχομαι γενέσθαι ποτὲ, νῦν δὲ οὔπω τοιοῦτον ἐμαυτὸν βλέπων, ὡς ἀντὶ τοῦ λόγου προδεικνύειν τὸν βίον, ἵνα μὴ καθόλου δοκοίην ἀσυντελὴς εἶναί σοί τις πρὸς τὸν σκοπὸν καὶ ἀνόνητος, ἐφ' ὃ δεῖ συντεῖναι τὸν ἀκριβῆ βίον, ὑποθέσθαι διενοήθην, ἐντεῦθεν τοῦ λόγου τὴν ἀρχὴν ποιησάμενος· Τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Δεσπότου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ χαρισαμένου τὴν κοινωνίαν ἡμῖν τοῦ προσκυνουμένου ὀνόματος, ὥστε ἡμᾶς ἐκ μηδενὸς ἄλλου τῶν περὶ ἡμᾶς ὀνομάζεσθαι, κἂν πλούσιός τις ὢν τύχῃ, καὶ εὐπατρίδης, κἂν δυσγενὴς ᾖ ἢ πένης, καὶ ἐξ ἐπιτηδευμάτων τινῶν ἢ ἀξιωμάτων τὸ γνώριμον ἔχῃ, πάντων τῶν τοιούτων ὀνομάτων ἀργούντων, μίαν εἶναι κυρίαν κλῆσιν τοῖς εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστευκόσι δεδώρηται, τὸ Χριστιανοὺς ὀνομάζεσθαι. Ταύτης ἄνωθεν ἡμῖν ἐπικυρωθείσης τῆς χάριτος, ἀναγκαῖον ἂν εἴη πρῶτον τῆς δωρεᾶς νοῆσαι τὸ μέγεθος, ὥστε κατ' ἀξίαν εὐχαριστῆσαι τῷ τὰ τηλικαῦτα δωρησαμένῳ Θεῷ. Ἔπειτα δὲ τοιούτους ἑαυτοὺς διὰ τοῦ βίου δεῖξαι, οἷον ἐπιζητεῖ ἡ τοῦ μεγάλου τούτου ὀνόματος δύναμις. Τὸ μὲν οὖν μέγεθος τῆς δωρεᾶς, ἧς διὰ τοῦ συνονομασθῆναι τῷ Δεσπότῃ τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἠξιώθημεν, οὕτως ἂν γένοιτο δῆλον ἡμῖν, εἰ αὐτὸ τὸ σημαινόμενον τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ὀνόματος ἐπιγνοίημεν, ὥστε συνεῖναι, ὅταν διὰ ταύτης τῆς φωνῆς τὸν τοῦ παντὸς Κύριον ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς προσκαλώμεθα, ποίαν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν ἀναλαμβάνομεν ἔννοιαν, ἢ τί διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τούτου κατανοοῦντες,

Your zeal to know how a man might be made perfect through the life of virtue, so that the blamelessness of your life might be achieved in all things, befits your chosen purpose. For my part, I would have counted it above everything that the examples of what you strive for should be found in my own life, so as to furnish by deeds, before words, the teaching you seek from me. For so the guidance towards good things would be trustworthy, with the life speaking in harmony with the words. But since I pray that this may one day come about, yet do not now see myself to be such as to display my life in place of a discourse, lest I should seem to you altogether useless and unprofitable towards the goal to which the exact life must strain, I have resolved to set it out for you, taking the beginning of my discourse from this point. Our good Master Jesus Christ, having granted us a share in the name that is worshipped, so that we are named from nothing else of what belongs to us, whether one happens to be rich and well-born, or is low-born or poor, or has his distinction from some pursuits or dignities, all such names being idle, has bestowed on those who have believed in Him one sovereign title, to be named Christians. Since this grace has been ratified for us from above, it would be necessary first to understand the greatness of the gift, so as to give thanks worthily to God Who has bestowed things so great; and then to show ourselves through our life to be such as the power of this great name requires. Now the greatness of the gift, of which we have been counted worthy through being named together with the Master of our life, would become clear to us thus: if we should recognize the very thing signified by the name that comes from Christ, so as to understand, when by this word we call upon the Lord of all in our prayers, what notion we take up in our souls, or what, through this name, we are considering,

Editors' notes and page, col. 252

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εὐσεβῶς αὐτὸν ἐπικαλεῖσθαι πιστεύομεν.

when we believe that we are calling upon Him devoutly.

Ἐπειδὰν δὲ τοῦτο νοήσωμεν, τότε δι' ἀκολούθου, καὶ οἵους προσήκει ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς περὶ τὸν βίον σπουδῆς ἐπιδειχθῆναι, σαφῶς μαθησόμεθα, διδασκάλῳ καὶ ὁδηγῷ πρὸς τὸν βίον τῷ ὀνόματι χρώμενοι. Οὐκοῦν τὸν ἅγιον Παῦλον πρὸς τὰ δύο ταῦτα καθηγεμόνα ποιούμενοι, ἀσφαλεστάτην ἕξομεν ὁδηγίαν πρὸς τὴν τῶν ζητουμένων σαφήνειαν. Οὗτος γὰρ μάλιστα πάντων ἀκριβῶς, καὶ τί ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς κατενόησε, καὶ οἷον εἶναι χρὴ τὸν ἐπονομαζόμενον αὐτῷ, δι' ὧν ἐποίησεν, ὑφηγήσατο· οὕτως ἐναργῶς αὐτὸν μιμησάμενος, ὡς ἐν ἑαυτῷ δεῖξαι τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Δεσπότην μεμορφωμένον, διὰ τῆς ἀκριβεστάτης μιμήσεως, μεταβληθέντος τοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ εἴδους πρὸς τὸ πρωτότυπον, ὡς μηκέτι Παῦλον εἶναι δοκεῖν τὸν ζῶντά τε καὶ φθεγγόμενον, ἀλλ' αὐτὸν τὸν Χριστὸν ἐν αὐτῷ ζῆν· καθώς φησιν ὁ καλὸς τῶν ἰδίων ἀγαθῶν ἐπαισθόμενος, ὅτι «Εἰ δοκιμὴν ζητεῖτε τοῦ ἐν ἐμοὶ λαλοῦντος Χριστοῦ.» Καὶ, ὅτι «Ζῶ δὲ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἔτι, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός.»

And when we have understood this, then in consequence we shall learn clearly also what sort of men it befits us to show ourselves through our zeal about our life, using the name as teacher and guide towards life. If, then, we make holy Paul our leader towards these two things, we shall have the surest guidance towards clarity in what we seek. For he, most exactly of all, both understood what Christ is and, by what he did, set forth what sort of man the one named after Him must be; imitating Him so vividly as to show his own Master formed in himself, the form of his soul having been changed towards the prototype through the most exact imitation, so that it no longer seemed to be Paul who lived and spoke, but Christ Himself living in him; as he says who perceived well his own good things: «Since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me.» And: «And I live no longer, but Christ lives in me.»

Οὗτος οὖν τοῦ κατὰ Χριστὸν ὀνομάζοντος ἐγνώρισεν ἡμῖν τὸ σημαινόμενον, εἰπὼν, ὅτι Χριστός ἐστι Θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰρήνην αὐτὸν ἐκάλεσε, καὶ φῶς ἀπρόσιτον, ἐν ᾧ οἰκεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, ἁγιασμόν τε καὶ ἀπολύτρωσιν, ἀρχιερέα τε μέγαν, καὶ Πάσχα, ἱλαστήριον ψυχῶν, ἀπαύγασμα δόξης, χαρακτῆρα ὑποστάσεως, καὶ ποιητὴν αἰώνων, βρῶμα πνευματικὸν καὶ πόμα, καὶ πέτραν, καὶ ὕδωρ, θεμέλιον πίστεως, καὶ γωνίας κεφαλὴν, καὶ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου εἰκόνα, καὶ μέγαν Θεὸν, κεφαλήν τε τοῦ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας σώματος, καὶ τῆς καινῆς κτίσεως πρωτότοκον, καὶ ἀπαρχὴν τῶν κεκοιμημένων, πρωτότοκον ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ πρωτότοκον ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, καὶ μεσίτην Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, καὶ Υἱὸν μονογενῆ δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφανωμένον, καὶ Κύριον τῆς δόξης, καὶ ἀρχὴν τῶν ὄντων (οὕτως εἰπὼν περὶ αὐτοῦ· Ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχὴ), βασιλέα τε δικαιοσύνης πρὸς τούτοις, βασιλέα εἰρήνης, καὶ βασιλέα τῶν ἁπάντων, ἀπερίγραπτον ἔχοντα τῆς βασιλείας τὸ κράτος. Καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα πολλὰ, ὧν οὐκ ἔστι τὸ πλῆθος ῥᾳδίως ἐξαριθμήσασθαι· ἅπερ πάντα συντεθέντα πρὸς ἄλληλα, τῆς ἑκάστου τῶν ἐπωνύμων διανοίας τὸ παρ' ἑαυτῆς εἰς ἔνδειξιν τοῦ σημαινομένου συνεισφερούσης, ἔμφασίν τινα τῆς σημασίας τοῦ κατὰ Χριστὸν ὀνόματος ἡμῖν ἐμποιεῖ, ὅσον χωροῦμεν τῇ ψυχῇ κατανοῆσαι, τοσοῦτον τὰ τῆς ἀφράστου μεγαλειότητος ἡμῖν ἐνδεικνύμενα. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν πάσης ἀξίας τε καὶ ἐξουσίας καὶ δυναστείας ὑπέρκειται τὸ τῆς βασιλείας ἀξίωμα, τῇ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ προσηγορίᾳ κυρίως καὶ πρώτως τὸ βασιλικὸν διασημαίνεται κράτος (προηγεῖτο γὰρ, καθὼς ἐν ταῖς ἱστορίαις ἐμάθομεν, τῆς βασιλείας ἡ χρίσις), τῇ δὲ βασιλείᾳ πᾶσα ἡ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐμπεριέχεται δύναμις, τούτου χάριν ὁ τὰ περιεχόμενα κατανοήσας, καὶ τὴν περιεκτικὴν τῶν κατὰ μέρος συγκατενόησε δύναμιν. Αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία, ἧς ἐνδεικτικὸν ὄνομα ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ κλῆσίς ἐστιν. Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ

He, then, made known to us what is signified by the name taken from Christ, saying that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God; and he also called Him peace, and light unapproachable in which God dwells, and sanctification and redemption, and great high priest, and Pasch, propitiation of souls, radiance of glory, stamp of substance, and maker of the ages, spiritual food and drink, and rock, and water, foundation of faith, and head of the corner, and image of the invisible God, and great God, and head of the body of the Church, and firstborn of the new creation, and firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, firstborn from the dead, and firstborn among many brethren, and mediator between God and men, and only-begotten Son crowned with glory and honour, and Lord of glory, and beginning of the things that are (for so he speaks of Him: Who is the beginning), and besides these, king of righteousness, king of peace, and king of all things, holding the power of the kingdom without bound. And many other such things, whose number it is not easy to count; all of which, set together with one another, since the sense of each of the titles contributes from itself towards showing what is signified, produce in us some impression of the meaning of the name taken from Christ, displaying to us so much of the ineffable majesty as we are able to comprehend with the soul. Since, then, the dignity of kingship stands above every rank and authority and dominion, and by the appellation of Christ the royal power is properly and primarily signified (for the anointing, as we have learned in the histories, went before the kingship), while in kingship the power of all the rest is contained, for this reason he who has understood the things contained has understood along with them also the power that contains the particulars. And this is the kingship, of which the title of Christ is the name that shows it. Since, then,

Editors' notes and page, col. 253

Footnotes

(none) — notes (1) and (2), printed under this column, are called in the Latin (col 254) and set in n254

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: experimentum, inquit› · printed under col 253

II Cor. XIII, 3.

2 Cor. 13:3.

(2) ‹anchor: in me Christus› · printed under col 253

Galat. II, 20.

Gal. 2:20.

Footnotes

(3) ‹anchor: inquit Apostolus› · printed under col 255

II Timoth. III, 17.

2 Tim. 3:17.

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τοῦ μεγίστου τε καὶ θειοτάτου καὶ πρώτου τῶν ὀνομάτων γέγονε παρὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Δεσπότου ἡμῖν κοινωνία, ὥστε τοὺς τῇ ἐπωνυμίᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τιμηθέντας Χριστιανοὺς ὀνομάζεσθαι· ἀναγκαῖον ἂν εἴη, πάντα τὰ ἑρμηνευτικὰ τῆς τοιαύτης φωνῆς ὀνόματα καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν καθορᾶσθαι, ὡς μὴ ψευδώνυμον ἐφ' ἡμῖν εἶναι τὴν κλῆσιν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ βίου τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἔχειν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ καλεῖσθαί τι τὸ εἶναι γίνεται· ἀλλ' ἡ ὑποκειμένη φύσις, οἵα δ' ἂν οὖσα τύχῃ, διὰ τῆς προσφυοῦς τοῦ ὀνόματος σημασίας γνωρίζεται. Οἷόν τι λέγω· Εἰ δένδρῳ τις ἢ πέτρᾳ προσηγορίαν ἀνθρώπου χαρίσαιτο, ἆρα ἄνθρωπος ἔσται διὰ τὴν κλῆσιν, ἢ τὸ φυτὸν, ἢ ὁ λίθος; Οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα· ἀλλὰ χρὴ πρῶτον εἶναι ἄνθρωπον, εἶθ' οὕτως ὀνομασθῆναι τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τῆς φύσεως. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ὁμοιωμάτων αἱ κλήσεις ἔχουσι τὸ κύριον, ὡς εἴ τις ἄνθρωπον λέγει τὸν ἀνδριάντα, ἢ ἵππον τὸ μίμημα· ἀλλ' εἰ μέλλοι τι κυρίως καὶ ἀψευδῶς ὀνομάζεσθαι, ἀληθῆ δείξει πάντως τὴν προσηγορίαν ἡ φύσις. Ἡ δὲ ἀναδεξαμένη τὴν μίμησιν ὕλη, ὅπερ ἂν οὖσα τύχῃ, τοῦτο καὶ ὀνομάζεται, χαλκὸς, ἢ λίθος, ἢ τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον, ᾧ ἐπέβαλεν ἡ τέχνη τὸ εἶδος πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν σχηματίσασα.

since we have been granted by our good Master a share in the greatest and most divine and first of names, so that those honoured with the title of Christ are named Christians, it would be necessary that all the names that interpret such a word should be seen in us as well, so that the title may not be falsely borne by us, but may have the witness of our life. For a thing does not come to be by being called something; rather, the underlying nature, whatever it happens to be, is made known through the meaning of the name that belongs to it. What I mean is this: if someone were to bestow the appellation of man on a tree or a rock, will the plant or the stone be a man because of the title? These things are not so; but it must first be a man, and then in this way be named by the appellation of its nature. For neither do titles have their proper force in the case of likenesses, as when someone calls the statue a man, or the copy a horse; but if anything is to be named properly and without falsehood, it is the nature that will in every case show the appellation true. And the material that has received the imitation is named for whatever it happens to be, bronze, or stone, or some other such thing, on which art has laid the form, shaping it towards the semblance.

Οὐκοῦν τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἑαυτοὺς ὀνομάζοντας, πρῶτον γενέσθαι χρὴ ὅπερ τὸ ὄνομα βούλεται, εἶθ' οὕτως ἑαυτοῖς ἐφαρμόσαι τὴν κλῆσιν. Καὶ ὥσπερ εἴ τις διακρίνοι ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄντος ἀνθρώπου τὸν ὁμωνύμως ἐπὶ τῆς εἰκόνος λεγόμενον, ἐκ τῶν ἰδιωμάτων ποιήσεται τὴν διάκρισιν (τὸ μὲν γὰρ ζῶον λογικὸν διανοητικὸν ὀνομάσει, τὸ δὲ ἕτερον ὕλην ἄψυχον διὰ μιμήσεως ὑπελθοῦσαν τὸ εἶδος)· οὕτω καὶ τὸν Χριστιανὸν, τόν τε ἀληθῶς ὄντα καὶ τὸν δοκοῦντα, διὰ τῶν ἐπιφαινομένων τοῖς χαρακτῆρσιν ἰδιωμάτων ἐπιγνωσόμεθα. Χαρακτῆρες δὲ τοῦ ὄντως Χριστιανοῦ πάντα κἀκεῖνά ἐστιν, ὅσα περὶ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐνοήσαμεν. Ὧν ὅσα μὲν χωροῦμεν, μιμούμεθα· ὅσα δὲ οὐ χωρεῖ ἡ φύσις πρὸς μίμησιν, σεβόμεθά τε καὶ προσκυνοῦμεν. Οὐκοῦν πάντα τὰ ἑρμηνευτικὰ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ σημασίας ὀνόματα ἐπιλάμπειν χρὴ τῷ Χριστιανῷ βίῳ, τὰ μὲν διὰ μιμήσεως, τὰ δὲ διὰ προσκυνήσεως, εἰ μέλλοι ἄρτιος εἶναι ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, μηδαμοῦ διὰ τῆς κακίας ἀκρωτηριάζων τὴν ἀρτιότητα. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ τὰς μυθικὰς τερατείας ἢ διὰ τῶν λόγων ἢ διὰ τῆς γραφικῆς πλάσσοντες τέχνης, βουκεφάλους τινὰς, ἢ ἱπποκενταύρους, ἢ δρακοντόποδας, ἢ ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον ἐξ ἑτερογενῶν συντιθέντες, οὐ πρὸς τὸ τῆς φύσεως ἀρχέτυπον τὴν μίμησιν ἄγουσιν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς παραλόγου ταύτης ἐπινοίας τὴν φύσιν ἐμφαίνοντες, ἄλλο τι πλάσσουσι, καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπον, σχηματίζοντες πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν τὸ ἀνύπαρκτον· καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις ἄνθρωπον εἴποι τὸ πεπλασμένον διὰ τῆς ἀλλοκότου ταύτης συνθέσεως, κἂν μέρει τινὶ τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου σώματος προσεοικὸς τύχῃ τὸ μέρος τοῦ πλάσματος· οὕτως οὐδ' ἂν Χριστιανὸς ἀκριβῶς ὀνομασθείη ὁ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἄλογον ἔχων, τουτέστιν, ὁ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς κεφαλὴν, ἥτις ὁ Λόγος ἐστὶν, ἐν τῇ πίστει μὴ ἔχων, κἂν ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἄρτιος ᾖ, ἢ ὁ τῇ κεφαλῇ τῆς πίστεως

Those, then, who name themselves after Christ must first become what the name intends, and then in this way fit the title to themselves. And just as, if someone were to distinguish from the man who really is one the figure called by the same name in a picture, he will make the distinction from their properties (for he will name the one a rational, thinking living being, and the other lifeless matter that has taken on the form by imitation); so we shall also recognize the Christian, both the one who truly is one and the one who seems to be, through the properties that show themselves in the marks. And the marks of the true Christian are all those things which we understood concerning Christ. Of these, as many as we can contain, we imitate; and those which nature cannot contain for imitation, we revere and worship. All the names, therefore, that interpret the meaning of Christ must shine forth in the Christian life, some through imitation and some through worship, if the man of God is to be complete, as the Apostle says, nowhere mutilating his completeness through vice. For just as those who fashion the monsters of myth, whether in words or by the art of painting, ox-headed creatures, or horse-centaurs, or serpent-footed things, or some other such thing put together from things of different kinds, do not direct their imitation towards the archetype of nature, but, displaying nature through this irrational invention, fashion something else and not a man, shaping into a semblance what has no existence; and no one would call a man what has been fashioned by this outlandish composition, even if a part of the figure happens to resemble some part of the human body: so neither would he be properly named a Christian who has an irrational head, that is, who does not have in faith the head of all things, which is the Word, even if he is complete in other respects, or he who, with the head of faith,

Editors' notes and page, col. 256

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running head: 255 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 256 (shared with col 255)
marginal letters: A ‹τοῦ μεγίστου τε›; B ‹ἐπὶ τῶν ὁμοιωμάτων›; C ‹ποιήσεται τὴν διάκρισιν›; D ‹τερατείας ἢ διὰ τῶν λόγων› (gutter, shared with col 255)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column; the full-width Greek lines (ἂν οὖσα τύχῃ … σχηματίσασα.) printed across both columns are in the import, under this rail; the word split at the foot (πί-/στεως) is now set whole here

PG 46:257

μὴ κατάλληλον ἐνδεικνύμενος τῆς πολιτείας τὸ σῶμα, ἢ δρακόντων θυμοῖς συμφυόμενος, καὶ καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῶν ἑρπετῶν τούτων ἐκθηριούμενος, ἢ τὸ θηλυμανὲς τῶν ἵππων τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ χαρακτῆρι συμβάλλων, καὶ διφυής τις ἱπποκένταυρος ἐκ λογικοῦ τε καὶ ἀλόγου γινόμενος. Τοιούτους δὲ πολλοὺς ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἐν μόσχου κεφαλῇ, τουτέστιν ἐν τῷ τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας δόγματι, τὸν εὐσχήμονα κατορθοῦντας βίον (οἷον τὸν Μινώταυρον γράφουσιν), οἱ ἐν Χριστιανῷ προσώπῳ θηριωδῶς ὑφαρμόζοντες τῷ βίῳ τὸ σῶμα, οἵους τοὺς κενταύρους ἢ τοὺς δρακοντόποδας πλάττουσιν. Ὡς ἂν τοίνυν, καθάπερ ἐπὶ σώματος ἀνθρώπου, ὁ Χριστιανὸς γνωρίζοιτο, πάντων προσήκει τῶν κατὰ τὸν Χριστὸν νοουμένων ἀγαθῶν τὸν πιστὸν ἐνσημαίνεσθαι τῷ βίῳ τοὺς χαρακτῆρας. Τὸ γὰρ ἔν τινι μὲν εἶναι τοιοῦτον οἷον τὸ ὄνομα βούλεται, ἐν ἑτέροις δὲ πρὸς τὰ ἐναντία ῥέπειν, οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν, ἢ εἰς πολεμίου τάξιν αὐτὸν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν διατέμνεσθαι, δι' ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας ἐν ἑαυτῷ στασιάζοντα, ἄσπονδον αὐτὸν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀσύμβατον τῷ βίῳ γινόμενον. «Τίς γὰρ κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος;» φησὶν ὁ Ἀπόστολος.

shows the body of his conduct not matching it, either grown together with the fury of serpents and made bestial after the likeness of these reptiles, or joining the lust of horses for females to the human stamp, and becoming a kind of double-natured horse-centaur, from rational and irrational. And one can see many such who lead a seemly life in a calf's head, that is, in the doctrine of idolatry (as they paint the Minotaur), who with a Christian face fit a body to their life in a bestial way, like those who fashion the centaurs or the serpent-footed creatures. So that the Christian, then, may be recognized as in the case of a man's body, it befits the believer to mark in his life the stamps of all the good things that are understood in connection with Christ. For to be in one respect such as the name intends, but in others to incline towards the opposite, is nothing other than to be cut in two against oneself into the rank of an enemy, at strife within oneself through virtue and vice, and to become irreconcilable with oneself and at variance in one's life. «For what fellowship has light with darkness?» says the Apostle.

Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἄμικτος τῷ φωτὶ καὶ ἀμεσίτευτός ἐστιν ἡ ἐναντίωσις· ὁ ἀμφοτέρων ἐχόμενος, καὶ μὴ θάτερον αὐτῶν μεθιεὶς, τῇ τῶν ἀντιστοιχούντων ἀλλήλοις ἐναντιότητι καὶ αὐτὸς κατ' ἀνάγκην συνδιασχίζεται, φῶς κατὰ ταὐτὸν καὶ σκότος ἐν τῷ συμμίκτῳ βίῳ γενόμενος· τῆς μὲν πίστεως τὸν φωτισμὸν ἐνιείσης, τοῦ δὲ σκοτεινοῦ βίου τὴν ἐκ τοῦ λόγου λαμπηδόνα καταμελαίνοντος. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἄμικτός ἐστι καὶ ἀσύμβατος τῷ φωτὶ πρὸς τὸ σκότος ἡ κοινωνία, ὁ ἑκατέρου τῶν ἐναντίων περιεχόμενος, αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ πολέμιος γίνεται, διχῇ μερισθεὶς πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ κακίαν, καὶ ἑαυτῷ πρὸς ἀντίπαλον τάξιν ἀντικαθιστάμενος. Ὥσπερ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν δύο πολεμίοις ἀμφοτέρους νικητὰς κατ' ἀλλήλων γενέσθαι (ἡ γὰρ τοῦ ἑνὸς νίκη θάνατον τοῦ ἀντικειμένου πάντως ἐργάζεται), οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτης τῆς ἐμφυλίου μάχης, τῆς διὰ τοῦ συμμίκτου βίου συνισταμένης, οὔ πως ἔστι νικῆσαι τὴν κρείττονα παράταξιν, μὴ πανωλεθρίᾳ τῆς ἄλλης διαφθαρείσης. Πῶς γὰρ ὁ τῆς εὐσεβείας στρατὸς κρείττων τῆς κακίας γενήσεται, τῆς πονηρᾶς φάλαγγος τῶν ἐναντίων ἀντιβαινούσης; ἀλλ' εἰ μέλλοι νικᾶν τὸ κρεῖττον, φονευθήσεται πάντως τὸ ἀντικείμενον. Καὶ οὕτως ἡ ἀρετὴ κατὰ τῆς κακίας ἕξει τὰ νικητήρια, ὅταν πᾶν τὸ πολέμιον αὐτῇ διὰ τῆς τῶν λογισμῶν συμμαχίας μεταχωρήσῃ πρὸς τὸ ἀνύπαρκτον. Καὶ τότε πληροῦται τὸ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τῆς προφητείας λεγόμενον, ὅτι «Ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ, καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω.» Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἄλλως τὸ ἐν ἐμοὶ ἀγαθὸν ζῆσαι, μὴ τῷ θανάτῳ πολεμίου ζωοποιούμενον. Ἕως δ' ἂν τῶν δύο περιεχώμεθα, ἑκατέρᾳ χειρὶ τῶν ἐναντίων ἁπτόμενοι, ἀδύνατον κατὰ ταὐτὸν τῶν ἀμφοτέρων ἔχειν τὴν μετουσίαν.

Since, then, the opposition cannot be mixed with light and admits no go-between, he who holds to both and does not let go of either of them is himself of necessity split apart by the contrariety of things that stand opposite one another, becoming at the same time light and darkness in a mixed life, while faith sends in its illumination and the dark life blackens the radiance that comes from the word. Since, then, the fellowship of light with darkness is unmixable and irreconcilable, he who embraces each of the opposites becomes an enemy to himself, divided in two towards virtue and vice, and setting himself against himself in opposing ranks. And just as with two enemies it is not possible for both to become victors over each other (for the victory of the one assuredly works the death of the adversary), so also in this civil battle, which is set up through the mixed life, it is in no way possible for the better line of battle to conquer unless the other is destroyed in utter ruin. For how will the army of piety become stronger than vice while the wicked phalanx of the opposing side stands against it? But if the better is to conquer, the adversary will assuredly be slain. And thus virtue will hold the prize of victory over vice, when everything hostile to it withdraws, through the alliance of the reasonings, into non-existence. And then is fulfilled what is spoken in the person of God through the prophecy: «I will kill, and I will make alive.» For the good in me cannot live otherwise than by being made alive through the death of the enemy. But as long as we cling to both, laying hold of the opposites with either hand, it is impossible to have a share in both at the same time.

Editors' notes and page, col. 257

Footnotes

(none) — notes (4) and (5), printed under this column, are called in the Latin (col 258) and set in n258

Footnotes

(4) ‹anchor: ut inquit Apostolus› · call in the full-width Latin line printed across cols 257–258 · printed under col 257

II Cor. VI, 14.

2 Cor. 6:14.

(5) ‹anchor: et vivere faciam› · printed under col 257

Deut. XXXII, 39.

Deut. 32:39.

Footnotes

(6) ‹anchor: virtus et sapientia› · printed under col 259

I Cor. I, 24.

1 Cor. 1:24.

(7) ‹anchor: Dominus est intelligitur› · printed under col 259

Prov. II, 2 sqq.

Prov. 2:2 ff.

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running head: 259 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 260 (shared with col 260; last figure of 259 damaged type)
marginal letters: A ‹parte malitiae capimus›; B ‹ea quae divinitati conveniunt›; C ‹Christi igitur significatio›; D ‹Et sapiens fit› (gutter, shared with col 260)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set); one full-width Greek line (μεως δὲ τῇ σοφίᾳ … γίνεται.) crosses this column and is set in layer 1 under the 260 rail

PG 46:260

Τοῦ γὰρ περιδραξαμένου τῆς κακίας, ἡ ἀρετὴ τῆς λαβῆς ἐξωλίσθησεν.

For when one has grasped hold of vice, virtue has slipped out of his grip.

Οὐκοῦν πάλιν τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀναλάβωμεν λόγον, ὅτι μία πρὸς τὴν καθαράν τε καὶ θείαν ζωήν ἐστι τοῖς φιλαρέτοις ὁδὸς, γνῶναι τί σημαίνει τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸ ὄνομα, ᾧ χρὴ καὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον συμμορφωθῆναι βίον, διὰ τῆς τῶν λοιπῶν ὀνομάτων ἐμφάσεως εἰς ἀρετὴν ῥυθμιζόμενον. Ὅσα τοίνυν ἐν τοῖς προοιμίοις τοῦ λόγου ῥήματά τε καὶ ὀνόματα παρὰ τῆς ἁγίας τοῦ Παύλου φωνῆς ἑρμηνευτικὰ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ σημασίας συνελεξάμεθα, ταῦτα προθέντες εἰς τὴν προκειμένην ἡμῖν σπουδὴν, ἀσφαλεστάτην ὁδηγίαν εἰς τὸν βίον τὸν κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν ποιησόμεθα, τὰ μὲν μιμούμενοι, καθὼς ἐν τοῖς φθάσασιν εἴρηται, τὰ δὲ προσκυνοῦντες καὶ σεβαζόμενοι. Γενέσθω δὲ ἡμῖν τάξις τῶν εἰρημένων ἡ ἀπαρίθμησις. Οὐκοῦν ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων ἀρξόμεθα· Χριστὸς, φησὶ, Θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία. Διὰ τούτων πρῶτον μὲν τὰς θεοπρεπεῖς ἐννοίας διὰ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ προσηγορίας μανθάνομεν, δι᾽ ὧν σεβάσμιον ἡμῖν τὸ ὄνομα γίνεται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις, ὅση τε τῇ αἰσθήσει γινώσκεται, καὶ ἡ τῆς αἰσθητικῆς ὑπερκειμένη κατανοήσεως, δι᾽ αὐτοῦ γέγονε, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν, ἀναγκαίως πρὸς τὸν ὁρισμὸν τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας τοῦ τὰ πάντα ποιήσαντος, ἡ σοφία τῇ δυνάμει συμπλέκεται. Τοῦτο νοούντων ἡμῶν διὰ τῆς τῶν δύο τούτων φωνῶν συζυγίας, τῆς δυνάμεώς τε λέγω καὶ τῆς σοφίας, ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἦν τὰ μεγάλα ταῦτα καὶ ἄφραστα τῆς κτίσεως θαύματα, μὴ σοφίας μὲν τὴν γένεσιν αὐτῶν ἐπινοούσης, δυνάμεως δὲ τῇ σοφίᾳ παρομαρτούσης πρὸς τὴν τῶν νοηθέντων τελείωσιν, δι᾽ ἧς ἔργα τὰ νοήματα γίνεται.

Let us therefore take up again the argument from the beginning: that for the lovers of virtue there is one road to the pure and divine life, [namely] to know what the name of Christ signifies, to which our life also must be conformed, being set in order towards virtue by the significance of the remaining names. Whatever words and names, then, we gathered in the opening of this discourse from the holy voice of Paul as interpreting the meaning of Christ, these we shall set before the task that lies before us, and shall make [of them] a most secure guidance towards the life according to virtue, imitating some, as has been said in what went before, and adoring and reverencing others. And let the enumeration of the things spoken be our order. Let us therefore begin from the first: Christ, he says, is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Through these [names] we learn first the conceptions befitting God through the appellation of Christ, through which the name becomes venerable to us. For since the whole creation, both as much of it as is known by sense and that which lies above the apprehension of sense, came to be through Him and subsists in Him, of necessity, in the definition of the presence of Christ Who made all things, wisdom is interwoven with power. This we understand through the pairing of these two terms (I mean power and wisdom): that these great and unspeakable wonders of creation would not have been, had not wisdom devised their coming-into-being, and power accompanied wisdom towards the accomplishment of the things conceived, through which [power] the conceptions become works.

Μερίζεται τοίνυν καταλλήλως εἰς διπλῆν ἔμφασιν τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σημαινόμενον, εἰς τὴν σοφίαν τε καὶ τὴν δύναμιν, ἵν᾽ ὅταν μὲν πρὸς τὸ μέγεθος τῆς τῶν ὄντων συστάσεως ἀποβλέψωμεν, τὴν ἄφραστον αὐτοῦ δύναμιν διὰ τῶν καταλαμβανομένων νοήσωμεν. Ὅταν δὲ λογιζώμεθα ὅτι τὰ μὴ ὄντα παρῆλθεν εἰς γένεσιν, τῆς πολυειδοῦς ἐν τοῖς οὖσι φύσεως διὰ θείου νεύματος οὐσιωθείσης, τότε τὴν ἀκατάληπτον σοφίαν τὸν Χριστὸν πιστεύειν. Ὃ γάρ τις ἐπικαλεῖται προσευχόμενος, καὶ πρὸς ὃ βλέπει τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμῷ, τοῦτο πρὸς ἑαυτὸν διὰ τῆς εὐχῆς ἐπισπᾶται· καὶ οὕτω δυνάμει τε κραταιοῦται πρὸς τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, ὁ πρὸς τὴν δύναμιν βλέπων (Χριστὸς δέ ἐστιν ἡ δύναμις), καὶ σοφὸς γίνεται, καθὼς ἡ Παροιμία φησὶν, ὁ τὴν σοφίαν ἐπικαλούμενος, ἥτις πάλιν νοεῖται ὁ Κύριος. Οὐκοῦν ὁ τῷ Χριστῷ συνονομαζόμενος, ὅς ἐστι δύναμίς τε καὶ σοφία, καὶ τῇ δυνάμει συνονομάζεται, δυναμωθεὶς κατὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ τὴν σοφίαν ἐν ἑαυτῷ δείξει, τῇ ἐκλογῇ τοῦ βελτίονος. Σοφίας δὲ καὶ δυνάμεως ἐν ἡμῖν δεικνυμένων, τῆς μὲν τὸ καλὸν αἱρουμένης, τῆς δὲ δυνάμεως τὸ νοηθὲν βεβαιούσης, κατορθοῦται τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλειον δι᾽ ἀμφοῖν συμπλεκόμενον. Οὕτω καὶ εἰρήνην τὸν Χριστὸν νοήσαντες, ἀληθῆ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν κλῆσιν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτῶν ἐπιδείξομεν, ἐὰν διὰ τῆς ἐν ἡμῖν εἰρήνης τὸν Χριστὸν τῷ βίῳ ἐπιδειξώμεθα. Ἐκεῖνος τὴν ἔχθραν ἀπέκτεινε,

The signification of Christ, therefore, is fittingly divided into a twofold meaning, into wisdom and into power, so that when we look to the greatness of the constitution of the things that are, we may understand His unspeakable power through the things that are apprehended; but when we reckon that the things which were not have passed into being, the manifold nature in existing things having been given being by a divine nod, then [we may] believe Christ to be the incomprehensible wisdom. For what anyone calls upon when he prays, and what he looks towards with the eye of the soul, this he draws to himself through prayer; and so he who looks towards the power (and Christ is the power) is both strengthened with power in the inner man, as the Apostle says, and becomes wise, as the Proverb says, he who calls upon wisdom, which again is understood to be the Lord. Therefore he who is named together with Christ, Who is both power and wisdom, is also named together with the power, being empowered against sin, and will show wisdom in himself by the choice of the better. And when wisdom and power are shown in us, the one choosing the good, and power making firm what has been conceived, the perfection of life is achieved, woven together through both. So also, having understood Christ to be peace, we shall show forth in ourselves the true calling of Christ, if through the peace within us we show forth Christ in our life. He slew the enmity,

Editors' notes and page, col. 260

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running head: 259 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 260 (shared with col 259)
marginal letters: A ‹Τοῦ γὰρ περιδραξαμένου›; B ‹ἀριθμήσεις. Οὐκοῦν›; C ‹Μερίζεται τοίνυν›; D ‹φίαν ἐπικαλούμενος› (gutter, shared with col 259)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column; the full-width Greek line (μεως δὲ τῇ σοφίᾳ παρομαρτούσης … γίνεται.) printed across both columns is in the import, under this rail (παρομαρτούσης confirmed at zoom 4)

PG 46:261

καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος. Οὐκοῦν μηδὲ ἡμεῖς ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ταύτην ζωοποιήσωμεν, ἀλλὰ νεκρὰν αὐτὴν ἐν τῷ ἡμετέρῳ δείξωμεν βίῳ. Μήποτε τὴν καλῶς ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ ἡμῶν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ νεκρωθεῖσαν, ἡμεῖς ἐπ᾽ ὀλέθρῳ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν, δι᾽ ὀργῆς καὶ μνησικακίας καθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν ἀναστήσωμεν, πονηρὰν ἀνάστασιν τῆς καλῶς ἀποθανούσης κατεργασάμενοι. Ἀλλ᾽ εἰ τὸν Χριστὸν ἔχομεν, ὅς ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὴν ἔχθραν νεκροποιήσωμεν, ἵν᾽ ὅπερ ἐν ἐκείνῳ πιστεύομεν, τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῷ ἡμετέρῳ κατορθώσωμεν βίῳ. Ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖνος τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας, τοὺς δύο ἔκτισεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον, ποιῶν εἰρήνην· οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς καταλλαγὰς ἀγάγωμεν οὐ μόνον τοὺς ἔξωθεν ἡμῖν προσμαχομένους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς στασιάζοντας, ἵνα μηκέτι ἡ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμῇ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα κατὰ τῆς σαρκός· ἀλλ᾽ ὑποταγέντος τοῦ σαρκώδους φρονήματος τῷ θείῳ νόμῳ, εἰρηνεύωμεν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, εἰς ἕνα τὸν καινόν τε καὶ εἰρηνικὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀναστοιχειωθέντες, καὶ εἷς οἱ δύο γενόμενοι. Εἰρήνης γὰρ ὅρος, ἡ τῶν διεστηκότων ἐστὶν ὁμοφωνία. Ὅταν οὖν ἐξαιρεθῇ τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ὁ ἐμφύλιος πόλεμος, τότε καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἐν ἑαυτοῖς εἰρηνεύσαντες, εἰρήνη γινόμεθα, ἀληθῆ καὶ κυρίαν ἐφ᾽ ἡμῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ἐπιδεικνύοντες. Φῶς δὲ ἀληθινὸν καὶ τῷ ψεύδει ἀπρόσιτον νοήσαντες τὸν Χριστὸν, τοῦτο μανθάνομεν, ὅτι χρὴ καὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον βίον ταῖς τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Πατρὸς ἀκτῖσι καταφωτίζεσθαι. Ἀρεταὶ δέ εἰσιν αἱ ἀκτῖνες τοῦ ἡλίου τῆς δικαιοσύνης, εἰς φωτισμὸν ἡμῶν ἀπορρέουσαι, δι᾽ ὧν γίνεται τὸ ἀποθέσθαι τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους, καὶ ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ περιπατεῖν εὐσχημόνως, καὶ ἀπειπάμενον τὰ κρυπτὰ τῆς αἰσχύνης, καὶ πάντα ἐν φωτὶ ποιοῦντα, καὶ αὐτὸν φῶς γενέσθαι, ὥστε καὶ ἄλλοις λάμπειν διὰ τῶν ἔργων, ὅπερ φωτός ἐστιν ἴδιον. Κἂν ἁγιασμὸν τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι νοήσωμεν, τῷ πάσης βεβήλου καὶ ἀκαθάρτου πράξεως καὶ ἐννοίας, οὐχὶ ῥήματι τοῦ ἁγιασμοῦ τὴν δύναμιν ὁμολογοῦντες, ἀλλὰ τῷ βίῳ.

as the Apostle says. Let us therefore not bring it to life again in ourselves either, but show it dead in our own life. Let us not, [the enmity] that was well put to death by God for our salvation, raise up against ourselves to the destruction of our souls through anger and the remembering of wrongs, working an evil resurrection of what had died well. But if we have Christ, Who is peace, let us also put the enmity to death in ourselves, that what we believe in Him, this we may also accomplish in our own life. For as He, having loosed the middle wall of the partition, created the two in Himself into one new man, making peace; so let us also bring to reconciliation not only those who fight against us from without, but also those who are in revolt within ourselves, so that the flesh may no longer lust against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; but, the mind of the flesh having been subjected to the divine law, we may be at peace in ourselves, having been re-formed into the one new and peaceable man, and the two having become one. For the definition of peace is the concord of things that stood apart. When, therefore, the civil war of our nature has been taken away, then we also, having made peace in ourselves, become peace, showing forth upon ourselves the name of Christ as true and proper. And having understood Christ to be the true light, inaccessible to falsehood, we learn this: that our life too must be illumined by the rays of the true Father. And the rays of the sun of justice are the virtues, flowing forth for our illumination, through which it comes about [that one] puts off the works of darkness, and walks becomingly as in the day, and, having renounced the hidden things of shame and doing all things in the light, oneself becomes light, so as also to shine for others through [one's] works, which is the property of light. And if we understand Christ to be sanctification, [let us show it] by [keeping ourselves from] every profane and impure deed and thought, confessing the power of sanctification not by word but by our life.

Ἀπολύτρωσιν δὲ εἶναι τὸν Χριστὸν μαθόντες, τὸν ἑαυτὸν δόντα λύτρον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, τοῦτο διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης φωνῆς παιδευόμεθα, τὸ μαθεῖν ὅτι καθάπερ τιμήν τινα τῆς ἑκάστου ψυχῆς παρασχόμενος ἡμῖν τὴν ἀθανασίαν, κτῆμα ἴδιον τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου παρ' αὐτοῦ διὰ τῆς ζωῆς ἐξαγορασθέντας ἐποίησεν. Εἰ τοίνυν δοῦλοι τοῦ λυτρωσαμένου γεγόναμεν, πρὸς τὸν κυριεύοντα πάντως ὀψώμεθα, ὡς μηκέτι ἡμᾶς ἑαυτοῖς ζῆν, ἀλλὰ τῷ κτησαμένῳ ἡμᾶς διὰ τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς ἀνταλλάγματος. Οὐκέτι γὰρ ἑαυτῶν ἐσμεν κύριοι, ἀλλ' ὁ ὠνησάμενός ἐστι Κύριος, ἡμεῖς δὲ αὐτοῦ τὰ κτήματα. Οὐκοῦν νόμος ἔσται τῆς ἡμετέρας ζωῆς, τὸ τοῦ κυριεύοντος θέλημα. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τοῦ θανάτου κρατοῦντος ἡμῶν, ὁ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐν ἡμῖν νόμος ἐπολιτεύετο· οὕτως ἐπειδὴ τῆς ζωῆς κτῆμα γεγόναμεν,

Having learned that Christ is Redemption, He Who gave Himself as a ransom for us, we are taught this through such a word: to learn that, having furnished us with immortality as a kind of price for the soul of each, He made His own possession those who were bought back by Him from death through His life. If, then, we have become slaves of Him Who redeemed us, let us by all means look towards the one Who is Lord, so that we no longer live for ourselves, but for Him Who acquired us through the exchange of His life. For we are no longer lords of ourselves, but He Who purchased us is Lord, and we are His possessions. Accordingly the law of our life will be the will of Him Who is Lord. For just as, while death held sway over us, the law of sin governed in us, so, since we have become

Editors' notes and page, col. 261

Footnotes

(none) — notes (8)–(14), printed across the foot of this page, are called in the Latin (col 262) and set in n262

Footnotes

(8) ‹anchor: ut inquit Apostolus› · printed under cols 261–262

Ephes. II, 14.

Eph. 2:14.

(9) ‹anchor: homine faciens pacem› · printed under cols 261–262

ibid.

Ibid.

(10) ‹anchor: esse lucem veram› · printed under cols 261–262

Joan. I, 9.

John 1:9.

(11) ‹anchor: honeste ambulemus› · printed under cols 261–262

Rom. XIII, 12, 13.

Rom. 13:12, 13.

(12) ‹anchor: sanctificationem consideramus› · printed under cols 261–262

I Cor. I, 30.

1 Cor. 1:30.

(13) ‹anchor: possessionem effecisse› · printed under cols 261–262

I Timoth. II, 6.

1 Tim. 2:6.

(14) ‹anchor: pretio comparavit› · printed under cols 261–262

I Cor. VI, 20.

1 Cor. 6:20.

Footnotes

(15) ‹anchor: astringet Domino› · printed under cols 263–264 (across the page foot)

I Cor. V, 7.

1 Cor. 5:7.

(16) ‹anchor: tum Pascha› · printed under cols 263–264 (across the page foot)

Hebr. VII, 11 sqq.

Heb. 7:11 ff.

(17) ‹anchor: hostiam pro nobis› · printed under cols 263–264 (across the page foot)

I Timoth. II, 6; Ephes. V, 2.

1 Tim. 2:6; Eph. 5:2.

(18) ‹anchor: obsequium factus› · printed under cols 263–264 (across the page foot)

Rom. XII, 1.

Rom. 12:1.

(19) ‹anchor: et perfecta› · printed under cols 263–264 (across the page foot)

ibid. 3.

Ibid. 3.

(20) ‹anchor: est subjecta› · printed under cols 263–264 (across the page foot)

Rom. VIII, 6.

Rom. 8:6.

(21) ‹anchor: super terram› · printed under cols 263–264 (across the page foot)

Coloss. III, 5.

Col. 3:5.

(22) ‹anchor: Christus dicitur› · printed under cols 263–264 (across the page foot)

Hebr. I, 3.

Heb. 1:3.

(23) ‹anchor: scrutatus fuerat› · printed under cols 263–264 (across the page foot)

II Cor. XII, 4.

2 Cor. 12:4.

Page

running head: 263 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 264 (shared with col 264)
marginal letters: A ‹que sit, ut ipsius›; B ‹ctus: sacrificandi autem›; C ‹nobis ipsis propitiatio simus›; D ‹Nam cum omnia quae› (gutter, shared with col 264)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set). Note (19) prints "ibid. 3." (read as 3; the words it annotates are Rom. 12:2); recorded as printed. The "Digitized by Google" stamp at the page foot is not Migne's. A stray mark stands over the last letter of NYSSENI in the head.

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ἀναγκαῖον ἂν εἴη, πρὸς τὴν κρατοῦσαν μεθαρμοσθῆναι ἡμῶν τὴν πολιτείαν, μή ποτε τῆς ζωῆς παρατραπέντες θελήματος, πάλιν πρὸς τὸν πονηρὸν τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν τύραννον, τὸν θάνατον λέγω, διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτομολήσωμεν. Ἡ δὲ αὐτὴ διάνοια προσοικειώσει ἡμᾶς τῷ Χριστῷ, κἂν Πάσχα αὐτὸν εἶναι, κἂν ἀρχιερέα, παρὰ τοῦ Παύλου ἀκούσωμεν. Ἐτύθη γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὸ Πάσχα Χριστός· ἀλλ' ὁ ἱερεὺς, προσάγων τῷ Θεῷ τὴν θυσίαν, οὐκ ἄλλος τίς ἐστι παρ' αὐτὸν τὸν Χριστόν. «Ἑαυτὸν γὰρ,» φησὶ, «ἀνήνεγκε προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν.» Οὐκοῦν τοῦτο διὰ τούτων μανθάνομεν, ὅτι πρὸς ἐκεῖνον βλέπων, τὸν ἑαυτὸν προσαγαγόντα προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν, Πάσχα γενόμενον, καὶ αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν παραστήσει τῷ Θεῷ θυσίαν ζῶσαν, ἁγίαν, εὐάρεστον, λογικὴ λατρεία γενόμενος· ὁ δὲ τρόπος τῆς ἱερουργίας ἐστὶ, τὸ μὴ συσχηματίζεσθαι τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ μεταμορφοῦσθαι τῇ ἀνακαινώσει τοῦ νοὸς αὐτοῦ, ἐν τῷ δοκιμάζειν, τί τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ ἀγαθὸν, καὶ εὐάρεστον, καὶ τέλειον. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστι ζώσης τῆς σαρκὸς, καὶ μὴ κατὰ τὸν πνευματικὸν ἱερουργηθείσης νόμον, τὸ ἀγαθὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ θέλημα ἐν αὐτῇ δειχθῆναι· διότι τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς, ἔχθρα εἰς Θεὸν, καὶ τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐχ ὑποτάσσεται. Οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται, ἕως ἂν ζῇ ἡ σάρξ, ἧς διὰ τῆς ζωοποιοῦ θυσίας ἱερουργηθείσης, διὰ τοῦ νεκρῶσαι τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς μέλη, δι' ὧν ἐνεργεῖται τὰ πάθη, ἀνεμποδίστως τὸ εὐάρεστον καὶ τέλειον θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῇ ζωῇ αὐτῷ πεπιστευκότων κατορθωθήσεται. Οὕτως καὶ ἱλαστήριον ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ αἵματι ὁ Χριστὸς νοούμενος, διδάσκει τὸν ταῦτα νοήσαντα, αὐτὸν ἕκαστον γενέσθαι ἑαυτῷ ἱλαστήριον, διὰ τῆς τῶν μελῶν νεκρώσεως τὴν ψυχὴν ἁγνίζοντα. Ὅταν δὲ δόξης ἀπαύγασμα, καὶ χαρακτὴρ ὑποστάσεως ὁ Χριστὸς λέγηται τῆς προσκυνουμένης αὐτοῦ μεγαλωσύνης διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων τούτων τὰς ἐννοίας ἀναλαμβάνομεν. Ὁ γὰρ θεόπνευστος ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ θεοδίδακτος Παῦλος, ὁ ἐν τῷ βάθει τοῦ πλούτου τῆς σοφίας καὶ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὰ ἄδηλα καὶ τὰ κρύφια τῶν θείων μυστηρίων διερευνώμενος, τὰς γινομένας αὐτῷ θεόθεν ἐλλάμψεις περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀνεξερευνήτων τε καὶ ἀνεξιχνιάστων κατανοήσεως, ἀτονωτέραν ἔχων τῆς διανοίας τὴν γλῶτταν, καθὼς ἐχώρει ἡ ἀκοὴ τῶν δεχομένων τὴν σύνεσιν αὐτοῦ, τὴν ἐν τῷ μυστηρίῳ, δι' αἰνιγμάτων τινῶν ὑπέδειξεν· ὅσον ὑπουργεῖν τῇ διανοίᾳ δυνατῶς εἶχεν ὁ λόγος, τοσοῦτον φθεγγόμενος. Πάντα γὰρ ὅσα χωρεῖ ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη δύναμις, κατανοήσας, ἀνέφικτόν τε καὶ ἀνεπίληπτον ἀνθρωπίνοις λογισμοῖς τὸν τῆς ὑπερκειμένης οὐσίας προσφέρεται λόγον.

the possession of life, it would be necessary that our way of living be re-fitted to what [now] holds sway, lest, turned aside at any time from the will of life, we desert again through sin to the wicked tyrant of our souls, death, I mean. And the same thought will make us kin to Christ, whether we hear from Paul that He is the Pasch or the high priest. For Christ our Pasch was truly sacrificed for us; but the priest Who brings the sacrifice to God is no one other than Christ Himself. "For He offered Himself," he says, "as an offering and sacrifice for us." Accordingly we learn this through these [words]: that, looking to Him Who brought Himself as offering and sacrifice, Who became the Pasch, [one] will himself also present himself to God a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing, becoming a rational worship; and the manner of the sacred service is not to be conformed to this age, but to be transformed by the renewal of his mind, in proving what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God. For it is not possible, while the flesh is alive, and has not been offered in sacrifice according to the spiritual law, that the good will of God be shown in it; because the mind of the flesh is enmity towards God, and is not subject to the law of God. For neither can it be, so long as the flesh lives; but when it has been offered in sacrifice through the life-giving sacrifice, through putting to death the members upon the earth through which the passions work, the well-pleasing and perfect will of God will be accomplished without hindrance in the life of those who have believed in Him. Thus too Christ, understood as the propitiation in His own blood, teaches the one who has understood these things that each should himself become a propitiation for himself, purifying the soul through the putting to death of the members. And when Christ is called the radiance of glory and the stamp of the substance, through these words we take up the thoughts of His adorable majesty. For Paul, truly inspired by God and taught by God, who searched out in the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God the obscure and hidden things of the divine mysteries, having a tongue feebler than his mind, showed, through certain riddles, the illuminations that came to him from God concerning the understanding of things unsearchable and untraceable, as the hearing of those who received his understanding, that which is in the mystery, could contain them; uttering as much as speech was able to serve his mind. For having understood all things that human power can contain, he declares the account of the transcendent essence to be unattainable and not to be grasped by human reasonings.

Διὸ τὰ περὶ αὐτῶν θεωρούμενα λέγων, εἰρήνην, καὶ δύναμιν, καὶ ζωὴν, καὶ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ φῶς, καὶ ἀλήθειαν, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα· τὸν περὶ αὐτῆς ἐκείνης λόγον, ἄληπτον εἶναι παντελῶς διωρίσατο, εἰπὼν μήτε ἑωρᾶσθαί ποτε τὸν Θεὸν, μήτε ὀφθήσεσθαι. «Ὃν εἶδε» γὰρ, φησὶν, «οὐδεὶς, οὐδὲ ἰδεῖν δύναται.»

Therefore, speaking of the things contemplated concerning them — peace, and power, and life, and righteousness, and light, and truth, and such things — he defined the account concerning that [essence] itself to be altogether beyond grasp, saying that God has never been seen, nor will be seen. For "Whom no one," he says, "has seen, nor can

Editors' notes and page, col. 264

Page

running head: 263 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 264 (shared with col 263)
marginal letters: A ‹ναμεν, ἀναγκαῖον ἂν εἴη›; B ‹γικὴ λατρεία γενόμενος›; C ‹ἱλαστήριον ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ›; D ‹αἰνιγμάτων τινῶν ὑπέδειξεν› (gutter, shared with col 263)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens with the second half of γεγό-/ναμεν, which is set whole at the end of col 261, and the import begins correctly after it; it ends with a word split at the break (δύνα-/ται), which the import already sets whole here; no full-width lines on this page; footnotes (15)–(23) printed at the page foot are all called in the Latin (col 263)

PG 46:265

Διὰ τοῦτο ζητῶν, πῶς ὀνομάσει τὸ μὴ δυνάμενον λογισμοῖς ληφθῆναι, ὡς οὐχ εὗρεν ἐμφαντικὸν ὄνομα τῆς τῶν ἀκαταλήπτων ἑρμηνείας, δόξαν καὶ ὑπόστασιν ὠνόμασε τὸ ὑπερκείμενον παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ, τὸ μήτε νοούμενον ἀξίως, μήτε φραζόμενον. Τὴν μὲν οὖν ὑπερκειμένην τῶν ὄντων οὐσίαν ἀφῆκεν ἀκατονόμαστον· τὸ δὲ συναφές τε καὶ ἀδιάστατον τοῦ Υἱοῦ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα διερμηνεύων, καὶ τὸ τῷ ἀορίστῳ τε καὶ ἀϊδίῳ Πατρὶ ἀορίστως τε καὶ ἀϊδίως συνθεωρούμενον, ἀπαύγασμα δόξης καὶ χαρακτῆρα ὑποστάσεως προσαγορεύει· τῷ μὲν ἀπαυγάσματι, τὸ συμφυὲς ἐνδεικνύμενος· τῷ δὲ χαρακτῆρι, τὸ ἰσοστάσιον. Οὔτε γὰρ αὐτῆς πρὸς τὴν ἀπαυγάζουσαν φύσιν ἐπινοεῖταί τι μέσον, οὔτε τις τοῦ χαρακτῆρος ἐλάττωσις πρὸς τὴν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ χαρακτηριζομένην ὑπόστασιν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ τὴν ἀπαυγάζουσαν φύσιν νοήσας, καὶ τὸ ἀπαύγασμα ταύτης πάντως κατενόησε. Καὶ ὁ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ὑποστάσεως ἐν νῷ λαβὼν, τῷ ἐπιφαινομένῳ χαρακτῆρι πάντως ἐμμετρεῖ τὴν ὑπόστασιν. Διὸ καὶ μορφὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγει τὸν Κύριον, οὐ κατασμικρύνων τῇ τῆς μορφῆς ἐννοίᾳ τὸν Κύριον, ἀλλὰ τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ Υἱοῦ διὰ τῆς μορφῆς ἐνδεικνύμενος, ᾗ ἐνθεωρεῖται τοῦ Πατρὸς ἡ μεγαλειότης, οὐδαμοῦ τῆς ἰδίας μορφῆς ὑπερπίπτουσα, οὐδὲ ἔξω τοῦ περὶ αὐτὴν χαρακτῆρος εὑρισκομένη. Ἄμορφον γὰρ καὶ ἀκαλλὲς περὶ τὸν Πατέρα οὐδὲν, ὃ μὴ τῇ ὡραιότητι τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἐπαγάλλεται· διό φησιν ὁ Κύριος, ὅτι «Ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ, ἑώρακε καὶ τὸν Πατέρα,» σημαίνων διὰ τούτου, μήτε ἔλλειψίν τινα εἶναι, μήτε ὑπέρπτωσιν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ φέρειν αὐτὸν λέγων τὰ πάντα τῷ τῆς δυνάμεως ῥήματι, λύει τῶν τὰ ἀνεξερεύνητα πολυπραγμονούντων τὴν ἀμηχανίαν, οἳ τὸν περὶ τῆς ὕλης ἀναζητοῦντες λόγον, οὐδαμοῦ τῆς πολυπραγμοσύνης ἵστανται, Πῶς, λέγοντες, τῷ ἀΰλῳ ἡ ὕλη; καὶ πῶς τὸ ποσὸν ἐκ τοῦ ἀπόσου, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἀσχηματίστου τὸ σχῆμα, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἀοράτου τὸ χρῶμα, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἀορίστου τὸ τοῖς ἰδίοις μέτροις ἐμπερατούμενον; Καὶ εἰ μηδεμία ποιότης περὶ τὸ ἁπλοῦν καὶ ἀσύνθετον, πόθεν ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς περὶ αὐτὴν ποιότησιν ἡ ὕλη; Πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν ζητουμένων λύει ὁ εἰπὼν, ὅτι τὰ σύμπαντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ φέρει ὁ Λόγος ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς γένεσιν. Πάντα γὰρ, ὅσα τὴν ἄυλον εἴληχε φύσιν, μίαν αἰτίαν ἔχει τῆς ὑποστάσεως, τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς ἀφράστου δυνάμεως. Ἐκ δὲ τούτων παιδευόμεθα τὸ πρὸς αὐτὸ βλέπειν, ἀφ' οὗ τῶν ὄντων ἐστὶν ἡ γένεσις. Εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖθεν εἰς τὸ εἶναι παρήχθημεν, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ συνεστήκαμεν, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα, μηδὲν ἔξω τῆς γνώσεως πιστεύειν εἶναι τοῦ ἐν ᾧ ἐσμεν, καὶ ἀφ' οὗ γεγόναμεν, καὶ εἰς ὃν ἀναλύομεν. Ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ διανοίᾳ συγκατορθοῦται, κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς, τὸ κατὰ τὴν ζωὴν ἀναμάρτητον. Τίς γὰρ ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ζῆν πιστεύων, μάρτυρα τῆς ἀπεμφαινούσης ζωῆς τολμήσαι ποιήσασθαι τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ τὴν ἑκάστου ζωὴν περιέχοντα; Βρῶμα δὲ καὶ πόμα πνευματικὸν ὀνομάζων τὸν Κύριον ὁ θεῖος

see." For this reason, seeking how he should name what cannot be grasped by reasonings, since he did not find a name expressive for the interpretation of incomprehensible things, he named "glory" and "substance" that which transcends every good, which is neither worthily conceived nor expressed. The essence, then, that transcends the things that are he left unnamed; but interpreting the conjunction and inseparability of the Son with the Father, and that He is contemplated along with the unbounded and eternal Father unboundedly and eternally, he calls Him "radiance of glory" and "stamp of substance": by the "radiance" showing the connaturality, by the "stamp" the equality. For neither is anything conceived as intermediate between it [the radiance] and the nature that sends forth the radiance, nor is there any lessening of the stamp in relation to the substance stamped by it. But he who has conceived the nature that sends forth radiance has certainly also perceived its radiance. And he who has taken into his mind the greatness of the substance certainly measures the substance by the stamp that appears upon it. Therefore he also calls the Lord "form of God," not belittling the Lord by the idea of form, but showing the greatness of the Son through the form, in which the majesty of the Father is contemplated, nowhere exceeding its own form, nor found outside the stamp that is about it. For there is nothing formless and without beauty about the Father which does not exult in the comeliness of the Only-begotten; wherefore the Lord says, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father also," signifying by this that there is neither any falling short nor any overshooting. But also, by saying that He bears all things by the word of His power, he resolves the perplexity of those who busy themselves about things unsearchable, who, inquiring into the account of matter, nowhere halt in their meddling, saying: How [comes] matter from the immaterial? and how the quantitative from the non-quantitative, and shape from the shapeless, and colour from the invisible, and from the unbounded what is bounded by its own measures? And if there is no quality about what is simple and uncompounded, whence is matter entangled in the qualities about it? For all these and such questions he resolves who said that the Word bears all things by the word of His power from non-being into coming-to-be. For all things, as many as have obtained the immaterial nature, have one cause of their subsistence, the word of the unspeakable power. And from these things we are taught to look towards that from which the coming-to-be of the things that are derives. For if from there we were brought into being, and in Him we hold together, it is altogether necessary to believe that nothing is outside the knowledge of Him in Whom we are, and from Whom we have come to be, and into Whom we are dissolved. And with this thought, as is fitting, sinlessness in life is accomplished together. For who, believing that he lives from Him and through Him and in Him, would dare to make Him Who holds the life of each in Himself a witness of an unseemly life? And the divine [Apostle], naming the Lord spiritual food and drink,

Editors' notes and page, col. 265

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running head: 265 · DE PERFECTA CHRISTIANI FORMA. · 266 (shared with col 266)
marginal letters: A ‹ται. Διὰ τοῦτο ζητῶν›; B ‹ὑπόστασιν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ›; C ‹αὐτὸν λέγων τὰ πάντα›; D ‹τῆς ἀφράστου δυνάμεως› (gutter, shared with col 266)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: PATROL. GR. XLVI. (page foot, under this column), with gathering figure 9 at the right
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens with ται.», the end of δύνα-/ται, set whole at the end of col 264, and the import begins correctly after it at Διὰ τοῦτο; it ends without a hyphen (ὁ θεῖος); no full-width lines; footnotes (24)–(27) printed under this column are all called in the Latin (col 266)

PG 46:266

Editors' notes and page, col. 266

Footnotes

(24) ‹anchor: nec potest videre› · printed under col 265 (page foot, left)

I Tim. VI, 16.

1 Tim. 6:16.

(25) ‹anchor: vidit Patrem› · printed under col 265 (page foot, left)

Joan. XIV, 10.

John 14:10.

(26) ‹anchor: virtutis suae› · printed under col 265 (page foot, left)

Hebr. I, 3.

Heb. 1:3.

(27) ‹anchor: et in ipso› · printed under col 265 (page foot, left)

Rom. XI, 36.

Rom. 11:36.

Footnotes

(28) ‹anchor: divus Apostolus› · printed under cols 267–268 (across the page foot)

I Cor. X, 16 sqq.

1 Cor. 10:16 ff.

(29) ‹anchor: laetitiam afferens› · printed under cols 267–268 (across the page foot)

Psal. CIII, 15.

Ps. 103:15.

(30) ‹anchor: consolationem significat› · printed under cols 267–268 (across the page foot)

Psal. XXII, 2.

Ps. 22:2.

(31) ‹anchor: vere est potus› · printed under cols 267–268 (across the page foot)

Joan. VI, 56.

John 6:56.

(32) ‹anchor: manducat et bibit› · printed under cols 267–268 (across the page foot)

I Cor. XI, 28.

1 Cor. 11:28.

(33) ‹anchor: monumento posuit› · printed under cols 267–268 (across the page foot)

Luc. XXIII, 53.

Luke 23:53.

(34) ‹anchor: petra dicitur Christus› · printed under cols 267–268 (across the page foot)

I Cor. X, 4.

1 Cor. 10:4.

Page

running head: 267 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 268 (shared with col 268)
marginal letters: A ‹dens, turpis et flagitiosae›; B ‹modatur. Nam imbecillis›; C ‹quidem significatione, omnibus›; D ‹praecepto et evangelistae› (gutter, shared with col 268)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set). The "Digitized by Google" stamp is not Migne's.

PG 46:268

Ἀπόστολος, ταῦτα διὰ τῶν λεγομένων νοεῖν ὑποτίθεται, ὅτι οὐ μονοειδής ἐστιν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις, ἀλλὰ τοῦ νοητοῦ πρὸς τὸ αἰσθητὸν συγκεκραμένου, ἰδιάζουσα καθ' ἕτερον τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν θεωρουμένων ἐστὶν ἡ τροφή· τῆς μὲν αἰσθητῆς βρώσεως τὸ σῶμα διακρατούσης, τῆς δὲ πνευματικῆς τροφῆς τὴν ψυχικὴν ἐμποιούσης ἡμῖν εὐεξίαν. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος, τὸ στερεόν τε καὶ ὑγρὸν τῆς τροφῆς, μετ' ἄλλων μιγνύμενα, συντηρητικὰ τῆς φύσεως γίνεται, διὰ τῆς καταλλήλου πέψεως ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν στοιχειωδῶς συγκεκραμένων καταμιγνύμενα· κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἀναλογικῶς ὁ Παῦλος καὶ τὴν νοητὴν καταμερίζει τροφὴν, βρῶσιν ὀνομάζων καὶ πόσιν τὸ αὐτὸ πρᾶγμα, πρὸς τὴν χρείαν τῶν προσφερομένων οἰκείως μεθαρμοζόμενον. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἀτονοῦσι καὶ ἐκλελυμένοις ἄρτος γίνεται, στηρίζων καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου· τοῖς δὲ κεκμηκόσι διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν βίον τοῦτον ταλαιπωρίαν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο γενομένοις διψώδεσιν, οἶνος γίνεται, τὴν καρδίαν εἰς εὐφροσύνην ἄγων.

Apostle proposes that we understand these things through what is said: that human nature is not of a single form, but, the intelligible being blended with the sensible, the nourishment is proper to each of the two [elements] observed in us: the sensible food sustaining the body, and the spiritual nourishment producing in us the good condition of the soul. But just as in the case of the body the solid and the liquid of the nourishment, mixed with other things, become preservative of our nature, being mixed through the appropriate digestion with each of the [elements] elementally blended in us, in the same manner Paul, by analogy, divides the intelligible nourishment too, naming the same thing food and drink, fitted appropriately to the need of those who take it. For to those who are feeble and faint it becomes bread, strengthening the heart of man; but to those who are weary through the hardship towards this life, and have become thirsty for this reason, it becomes wine, bringing the heart to gladness.

Νοεῖν δὲ χρὴ διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων τοῦ λόγου τὴν δύναμιν, δι' οὗ τρέφεται ἡ ψυχὴ καταλλήλως τῇ χρείᾳ, τὴν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ χάριν προσδεχομένη, κατὰ τὸ αἴνιγμα τοῦ προφήτου, ὃς τόπῳ χλόης καὶ ὕδατος ἀναπαύσεως τὴν ἐκ τοῦ λόγου γινομένην τοῖς κεκμηκόσι παραμυθίαν διασημαίνει. Εἰ δὲ πρὸς τὸ μυστήριόν τις βλέπων, βρῶμα καὶ πόμα κυρίως ὀνομάζεσθαι λέγοι τὸν Κύριον, οὐδὲ τοῦτο τῆς κυρίας ἐμφάσεως ἀπεξένωται· ἀληθῶς γὰρ ἡ σάρξ αὐτοῦ βρῶσίς ἐστι, καὶ τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἀληθῶς ἐστι πόσις. Ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῆς προῤῥηθείσης μὲν διανοίας, πᾶσι κατ' ἐξουσίαν ἐστὶν ἡ μετουσία τοῦ Λόγου, ὃς γίνεται βρῶμα καὶ πόμα προσφερόμενον ἀδιακρίτως, ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιζητούντων αὐτὸν λαμβανόμενος. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἑτέρας ἐννοίας, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνεξέταστος καὶ ἀδιάκριτος ἡ τῆς τοιαύτης τροφῆς τε καὶ πόσεως μετουσία, οὕτως τοῦ Ἀποστόλου προσδιορίσαντος, ὅτι «Δοκιμαζέτω δὲ ἕκαστος ἑαυτὸν, καὶ οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ ἄρτου ἐσθιέτω, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ποτηρίου πινέτω. Ὁ δὲ ἀναξίως ἐσθίων καὶ πίνων, εἰς κρῖμα ἑαυτῷ ἐσθίει καὶ πίνει.» Πρὸς ὅ μοι δοκεῖ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς βλέπων, ἠσφαλισμένως τὸ τοιοῦτο παρασημήνασθαι, ὅτι ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ μυστικοῦ πάθους ὁ εὐσχήμων ἐκεῖνος βουλευτὴς, ἀσπίλῳ καὶ καθαρᾷ τῇ σινδόνι τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου διαλαβὼν, καινῷ τε καὶ καθαρῷ μνήματι ἐναπέθετο· ὥστε νόμον πᾶσιν ἡμῖν τό τε τοῦ Ἀποστόλου παράγγελμα γενέσθαι, καὶ τὸ τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ παρατήρημα, τοῦ καθαρᾷ τῇ συνειδήσει τὸ ἅγιον ὑποδέχεσθαι σῶμα· εἴ πού τις ἐξ ἁμαρτίας εἴη κηλὶς, τῷ ὕδατι τῶν δακρύων ἀποῤῥύψαντας. Ἀλλὰ πέτρα λεγόμενος ὁ Χριστὸς, ὠφελήσει διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τούτου ἡμᾶς, ἐν τῷ παγίῳ τε καὶ ἀμεταθέτῳ τῆς κατ' ἀρετὴν ζωῆς, καὶ ἐν τῷ στεῤῥῶς ἔχειν πρὸς τὴν τῶν παθημάτων ὑπομονήν, καὶ διὰ τοῦ πρὸς πᾶσαν προσβολὴν ἁμαρτίας ἀντίτυπον καὶ ἀνένδοτον τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι· διὰ τούτων γὰρ καὶ τῶν τοιούτων

And one must understand through what has been said the power of the Word, through which the soul is nourished appropriately to its need, receiving the grace [that comes] from Him, according to the riddle of the prophet, who by the place of green pasture and the water of rest signifies the consolation that comes from the Word to the weary. And if someone, looking towards the mystery, should say that the Lord is properly named food and drink, neither is this estranged from the proper sense; for truly His flesh is food, and His blood is truly drink. But in the sense stated before, participation in the Word is open to all at will, [the Word] Who becomes food and drink offered without distinction, taken by those who seek Him. But in the other sense, participation in such food and drink is not unexamined and without discernment, since the Apostle has further defined thus: "But let each examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. But he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgement to himself." Looking to which, it seems to me, the evangelist has noted such a thing with care: that at the time of the mystical passion that noble counsellor, having wrapped the body of the Lord in a spotless and clean linen cloth, laid it in a new and clean tomb; so that both the injunction of the Apostle and the observation of the evangelist have become a law for us all, to receive the holy body with a clean conscience, [having] washed away, if anywhere there be any stain from sin, with the water of tears. But Christ, being called a rock, will benefit us through this name in the firmness and unchangeableness of the life according to virtue, and in holding steadfast towards the endurance of sufferings, and through showing the soul resistant and unyielding against every assault of sin; for through these and such

Editors' notes and page, col. 268

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running head: 267 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 268 (shared with col 267)
marginal letters: A ‹Ἀπόστολος, ταῦτα διὰ›; B ‹ἀτονοῦσι καὶ ἐκλελυμένοις›; C ‹Ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῆς προρρηθείσης›; D ‹ὥστε νόμον πᾶσιν ἡμῖν› (gutter, shared with col 267)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens at Ἀπόστολος, following ὁ θεῖος at the foot of col 265 (no hyphen there); it ends with a word split at the break (τοιού-/των), which the import already sets whole here; no full-width lines; footnotes (28)–(34) at the page foot are all called in the Latin (col 267)

PG 46:269

πέτρα καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσόμεθα, μιμούμενοι, καθὼς ἐστι δυνατὸν, ἐν τῇ τρεπτῇ φύσει τὸ ἄτρεπτον τοῦ Δεσπότου καὶ ἀμετάθετον. Εἰ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς παρὰ τοῦ σοφοῦ ἀρχιτέκτονος καὶ θεμέλιος πίστεως, καὶ γωνίας κεφαλὴ ὀνομάζεται, οὐδὲ τοῦτο πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κατ' ἀρετὴν βίου συνεισφορὰν ἀσυντελὲς ἡμῖν ἐπιδειχθήσεται. Διδασκόμεθα γὰρ διὰ τούτων, ὅτι πάσης ἀγαθῆς πολιτείας, καὶ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ μαθήματός τε καὶ ἐπιτηδεύματος, καὶ ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος ἐστὶν ὁ Κύριος. Ἥ τε γὰρ ἐλπὶς (ἣν ἀντὶ κεφαλῆς νοοῦμεν, πρὸς ἣν πάντα βλέπει, τὰ κατ' ἀρετὴν σπουδαζόμενα) ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν, οὕτως ὠνομασμένος παρὰ τοῦ Παύλου, καὶ ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς ὑψηλῆς ταύτης τοῦ βίου πυργοποιίας, ἡ εἰς αὐτὸν γίνεται πίστις, ἐφ' ἧς οἷόν τινα θεμέλιον τὰς ἀρχὰς τοῦ βίου καταβαλλομένων ἡμῶν, καὶ διὰ καθημερινῶν κατορθωμάτων τὰς καθαρὰς ἐννοίας τε καὶ ἐνεργείας νομοθετούντων, οὕτως ἡ τοῦ παντὸς κεφαλὴ καὶ ἡμετέρα γίνεται κεφαλὴ, τοῖς δύο τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν τοίχοις, τοῖς τε κατὰ τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν, δι' εὐσχημοσύνης καὶ καθαρότητος ἐποικοδομουμένοις, διὰ τῆς ἀγωνίου συμφυΐας ἑαυτὴν ἐφαρμόζουσα. Ὡς ἐὰν ἐλλείπῃ τὸ ἕτερον τῶν οἰκοδομημάτων, ἤτοι τῆς κατὰ τὸ φαινόμενον εὐσχημοσύνης τῇ τῆς ψυχῆς καθαρότητι μὴ συνοικοδομουμένης, ἢ τῆς ψυχικῆς ἀρετῆς τῷ φαινομένῳ μὴ συμβαινούσης, οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο τοῦ ἡμιτελοῦς τούτου βίου κεφαλὴ ὁ Χριστὸς, ὁ μόνῃ τῇ διπλῇ τε καὶ διαγωνίᾳ οἰκοδομίᾳ ἑαυτὸν ἐφαρμόζων· οὐδὲ γάρ ἐστι δυνατὸν, χωρὶς τῆς τῶν δύο τοίχων συμβολῆς, γωνίας γενέσθαι. Τότε οὖν ἐπιτεθήσεται τῷ οἰκοδομήματι ἡμῶν τοῦ ἀκρογωνιαίου τὸ κάλλος, ὅταν ἀμφοτέρωθεν τὸν ὀρθὸν τοῦ βίου κανόνα τῇ τῶν ἀρετῶν σπάρτῳ ἀποταθῇ ἐναρμονίως ὁ διπλοῦς βίος, ὀρθός τε καὶ ἀδιάστροφος, καὶ οὐδὲν ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ σκολιὸν ἢ κατηγκυλωμένον.

things we too shall be a rock, imitating, so far as is possible in a changeable nature, the unchangeableness and immovability of the Master. And if the same [Christ] is named by the wise master-builder both foundation of faith and head of the corner, neither will this be shown to be without contribution for us towards the life according to virtue. For we are taught through these [names] that the Lord is both beginning and end of every good way of life, and of every good lesson and practice. For both the hope (which we understand in place of "head", to which all things pursued according to virtue look) is He, being so named by Paul; and the beginning of this lofty tower-building of life is the faith that comes to be towards Him; upon which, as on a kind of foundation, when we lay down the beginnings of life, and by daily right deeds legislate pure thoughts and actions, thus the Head of all becomes our head too, fitting itself, through the angular joining, to the two walls of our life, those of the body and of the soul, built up by comeliness and purity. So that if one of the two structures is lacking — either the outward comeliness not being built up together with the purity of the soul, or the virtue of the soul not agreeing with what appears — Christ would not become the head of this half-finished life, He Who fits Himself only to the double and angular building; for it is not possible for a corner to come to be without the meeting of the two walls. Then, therefore, the beauty of the corner-stone will be set upon our building, when the double life is stretched out harmoniously on both sides along the upright rule of life by the line of the virtues, upright and undistorted, and having in itself nothing crooked or bent.

Εἰκόνα δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου τὸν Χριστὸν ὀνομάζων ὁ Παῦλος, τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸν καὶ μέγαν Θεόν· καὶ ταύταις γὰρ ταῖς φωναῖς ἀνακηρύσσει τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Δεσπότου τὸ μεγαλεῖον, λέγων· «Τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ·» καὶ, «Ἐξ ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς, τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸς, εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας·» ταῦτα οὖν λέγων που, παιδεύει διὰ τῶν λεγομένων ἡμᾶς, ὅτι ἀεὶ ὢν ὅπερ ἐστὶν (ἔστι δὲ ἐκεῖνο, ὅπερ ὁ ὢν ἐπίσταται μόνος), τῆς δὲ ἀνθρωπίνης καταλήψεως, κἂν ἀεὶ ⟨α⟩ὐτῷ διὰ προκοπῆς προσεγγίζῃ ὁ τὰ ἄνω φρονῶν, πάντοτε τῷ ἴσῳ μέτρῳ ὑπερανέστηκεν. Οὗτος τοίνυν ὑπερέκεινα πάσης γνώσεώς τε καὶ καταλήψεως, ὁ ἄφραστός τε καὶ ἀνεκλάλητος καὶ ἀδιήγητος, ἵνα σε ποιήσῃ πάλιν εἰκόνα Θεοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ φιλανθρωπίας ἐγένετο εἰκὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου· ὥστε τῇ ἰδίᾳ μορφῇ, ἣν ἀνέλαβεν, ἐν σοὶ μορφωθῆναι, καὶ σὲ πάλιν δι' ἑαυτοῦ πρὸς τὸν χαρακτῆρα τοῦ ἀρχετύπου συσχηματισθῆναι κάλλους, εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι, ὅπερ ἦς ἐξ ἀρχῆς. Οὐκοῦν εἰ μέλλοιμεν γίνεσθαι καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰκὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρὸς τὸ ἐκκείμενον ἡμῖν τοῦ βίου ὑπόδειγμα τυποῦσθαι ζωῆς προσήκει τῆς ἡμῶν τὸ εἶδος· τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τί; τὸ σαρκὶ ζῶντας,

And Paul, naming Christ image of the invisible God, [names Him also] God over all and great God; for with these words too he proclaims the majesty of the true Master, saying: "Of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ"; and, "Of whom is Christ according to the flesh, Who is God over all, blessed unto the ages." Saying these things, then, somewhere, he teaches us through what is said that, being always what He is (and He is that which He Who is alone knows), He always stands above human comprehension by an equal measure, even if he who minds the things above ever draws near to Him through progress. He, then, Who is beyond all knowledge and comprehension, the unspeakable and inexpressible and indescribable, in order to make you again an image of God, Himself also became through love for man an image of the invisible God; so that He might be formed in you by His own form which He assumed, and that you in turn, through Him, might be conformed to the stamp of the archetypal beauty, so as to become what you were from the beginning. Accordingly, if we too are to become an image of the invisible God, it is fitting that the form of our life be stamped after the pattern of life set before us; and what is this? That, living in the flesh,

Editors' notes and page, col. 269

Page

running head: 269 · DE PERFECTA CHRISTIANI FORMA. · 270 (shared with col 270)
marginal letters: A ‹των πέτρα καὶ ἡμεῖς›; B ‹ἡμῶν, καὶ διὰ καθημερινῶν›; C ‹ματι ἡμῶν τοῦ ἀκρογωνιαίου›; D ‹μόνος), τῆς δὲ ἀνθρωπίνης› (gutter, shared with col 270)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens with των, the end of τοιού-/των, set whole at the end of col 268, and the import begins correctly after it; the full-width Greek lines printed across both columns (τέρωθεν … κατηγκυλωμένον.) are in the import, under this rail; it ends with a word split at the break (ζῶν-/τας), which the import already sets whole here; footnotes (35)–(42) at the page foot are all called in the Latin (col 270)

PG 46:270

Editors' notes and page, col. 270

Footnotes

(35) ‹anchor: sapiente architecto› · printed under cols 269–270 (across the page foot)

I Cor. III, 10.

1 Cor. 3:10.

(36) ‹anchor: fundamentum fidei› · printed under cols 269–270 (across the page foot)

Ephes. II, 20.

Eph. 2:20.

(37) ‹anchor: anguli caput› · printed under cols 269–270 (across the page foot)

Luc. XX, 17.

Luke 20:17.

(38) ‹anchor: nominatus est a Paulo› · printed under cols 269–270 (across the page foot)

Cor. I, 7.

Cor. 1:7 [so printed, with a gap before Cor.; the numeral of the epistle is not visible].

(39) ‹anchor: dirigitur, fides› · printed under cols 269–270 (across the page foot)

Gal. III, 5 sqq.

Gal. 3:5 ff.

(40) ‹anchor: Christum appellat› · printed under cols 269–270 (across the page foot)

Col. I, 15.

Col. 1:15.

(41) ‹anchor: Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi› · printed under cols 269–270 (across the page foot)

Tit. II, 13.

Titus 2:13.

(42) ‹anchor: benedictus in saecula› · printed under cols 269–270 (across the page foot)

Rom. IX, 5.

Rom. 9:5.

Page

running head: 269 · DE PERFECTA CHRISTIANI FORMA. · 270 (shared with col 269)
marginal letters: A ‹nos item erimus petra›; B ‹stras moderamur, atque ita›; C ‹perpendiculo concinne erit›; D ‹possit, si secum ipse› (gutter, shared with col 269)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set). Note (38) is printed with a blank before "Cor."; no figure is visible there, and none is supplied. The full-width Greek lines on this page (τέρωθεν … κατηγκυλωμένον.) cross below this column's paragraph ending accommodata. and are set under col 269. The "Digitized by Google" stamp is not Migne's.

PG 46:271

Editors' notes and page, col. 271

Footnotes

(43) ‹anchor: secundum carnem› · printed under cols 271–272 (across the page foot)

Rom. VIII, 12 sqq.

Rom. 8:12 ff.

(44) ‹anchor: dolus in ore ejus› · printed under cols 271–272 (across the page foot)

I Petr. II, 22.

1 Pet. 2:22.

(45) ‹anchor: Christi imitator fuit› · printed under cols 271–272 (across the page foot)

I Cor. IV, 16.

1 Cor. 4:16.

(46) ‹anchor: humilis corde› · printed under cols 271–272 (across the page foot)

Matth. XI, 29.

Matt. 11:29.

(47) ‹anchor: nesciunt quid faciunt› · printed under cols 271–272 (across the page foot)

Luc. XXIII, 34.

Luke 23:34.

(48) ‹anchor: esse didicit› · printed under cols 271–272 (across the page foot)

Eph. V, 23.

Eph. 5:23.

Page

running head: 271 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 272 (shared with col 272)
marginal letters: A ‹imago invisibilis Dei›; B ‹artifex autem hujusce›; C ‹me, quia mitis sum›; D ‹lere, vel dimovere› (gutter, shared with col 272)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set). The "Digitized by Google" stamp is not Migne's.

PG 46:272

μὴ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆν. Καὶ γὰρ ἡ πρωτότυπος ἐκείνη τοῦ ἀοράτου Θεοῦ εἰκὼν, ἡ διὰ τῆς Παρθένου ἐπιδημήσασα, ἐπειράσθη μὲν κατὰ πάντα, καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως, μόνης δ' οὐ παρεδέξατο τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν πεῖραν. «Ὃς ἁμαρτίαν γὰρ οὐκ ἐποίησε,» φησὶν, «οὐδ' εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ.» Ὥσπερ τοίνυν, εἰ τὴν ζωγραφικὴν ἐπαιδευόμεθα τέχνην, προθέντος ἡμῖν τοῦ διδασκάλου κεκαλλωπισμένην τινὰ μορφὴν ἐπὶ πίνακος· ἔδει πάντως τὸ ἀπ' ἐκείνης κάλλος ἐπὶ τῆς ἰδίας ἕκαστον ζωγραφίας μιμήσασθαι, ὥστε τοὺς πάντων πίνακας κατὰ τὸ ἐκκείμενον τοῦ κάλλους ὑπόδειγμα καλλωπισθῆναι· κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, ἐπειδὴ τῆς ἰδίας ἕκαστός ἐστι ζωῆς ζωγράφος, τεχνῖτις δὲ τῆς δημιουργίας ταύτης ἐστὶν ἡ προαίρεσις, χρώματα δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἀπεργασίαν τῆς εἰκόνος αἱ ἀρεταί· κίνδυνος οὐ μικρὸς, μεταχαράξαι τοῦ πρωτοτύπου κάλλους τὴν μίμησιν εἰς εἰδεχθές τι καὶ ἄμορφον προσωπεῖον, διὰ τῶν ῥυπαρῶν χρωμάτων, ἀντὶ τοῦ Δεσποτικοῦ εἴδους τὸν τῆς κακίας χαρακτῆρα σκιογραφήσαντας. Ἀλλὰ ὡς ἔστι δυνατὸν, καθαρὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν τὰ χρώματα, κατά τινα τεχνικὴν μίξιν πρὸς ἄλληλα συγκεκραμένα, πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κάλλους μίμησιν παραλαμβάνειν, ὥστε γενέσθαι ἡμᾶς τῆς εἰκόνος εἰκόνα, δι' ἐνεργοῦς ὡς οἷόν τε μιμήσεως ἐκμαξαμένους τὸ πρωτότυπον κάλλος, ὡς ἐποίει ὁ Παῦλος, μιμητὴς τοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ τοῦ κατ' ἀρετὴν βίου γενόμενος. Εἰ δὲ χρὴ καὶ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον διευκρινῆσαι τῷ λόγῳ, δι' ὧν ἡ τῆς εἰκόνος μίμησις γίνεται, ἓν χρῶμα ἡ ταπεινοφροσύνη. «Μάθετε» γὰρ, φησὶν, «ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πρᾶός εἰμι, καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ.» Ἕτερον χρῶμα, ἡ μακροθυμία, ἡ πῶς τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ ἀοράτου Θεοῦ ἐπιφανεῖσα; Μάχαιρά τε καὶ ξύλα, καὶ δεσμὰ καὶ μάστιγες, σιαγόνες ῥαπιζόμεναι, πρόσωπον ἐμπτυόμενον, νῶτον πληγαῖς ἐκδεδομένον, κριτήριον ἀσεβὲς, ἀπόφασις ἀπηνὴς, στρατιῶται τῆς σκυθρωπῆς ἀποφάσεως κατατρυφῶντες, ἐν χλευασμοῖς καὶ εἰρωνείαις καὶ ταῖς ἐκ καλάμου πληγαῖς, ἧλοι, καὶ χολὴ, καὶ ὄξος καὶ πάντα τὰ δεινότατα, ἄνευ αἰτίας αὐτῷ προσαγόμενα, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς πολυτρόπου εὐεργεσίας ἀντιδιδόμενα. Τίς οὖν κατὰ τῶν ταῦτα ποιούντων ἡ ἄμυνα; «Πάτερ, συγχώρησον αὐτοῖς· οὐ γὰρ οἴδασι τί ποιοῦσι.» Μὴ οὐκ ἦν δυνατὸν ἄνωθεν αὐτοῖς αὐτὸν ἐπιῤῥῆξαι τὸν οὐρανὸν, ἢ χάσματι γῆς ἐξαφανίσαι τοὺς ὑβριστὰς, ἢ ἐπεκβαλεῖν ἔξω τῶν ἰδίων ὅρων τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ τοῖς βυθοῖς ποιῆσαι τὴν γῆν ὑποβρύχιον, ἢ τὴν Σοδομιτικὴν αὐτοῖς ἐπιβαλεῖν τοῦ πυρὸς ἐπομβρίαν, ἢ ἄλλο τι ποιῆσαι τῶν σκυθρωπῶν διὰ προστάγματος;

[we should] not live according to the flesh. For indeed that archetypal image of the invisible God, which sojourned [among us] through the Virgin, was tempted in all things according to the likeness of human nature, but of sin alone He did not admit the trial. "For He did no sin," it says, "nor was guile found in His mouth." Just as, then, if we were being taught the art of painting, with the teacher setting before us some beautified form upon a panel, each would certainly have to imitate its beauty on his own painting, so that the panels of all would be beautified after the pattern of beauty set before them; in the same way, since each is the painter of his own life, and the craftswoman of this work is the free choice, and the colours for the working-out of the image are the virtues: the danger is not small of re-engraving the imitation of the archetypal beauty into some hideous and misshapen mask, through the filthy colours, sketching the stamp of wickedness instead of the Master's form. But, so far as is possible, [we must] take up the pure colours of the virtues, blended with one another according to a kind of artful mixture, for the imitation of the beauty, so that we become an image of the image, having taken the impress of the archetypal beauty through imitation as effective as may be, as Paul did, who became an imitator of Christ through the life according to virtue. And if one must also distinguish in speech the particular [colours] through which the imitation of the image comes about, one colour is humility. "Learn," He says, "from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart." Another colour is long-suffering; and how did it appear in the image of the invisible God? Sword and staves, and bonds and scourges, cheeks struck, a face spat upon, a back given over to blows, an impious tribunal, a harsh sentence, soldiers making sport of the grim sentence, with mockeries and ironies and the blows of the reed, nails, and gall, and vinegar, and all the most dreadful things, brought upon Him without cause, or rather given in return for His manifold beneficence. What, then, was the requital against those who did these things? "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Was it not possible for Him to break open heaven upon them from above, or to make the insolent vanish in a chasm of the earth, or to hurl the sea out beyond its own bounds and make the land submerged under the depths, or to cast upon them the Sodomitic rain of fire, or to do some other of the grim things by a command?

Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα ἤνεγκεν ἐν πραότητι καὶ μακροθυμίᾳ, ὁ τῷ σῷ βίῳ δι' ἑαυτοῦ νομοθετῶν τὸ μακρόθυμον. Οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα περὶ τὴν πρωτότυπον τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰκόνα ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, πρὸς ἣν ὁ βλέπων, καὶ κατ' ἐκείνην ἐναργῶς καλλωπίζων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μορφὴν, εἰκὼν καὶ αὐτὸς γίνεται τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, διὰ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ζωγραφούμενος. Ὁ δὲ κεφαλὴν

But He bore these things in meekness and long-suffering, He Who through Himself legislates long-suffering for your life. So too one may see all the other [colours] in the archetypal image of God; looking to which, and clearly beautifying his own form after it, one himself also becomes an image of the invisible God, painted through endurance. And he who has learned that Christ is the

Editors' notes and page, col. 272

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running head: 271 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 272 (shared with col 271)
marginal letters: A ‹τας, μὴ κατὰ σάρκα›; B ‹ἐργασίαν τῆς εἰκόνος›; C ‹« ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πρᾶός›; D ‹οὐρανὸν, ἢ χάσματι γῆς› (gutter, shared with col 271)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens with τας, the end of ζῶν-/τας, set whole at the end of col 269, and the import begins correctly after it; it ends with a word split at the break (κεφα-/λὴν), which the import already sets whole here; no full-width lines; footnotes (43)–(48) at the page foot are all called in the Latin (col 271)

PG 46:273

τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι μαθὼν, τοῦτο πρὸ πάντων διανοείσθω, ὅτι πᾶσα κεφαλὴ τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ σώματι ὁμοφυής ἐστι καὶ ὁμοούσιος, καὶ μία τίς ἐστι τῶν καθ' ἕκαστον μελῶν πρὸς τὸ ὅλον συμφυΐα, διὰ μιᾶς συμπνοίας κατεργαζομένη πρὸς τὰ μέρη τῷ παντὶ τὴν συμπάθειαν. Οὐκοῦν εἴ τι τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν ἐκτὸς, τοῦτο καὶ πρὸς τὴν κεφαλὴν πάντως ἀλλοτρίως ἔχει. Παιδεύει τοίνυν διὰ τούτων ὁ λόγος ἡμᾶς, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ κεφαλὴ κατὰ τὴν φύσιν, τοῦτο καὶ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον γίνεσθαι μέλη, ἵνα πρὸς τὴν κεφαλὴν οἰκείως ἔχῃ. Ἡμεῖς δέ ἐσμεν τὰ μέλη, οἱ εἰς τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ συντελοῦντες. Εἰ τοίνυν τις ἄρας τὸ μέλος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ποιήσῃ μέλος πόρνης· οἷόν τινα μάχαιραν ἐμβαλὼν τὴν ἀκόλαστον λύσσαν, διὰ τοῦ πονηροῦ τούτου πάθους τὸ μέλος πάντως τῆς κεφαλῆς ἠλλοτρίωσεν. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς κακίας ὄργανα, μάχαιραι γίνονται, δι' ὧν τὰ μέλη τοῦ συμφυοῦς ἀποτέμνεται σώματος, καὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀφορίζεται πάντα, καθὼς ἂν τὴν τομὴν ἐνεργήσῃ τὰ πάθη. Ἵνα οὖν τοίνυν ἐν τῷ κατὰ φύσιν ὅλον διαμένῃ τὸ σῶμα, πρὸς τὴν κεφαλὴν οἰκείως ἔχειν προσήκει καὶ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον μέλη, οἷον καθαρὰν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς οὐσίας τὴν κεφαλὴν συντελοῦντα. Εἰ ἀφθαρσίαν νοοῦμεν τὴν κεφαλὴν, ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ χρὴ πάντως συνεστάναι τὰ μέλη. Οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἄλλα νοήματα, ὅσα ἡ κεφαλὴ νοεῖται, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μελῶν ἀκόλουθόν ἐστι καθορᾶσθαι, τὴν εἰρήνην, τὸν ἁγιασμὸν, τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα. Διὰ γὰρ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐν τοῖς μέλεσι δείκνυται, τῷ συμφυῶς ἔχειν αὐτὰ πρὸς τὴν κεφαλὴν μαρτυρεῖσθαι· οὕτως εἰπόντος τοῦ Ἀποστόλου, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος μέν ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ, ἐξ αὐτοῦ δὲ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα συναρμολογούμενον καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον διὰ πάσης ἁφῆς, τῆς κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἐν μέτρῳ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου μέρους, τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ σώματος ποιεῖται. Καὶ τοῦτο προσήκει διὰ τοῦ τῆς κεφαλῆς ὀνόματος παιδευθῆναι, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ζώων ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐστι τῷ σώματι τὸ πρὸς τὰς ἐνεργείας ἐνδόσιμον· δι' ὀφθαλμοῦ γὰρ καὶ ἀκοῆς τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον εὐθύνεται, ἥ τε διὰ ποδῶν κίνησις καὶ ἡ διὰ χειρῶν ἐνέργεια· οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἢ ὀφθαλμοῦ μὴ ἐπιστατοῦντος τῶν σπουδαζομένων, ἢ μὴ δεχομένης τῆς ἀκοῆς τὴν ὑφήγησιν, δεόντως τι τῶν προκειμένων γενέσθαι· οὕτω χρὴ κατὰ τὴν ἀληθινὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ ἡμᾶς τὸ σῶμα καταλλήλως κινεῖσθαι πρὸς πᾶσαν ὁρμὴν καὶ ἐνέργειαν, ὅπουπερ ὁ πλάσας τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν, ἢ ὁ φυτεύσας τὸ οὖς καθηγήσεται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἡ κεφαλὴ τὰ ἄνω βλέπει, καὶ τὰ μέλη δεῖ πάντως, τὰ ὑφηρμοσμένα τῇ κεφαλῇ, ἕπεσθαι τῇ τῆς κεφαλῆς ὁδηγίᾳ, καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἄνω τὴν ῥοπὴν ἔχειν. Ὅταν δὲ πρωτότοκον τῆς κτίσεως εἶναι αὐτὸν ἀκούσωμεν, καὶ πρωτότοκον ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ πρωτότοκον ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, πρῶτον μὲν τὰς αἱρετικὰς ὑπολήψεις ἀποπεμπώμεθα, ὡς οὐδεμίαν συνηγορίαν τῆς πονηρᾶς αὐτῶν δογματοποιίας ἐκ τῶν προκειμένων ῥημάτων ἐχούσας. Μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸν ἠθικὸν βίον διὰ τούτων ἡμῖν συντελοῦντα κατανοήσωμεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸν Μονογενῆ Θεὸν τὸν τοῦ παντὸς

Head of the Church, let him consider this above all: that every head is of one nature and one substance with the body placed under it, and that there is a certain single growing-together of the particular members with the whole, which through a single conspiring works out for the whole [body] its fellow-feeling with the parts. Accordingly, if anything is outside the body, this is certainly alien to the head as well. The word, then, teaches us through these [names] that what the head is by nature, this the particular members also become, so that they may be akin to the head. And we are the members, who make up the body of Christ. If, then, anyone, taking the member of Christ, makes it the member of a harlot, having thrust in the unbridled madness like a kind of sword, he has through this wicked passion certainly estranged the member from the head. And so too the other instruments of wickedness become swords, through which the members are cut off from the body with which they grew, and all are separated from the head, as the passions bring about the cutting. In order, then, that the body may remain whole in its natural [state], it is fitting that the particular members too be akin to the head, contributing as it were a head pure in the principle of its being. If we understand the head as incorruption, the members must certainly consist in incorruption. So too with the other conceptions by which the head is understood: it follows that they are to be seen in the members also, peace, sanctification, truth, and all such things. For through the Son these and such things are shown in the members, being testified to by their being connatural with the head; as the Apostle has said, that He is the head, and from Him the whole body, fitted together and joined through every joint, according to the working in the measure of each single part, makes the growth of the body. And this too we ought to be taught through the name of the head: that, just as in living creatures the signal for their activities comes to the body from the head — for through the eye and the hearing the particular [actions] are directed, both the movement through the feet and the activity through the hands; for it is not possible, either when the eye does not preside over the things being undertaken, or when the hearing does not receive the guidance, that any of the things proposed be done as it ought — so we too, the body, must move in accord with the true Head towards every impulse and activity, wherever He Who formed the eye or He Who planted the ear shall lead. Since, then, the head looks to the things above, the members too, which are fitted under the head, must certainly follow the guidance of the head, and have their inclination towards the things above. And when we hear that He is the firstborn of creation, and the firstborn from the dead, and the firstborn among many brethren, let us first send away the heretical suppositions, as having no support for their wicked dogma-making from the words before us. And after this let us consider also what these [names] contribute to us towards the moral life. For since the Only-begotten God, Who

Editors' notes and page, col. 273

Page

running head: 273 · DE PERFECTA CHRISTIANI FORMA. · 274 (shared with col 274)
marginal letters: A ‹λὴν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας›; B ‹κεφαλῆς ἠλλοτρίωσεν›; C ‹ἔχειν αὐτὰ πρὸς τὴν κεφαλὴν›; D ‹πρὸς πᾶσαν ὁρμὴν› (gutter, shared with col 274)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens with λὴν, the end of κεφα-/λὴν, set whole at the end of col 272, and the import begins correctly after it; it ends without a hyphen (τοῦ παντὸς), so nothing is carried from col 276; no full-width lines; footnotes (49)–(54) at the page foot are all called in the Latin (col 274)

PG 46:274

Editors' notes and page, col. 274

Footnotes

(49) ‹anchor: membrum meretricis› · printed under cols 273–274 (across the page foot)

I Cor. VI, 15.

1 Cor. 6:15.

(50) ‹anchor: corporis facit› · printed under cols 273–274 (across the page foot)

Ephes. IV, 16.

Eph. 4:16.

(51) ‹anchor: plantavit aurem› · printed under cols 273–274 (across the page foot)

Psal. XCIII, 9.

Ps. 93:9.

(52) ‹anchor: creaturae discimus› · printed under cols 273–274 (across the page foot)

Coloss. I, 15.

Col. 1:15.

(53) ‹anchor: ex mortuis› · printed under cols 273–274 (across the page foot)

ibid. 18.

Ibid. 18.

(54) ‹anchor: in multis fratribus› · printed under cols 273–274 (across the page foot)

Rom. VIII, 29.

Rom. 8:29.

Footnotes

(55) ‹anchor: in quo omnia› · printed under cols 275–276 (across the page foot)

Rom. XI. 36.

Rom. 11:36.

(56) ‹anchor: primogenitus … dormientium› · printed under cols 275–276 (across the page foot)

I Cor. XV, 20.

1 Cor. 15:20.

(57) ‹anchor: ad resurrectionem iter aperiret› · printed under cols 275–276 (across the page foot)

I Thess. IV, 13.

1 Thess. 4:13.

(58) ‹anchor: post se geniti sunt fratres, primogenitus fuit› · printed under cols 275–276 (across the page foot)

Gen. XXIX, 32.

Gen. 29:32.

Page

running head: 275 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 276 (shared with col 276)
marginal letters: A ‹conducunt consideremus›; B ‹et unigenitus et primogenitus nominetur›; C ‹nem iter aperiret›; D ‹princeps auctorque vitae› (gutter, shared with col 276)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set). Opens with conducunt, following ex his at the foot of col 274 with no hyphen; no note runs over from col 274. The Latin ends at the foot of the column (fratres geniti sumus, qui propter nos factus est) and resumes in col 278. Note (55) is printed with a stop after XI where a comma is usual; recorded as printed. The figure 3 in note (57) is small and worn; read as 13. The "Digitized by Google" stamp at the page foot is not Migne's.

PG 46:276

δημιουργὸν, τὸν ἐξ οὗ, καὶ δι' οὗ, καὶ ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα, ἔργον εἶναι τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ κτίσμα, καὶ ποίημα, λέγουσιν οἱ θεομάχοι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πάσης τῆς κτίσεως πρωτότοκον αὐτὸν λέγεσθαι, διορίζονται· ἢ, ὡς ἀδελφὸν ὄντα τῆς κτίσεως, μόνοις τοῖς τοῦ χρόνου πρεσβείοις αὐτὸν προτερεύοντα, ὡς τὸν Ῥουβὶμ τῶν ἰδίων ἀδελφῶν, οὐ φύσει προτεταγμένον, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἐκ χρόνου πρεσβείοις προτερεύοντα· πρῶτον μὲν τοῦτο πρὸς ἐκείνους ῥητέον, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ μονογενῆ καὶ πρωτότοκον πιστεύεσθαι. Οὔτε γὰρ ὁ μονογενὴς μετὰ ἀδελφῶν νοεῖται· οὔτε χωρὶς ἀδελφῶν ὁ πρωτότοκος, μονογενὴς πάντως οὔτε ἔστιν, οὔτε λέγεται.

the Maker of all, from Whom and through Whom and in Whom are all things, is a work of God, and a creature, and a thing made — so say the fighters against God, and they define that for this reason He is called firstborn of all creation; or [they say it] as of one Who is a brother of creation, taking precedence only by the seniority of time, as Reuben [took precedence] over his own brothers, not set before them by nature, but taking precedence by the seniority that comes from time: this must first be said to them, that it is not possible for the same [One] to be believed both only-begotten and firstborn. For neither is the only-begotten conceived with brothers, nor is the firstborn [conceived] without brothers; [the firstborn] certainly neither is nor is called only-begotten.

Οὐκοῦν ἀσύμβατά ἐστι καὶ ἀκοινώνητα ταῦτα πρὸς ἄλληλα ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τὰ νοήματα, ὡς ἀδύνατον εἶναι, τὰ δύο τὸν αὐτὸν ὀνομάζεσθαι, καὶ μονογενῆ καὶ πρωτότοκον. Ἀλλὰ μὴν εἴρηται παρὰ τῆς Γραφῆς περὶ τοῦ ἐν ἀρχῇ ὄντος Λόγου, ὅτι ὁ Μονογενὴς Θεὸς, Πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως. Οὐκοῦν ἐπιμερίσαι προσήκει τῷ μυστηρίῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, ἑκάτερον τούτων τῶν ὀνομάτων εὐσεβῶς διαστείλαντα· ὥστε Μονογενῆ μὲν εἶναι τὸν προαιώνιον Λόγον, τῆς δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ γενομένης κτίσεως πρωτότοκον γενέσθαι τὸν Λόγον, σάρκα γενόμενον. Καὶ ὅπερ ἂν ἡμῖν ἐγγένηται νόημα, πρωτότοκον αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν εἶναι μαθόντες, καὶ πρωτότοκον ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς· ἐκεῖνο καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ πρωτοτόκῳ τῆς κτίσεως ἀκολούθως νοήσομεν. Οὐκοῦν ἐκ νεκρῶν μὲν πρωτότοκος γίνεται, ὁ ἀπαρχὴ τῶν κεκοιμημένων γενόμενος, ἵνα ὁδοποιήσῃ σαρκὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Καὶ μέλλων ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς ἄνωθεν γεννήσεως, δι' ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος, υἱοὺς ἡμέρας καὶ υἱοὺς φωτὸς ἀπεργάζεσθαι, τοὺς πρότερον ὄντας τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς, αὐτὸς καθηγεῖται τῆς τοιαύτης γεννήσεως, ἐν τῷ ῥείθρῳ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, ἐπὶ τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, τὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριν ἐπισπασάμενος. Ὥστε πάντας τοὺς ἐκ τῆς πνευματικῆς ἀναγεννήσεως εἰς ζωὴν γεννωμένους, ἀδελφοὺς χρηματίσαι τοῦ προγεννηθέντος διὰ τοῦ ὕδατός τε καὶ Πνεύματος. Κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, καὶ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ γενομένης κτίσεως πρωτότοκον αὐτὸν νοοῦντες, οὐκ ἔξω γινόμεθα τῆς εὐσεβοῦς ὑπολήψεως. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡ ἀρχαία κτίσις παρῆλθε διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀχρειωθεῖσα, ἀναγκαίως τὴν τῶν ἀφανισθέντων πάροδον διεδέξατο ἡ καινὴ τῆς ζωῆς κτίσις, διὰ τῆς ἀναγεννήσεως καὶ τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως συνισταμένη· ἧς ὁ ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς ἡγησάμενος, πρωτότοκος τῆς ζωῆς γίνεται καὶ ὀνομάζεται. Ἀλλ' ὅπως χρὴ πρὸς τοὺς ἀντιτεταγμένους ἔχειν, δι' ὀλίγων τῶν εἰρημένων ῥάδιον ἂν γένοιτο τοῖς φιλοπονωτέροις, αὐτάρκη συμμαχίαν πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἔχειν. Ὅπως δ' ἂν φανείη συντελοῦντα πρὸς τὸν κατ' ἀρετὴν βίον τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα, διὰ βραχέων ἐπελευσόμεθα· Πρωτότοκος ἦν τῶν μετ' αὐτὸν διὰ γεννήσεως παραχθέντων ὁ Ῥουβίμ· ὡς ἐμαρτύρει τοῖς μετ' αὐτὸν γεννηθεῖσι τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν συγγένειαν ὁ ἐπιφαινόμενος αὐτοῖς χαρακτὴρ, οἰκείως πρὸς τὸν πρωτότοκον ἔχων, ὥστε μὴ ἀγνοεῖσθαι τὴν ἀδελφότητα,

These notions, then, are incompatible and have no communion with one another in the case of the same [person], so that it is impossible for the same [One] to be named by the two, both only-begotten and firstborn. And yet it has been said by Scripture concerning the Word Who was in the beginning that the Only-begotten God is Firstborn of all creation. It is fitting, then, to apportion them to the mystery of the truth, distinguishing each of these names piously: so that the pre-eternal Word is Only-begotten, but the Word, having become flesh, became firstborn of the creation that came to be afterwards in Christ. And whatever notion arises in us when we learn that He is firstborn from the dead and firstborn among many brethren, that same we shall consequently understand also in the case of the firstborn of creation. Accordingly, He becomes firstborn from the dead, He Who became the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep, so that He might make a way for the resurrection for the flesh. And being about to make us, through the birth from above, through water and the Spirit, sons of the day and sons of light, us who were before by nature children of wrath, He Himself leads the way in such a birth in the stream of the Jordan, drawing the grace of the Spirit upon the first-fruits of our nature. So that all who are born to life from the spiritual regeneration are styled brothers of Him Who was born before them through water and the Spirit. In the same way, when we understand Him also as firstborn of the creation that came to be in Christ, we do not go outside the pious supposition. For since the ancient creation passed away, made useless through sin, the new creation of life, constituted through regeneration and the resurrection from the dead, necessarily succeeded the passing of what had vanished; of which [creation] the Prince of life, having led the way, becomes and is named the firstborn of life. But how one should deal with the opponents, it would be easy for the more diligent to have, through the few things said, a sufficient alliance for the truth. And how these words may be seen to contribute to the life according to virtue we shall go through briefly. Reuben was the firstborn of those who were brought forth after him by birth; as the stamp that appeared on those born after him bore witness to their kinship with him, being akin to the firstborn, so that the brotherhood

Editors' notes and page, col. 276

Page

running head: 275 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 276 (shared with col 275)
marginal letters: A ‹δημιουργόν, τὸν ἐξ οὗ›; B ‹ναι, τὰ δύο τὸν αὐτὸν›; C ‹σῃ σαρκὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν›; D ‹σις, διὰ τῆς ἀναγεννήσεως› (gutter, shared with col 275)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens with δημιουργόν, following τοῦ παντὸς at the foot of col 273 (no hyphen there), and the import begins correctly; it ends with a word split at the break (ἀδελ-/φότητα), which the import already sets whole here; no full-width lines on this page; footnotes (55)–(58) at the page foot are all called in the Latin (col 275)

PG 46:277

διὰ τῆς κατὰ τὴν μορφὴν ὁμοιότητος μαρτυρουμένην. Οὐκοῦν εἰ διὰ τῆς ὁμοτρόπου ἀναγεννήσεως, τῆς δι' ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ Κυρίου γεγόναμεν, τοῦ δι' ἡμᾶς γενομένου πρωτοτόκου ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς· ἀκόλουθον ἂν εἴη, διὰ τῶν τοῦ βίου χαρακτήρων ἐπιδεικνύειν τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀγχιστείαν· ἐμμορφουμένου τῇ ζωῇ ἡμῶν τοῦ πρωτοτόκου τῆς κτίσεως. Τίνα δὲ χαρακτῆρα τῆς ἐκείνου μορφῆς παρὰ τῆς Γραφῆς μεμαθήκαμεν; Ὃν πολλοῖς εἰρήκαμεν, ὅτι «Ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ.» Οὐκοῦν εἰ μέλλοιμεν ἀδελφοὶ χρηματίζειν τοῦ καθηγησαμένου ἡμῶν τῆς γεννήσεως, τὸ ἀναμάρτητον τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν πιστώσεται τὴν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον συγγένειαν, μηδενὸς ῥύπου τῆς πρὸς τὴν καθαρότητα συναφείας ἡμᾶς ἀφορίζοντος. Ἀλλὰ καὶ δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἁγιασμὸς ὁ πρωτότοκός ἐστι, καὶ ἀγάπη, καὶ ἀπολύτρωσις, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. Οὐκοῦν εἰ διὰ τῶν τοιούτων καὶ ὁ ἡμέτερος χαρακτηρίζοιτο βίος, ἐναργῆ παρεξόμεθα τῆς εὐγενείας ἡμῶν τὰ γνωρίσματα, ὥστε τὸν ταῦτα ἐν τῇ ζωῇ καθορῶντα τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ, προσμαρτυρεῖν ἡμῖν τὴν πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν ἀδελφότητα. Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἀνοίξας ἡμῖν τὴν θύραν τῆς ἀναστάσεως, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀπαρχὴ τῶν κεκοιμημένων γενόμενος. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν πάντες ἀναστησόμεθα ἐν ἀτόμῳ, ἐν ῥοπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ, ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ σάλπιγγι· τοῦτο ἔδειξεν, οἷς τε ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ καὶ οἷς ἐπὶ τῶν λοιπῶν, τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου κρατηθέντων, ἐποίησεν.

might not go unrecognized, being attested by the likeness of form. Accordingly, if through the like regeneration, that through water and spirit, we too have become brothers of the Lord, Who for our sake became firstborn among many brethren, it would follow that we should show our kinship with Him through the features of our life, the firstborn of creation being formed in our life. And what feature of His form have we learned from Scripture? The one we have mentioned many times, that "He did no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth." Accordingly, if we are to be styled brothers of Him Who led the way for us in birth, the sinlessness of our life will warrant our kinship with Him, since no stain separates us from union with purity. But the firstborn is also righteousness and sanctification, and love, and redemption, and such things. Accordingly, if our life too were marked by such things, we shall present clear tokens of our noble birth, so that he who sees these things in our life will bear witness in our favour to our brotherhood with Christ. For He it is Who opened to us the door of the resurrection, and for this reason became the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. That we shall all rise in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, He showed by what He did both in His own case and in the case of the others who were held fast by death.

Οὐ μὴν ἴση κατάστασις ἐν τῷ μετὰ ταῦτα βίῳ πάντας τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ τῆς γῆς χώματος ἀναστάντας ἐκδέξεται, ἀλλὰ «Πορευσόμεθα,» φησὶν, «οἱ μὲν τὰ ἀγαθὰ ποιήσαντες, εἰς ἀνάστασιν ζωῆς· οἱ δὲ τὰ φαῦλα πράξαντες, εἰς ἀνάστασιν κρίσεως.» Ὥστε εἴ τινος πρὸς τὴν φοβερὰν ἐκείνην κατάκρισιν ὁ βίος βλέπει· οὗτος, κἂν διὰ τῆς ἄνωθεν γεννήσεως τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς τοῦ Κυρίου συναριθμούμενος τύχῃ, καταψεύδεται τοῦ ὀνόματος, ἐν τῇ μορφῇ τῆς κακίας τὴν πρὸς τὸν πρωτότοκον ἀγχιστείαν ἀρνούμενος. Ὁ δὲ μεσίτης Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ὁ δι' ἑαυτοῦ συνάπτων τῷ Θεῷ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, ἐκεῖνο συνάπτει μόνον, ὅπερ ἂν τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν συμφυΐας ἄξιον ᾖ. Ὥσπερ οὖν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἄνθρωπον τῇ δυνάμει τῆς θεότητος ἑαυτῷ προσῳκείωσε, μέρος μὲν τῆς κοινῆς φύσεως ὄντα, οὐ μὴν τοῖς πάθεσιν ὑποπεπτωκότα τῆς φύσεως τοῖς εἰς ἁμαρτίαν ἐκκαλουμένοις («Ἁμαρτίαν» γὰρ, φησὶν, «οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ»)· οὕτω καὶ τοὺς καθ' ἕκαστον προσάξει τῇ συναφείᾳ τῆς θεότητος, εἰ μηδὲν ἐπάγοιντο τῆς πρὸς τὸ Θεῖον συναφείας ἀνάξιον. Ἀλλ' εἴ τις ἀληθῶς εἴη Θεοῦ ναὸς, μηδὲν κακίας εἴδωλον καὶ ἀφίδρυμα ἐν ἑαυτῷ περιέχων, οὗτος ὑπὸ τοῦ μεσίτου πρὸς μετουσίαν τῆς θεότητος παραληφθήσεται, καθαρὸς γενόμενος πρὸς τὴν ὑποδοχὴν τῆς αὐτοῦ καθαρότητος. Οὔτε γὰρ εἰς κακότεχνον ψυχὴν εἰσελεύσεται σοφία, καθὼς ὁ λόγος φησὶν, οὔτε ὁ καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ ἄλλο τι παρὰ τὸν Θεὸν ἐν ἑαυτῷ βλέπει· ᾧ διὰ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας προσκολληθεὶς, ἐντὸς ἑαυτοῦ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀγαθὴν βασιλείαν ἐδέξατο. Μᾶλλον δ' ἂν γένοιτο ἡμῖν καταφανὲς τὸ λεγόμενον, εἰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴν, ἣν διὰ τῆς Μαρίας πρὸς τοὺς ἀποστόλους πεποίηται, πρὸς

Yet the same state will not receive all who have risen from the dust of the earth in the life after this; but "We shall go forth," it says, "those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil things, to the resurrection of judgement." So that if anyone's life looks towards that fearful condemnation, this man, even if he happens to be numbered among the brothers of the Lord through the birth from above, belies the name, denying his kinship with the firstborn by the form of wickedness. But the mediator between God and men, Who through Himself joins the human to God, joins only that which is worthy of connaturality with God. Just as, then, He united His own man to Himself by the power of the Godhead, [a man] Who was part of the common nature, yet had not fallen under the passions of nature that call out to sin ("For He did no sin," it says, "nor was guile found in His mouth"), so too He will bring each one to union with the Godhead, if they bring along nothing unworthy of union with the Divine. But if anyone is truly a temple of God, containing in himself no idol or image of wickedness, he will be taken by the mediator into participation in the Godhead, having become pure for the reception of His purity. For neither will wisdom enter into an evil-working soul, as the word says, nor does he who is pure in heart see anything in himself other than God; to Whom, having cleaved through incorruption, he has received within himself the whole good kingdom. And what is being said would become clearer to us if we were to take along the voice of the Lord, which He made to the apostles through Mary, for

Editors' notes and page, col. 277

Page

running head: 277 · DE PERFECTA CHRISTIANI FORMA. · 278 (shared with col 278)
marginal letters: A ‹φότητα, διὰ τῆς κατὰ›; B ‹ἀφορίζοντος. Ἀλλὰ καὶ›; C ‹τινος πρὸς τὴν φοβερὰν›; D ‹συναφείᾳ τῆς θεότητος› (gutter, shared with col 278)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens with φότητα, the end of ἀδελ-/φότητα, set whole at the end of col 276, and the import begins correctly after it at διὰ τῆς; the full-width Greek lines printed across both columns (τὴν πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν ἀδελφότητα. … ἐποίησεν.) are in the import, under this rail; it ends without a hyphen (πρὸς), continuing in col 280; footnotes (59)–(62) at the page foot are all called in the Latin (col 278)

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Editors' notes and page, col. 278

Footnotes

(59) ‹anchor: nec inventus est dolus in ore ejus› · printed under cols 277–278 (across the page foot)

I Petr. II. 22.

1 Pet. 2:22.

(60) ‹anchor: in novissima tuba› · printed under cols 277–278 (across the page foot)

I Cor XV, 52.

1 Cor. 15:52.

(61) ‹anchor: in resurrectionem judicii› · printed under cols 277–278 (across the page foot)

Joan. V, 29.

John 5:29.

(62) ‹anchor: ut scriptum est› · printed under cols 277–278 (across the page foot)

Sap. I, 4.

Wis. 1:4.

Page

running head: 277 · DE PERFECTA CHRISTIANI FORMA. · 278 (shared with col 277)
marginal letters: A ‹primogenitus in multis fratribus›; B ‹sti fratres esse, sint testes›; C ‹rectionem judicii›; D ‹dignum afferant› (gutter, shared with col 277)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set). The full-width Greek lines on this page (τὴν πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν ἀδελφότητα. … ἐποίησεν.) cross below this column's paragraph ending effecit. and are set in layer 1 under the 277 rail. Note (59) is printed with a stop after II and note (60) with no stop after Cor; recorded as printed. The Latin ends et Deum meum et Deum, without hyphen, and resumes in col 279.

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Editors' notes and page, col. 279

Footnotes

(63) ‹anchor: et Deum vestrum› · printed under cols 279–280 (across the page foot)

Joan. XX, 17.

John 20:17.

(64) ‹anchor: pro veritate mendacium loquentes› · printed under cols 279–280 (across the page foot)

Psal. LVII, 4.

Ps. 57:4.

(65) ‹anchor: paulo minus ab angelis› · printed under cols 279–280 (across the page foot)

Hebr. II, 7.

Heb. 2:7.

(66) ‹anchor: non habens vestem nuptialem› · printed under cols 279–280 (across the page foot)

Matth. XXII, 12.

Matt. 22:12.

(67) ‹anchor: Quae societas luci ad tenebras› · printed under cols 279–280 (across the page foot)

II Cor. VI, 15.

2 Cor. 6:15.

(68) ‹anchor: qui gloriae Dominus est› · printed under cols 279–280 (across the page foot, running to a second line)

Psal. XXIII, 8, 10.

Ps. 23:8, 10.

Page

running head: 279 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 280 (shared with col 280)
marginal letters: A ‹vestrum. » Haec enim ait›; B ‹iisdem rationibus cum veritatis›; C ‹tam tribuli esse et spinae›; D ‹eam curam est incumbendum› (gutter, shared with col 280)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set). The full-width Greek lines on this page (γάμου; » Πῶς συνεπλάκης … τὸ σκότος; ») cross below this column's paragraph ending ad tenebras? » and are set in layer 1 under the 280 rail. The column ends with a word split at the break (vi-/tam, resuming in col 282); the Latin is not set, so nothing is carried. Note (67) cites II Cor. VI, 15 for words that are 2 Cor. 6:14; recorded as printed.

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τὴν σαφήνειαν τῶν εἰρημένων συμπαραλάβοιμεν· «Πορεύομαι,» φησὶ, «πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα μου καὶ Πατέρα ὑμῶν, καὶ Θεόν μου καὶ Θεὸν ὑμῶν.» Ταῦτα γὰρ ὁ μεσίτης μεταξὺ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τῶν ἀποκηρύκτων φησὶν, ὁ δι' ἑαυτοῦ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ καταλλάξας τῇ ἀληθινῇ καὶ μόνῃ Θεότητι. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ, κατὰ τὸν προφητικὸν λόγον, ἀπηλλοτριώθησαν τῆς ζωοποιοῦ μήτρας διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς γαστρὸς ἐπλανήθησαν, ἐν ᾗ ἐπλάσθησαν, τὸ ψεῦδος ἀντὶ τῆς ἀληθείας λαλήσαντες, τούτου χάριν τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς κοινῆς φύσεως ἀναλαβὼν, διὰ ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος, ἁγίαν ἐποίησε, πάσης κακίας ἀμιγῆ τε καὶ ἀπαράδεκτον αὐτὴν ἐν ἑαυτῷ διασώσας· ἵνα ταύτην ἀναθεὶς, διὰ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας, τῷ Πατρὶ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας, συνεπισπάσηται δι' αὐτῆς πᾶν τὸ συγγενὲς κατὰ τὴν φύσιν αὐτῇ καὶ ὁμόφυλον, καὶ προσδέξηται τοὺς ἀποκηρύκτους εἰς τὴν υἱοθεσίαν, καὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς τὴν τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ μετουσίαν. Οὐκοῦν, ὥσπερ ἡ ἀπαρχὴ τοῦ φυράματος, διὰ καθαρότητός τε καὶ ἀπαθείας ᾠκειώθη τῷ ἀληθινῷ Πατρὶ καὶ Θεῷ· οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς τὸ φύραμα, διὰ τῶν ὁμοίων ὁδῶν τῷ Πατρὶ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας κολληθησόμεθα, διὰ τοῦ μιμήσασθαι, καθὼς ἂν ᾖ δυνατὸν, τοῦ μεσίτου τὸ ἀπαθές τε καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον. Οὕτω γὰρ ἐσόμεθα τοῦ Μονογενοῦς Θεοῦ στέφανος ἐκ λίθων τιμίων, τιμὴ καὶ δόξα διὰ τοῦ βίου γενόμενοι. Φησὶ γὰρ ὁ Παῦλος, ὅτι «Βραχύ τι αὐτὸν ἐλαττώσας,» διὰ τὸ πάθημα τοῦ θανάτου, «παρὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους.» Τοὺς πρότερον εἰς ἀκάνθης φύσιν μετατεθέντας διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, στέφανον ἑαυτῷ διὰ τῆς κατὰ τὸν θάνατον οἰκονομίας ἐποίησεν, εἰς τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν μεταστοιχειώσας διὰ τοῦ πάθους τὴν ἄκανθαν. Κίνδυνος οὖν οὐ μικρὸς, ἅπαξ τοῦ αἴροντος τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου, τὸν ἐξ ἀκανθῶν στέφανον ἀναλαβόντος τῇ κεφαλῇ, ἵνα ποιήσῃ τὸν ἐκ τιμῆς τε καὶ δόξης συμπλεκόμενον στέφανον, εὑρεθῆναί τινα τρίβολον ὄντα διὰ τοῦ κακοῦ βίου καὶ ἄκανθαν, εἶτα ἐν μέσῳ τῷ Δεσποτικῷ στεφάνῳ διὰ τῆς τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ κοινωνίας παρενειρόμενον. Πρὸς ὃν ἐρεῖ πάντως ἡ δικαία φωνή· «Πῶς εἰσῆλθες ὧδε, μὴ ἔχων ἔνδυμα γάμου;» Πῶς συνεπλάκης τοῖς διὰ τιμῆς καὶ δόξης τῷ ἐμῷ στεφάνῳ ἐνηρμοσμένοις, ἄκανθα ὤν; «Τίς κοινωνία Χριστῷ πρὸς Βελίαν; Τίς μερὶς πιστῷ μετὰ ἀπίστου; Τί κοινὸν τῷ φωτὶ πρὸς τὸ σκότος;»

the clarification of what has been said: "I go," He says, "to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God." For the mediator between the Father and the disowned says these things, He Who through Himself reconciled the enemies of God to the true and only Godhead. For since, according to the prophetic word, men were estranged through sin from the life-giving womb, and went astray from the belly in which they were formed, speaking falsehood instead of truth, for this reason, having taken up the first-fruits of the common nature through soul and body, He made it holy, preserving it in Himself unmixed with and unreceptive of all wickedness; so that, having offered it up through incorruption to the Father of incorruption, He might draw along with it all that is akin to it by nature and of the same stock, and receive the disowned into adoption, and the enemies of God into participation in His Godhead. Accordingly, just as the first-fruits of the lump were made kin to the true Father and God through purity and impassibility, so we too, the lump, shall be joined by like ways to the Father of incorruption, through imitating, as far as may be possible, the impassibility and unchangeableness of the mediator. For so shall we be a crown of precious stones for the Only-begotten God, having become honour and glory through our life. For Paul says, "Having made Him a little lower," on account of the suffering of death, "than the angels." Those who had before been changed into the nature of thorns through sin, He made into a crown for Himself through the economy of His death, transmuting the thorn into honour and glory through the passion. The danger, then, is not small, once He Who takes away the sin of the world has taken up on His head the crown of thorns in order to make the crown woven of honour and glory, that someone should be found to be a caltrop and a thorn through an evil life, and then be threaded into the midst of the Master's crown through the communion of His body. To whom the just voice will certainly say: "How did you come in here, not having a wedding garment?" How were you woven in, being a thorn, with those fitted into My crown through honour and glory? "What communion has Christ with Belial? What part has the faithful with the unfaithful? What has light in common with darkness?"

Ὡς ἂν οὖν μὴ τ[οι]αῦτά ποτε ῥήματα καθ' ἡμῶν ὁ βίος ἡμῶν ἐκκαλέσαιτο, ἐπιμελητέον ἂν εἴη τοῦ πᾶν ἀκανθῶδες ἔργον τε καὶ ῥῆμα, καὶ νόημα, διὰ πάσης τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ βίου ἡμῶν ἀποσκευάσασθαι, ἵνα τῇ καθαρᾷ τε καὶ ἀπαθεῖ πολιτείᾳ τιμὴ καὶ δόξα γενόμενοι, τὴν τοῦ παντὸς κεφαλὴν δι' ἑαυτῶν στεφανώσωμεν, ὥσπερ τι κειμήλιον καὶ κτῆμα τῷ Δεσπότῃ γενόμενοι. Οὐδενὸς γὰρ ἀτίμου καταδέχεται Κύριος εἶναί τε καὶ λέγεσθαι ὁ τῆς δόξης Κύριος. Οὐκοῦν ὁ πάσης ἀσχημοσύνης τε καὶ βδελυρίας ἀλλότριος, κατά τε τὸν κρυπτὸν καὶ φαινόμενον ἄνθρωπον, δεσπότην ἑαυτοῦ ποιεῖται τὸν δόξης καὶ οὐκ ἀτιμίας Κύριον ὄντα τε καὶ λεγόμενον. Ἔστι καὶ ἀρχή· ἀρχὴ δὲ παντὸς πράγματος οὐκ ἀλλοτρίως πρὸς τὰ μεθ' ἑαυτὴν ἔχει. Εἰ γὰρ ζωὴν τὴν ἀρχὴν εἶναί τις ὁρίσαιτο·

So that, then, our life may never call such words down upon us, we should take care to put away through the whole course of our life every thorny deed and word and thought, so that, having become honour and glory by a pure and impassible way of life, we may crown through ourselves the Head of all, having become as it were a treasure and possession for the Master. For the Lord of glory does not accept to be and to be called Lord of anything dishonourable. Accordingly, he who is a stranger to all unseemliness and abomination, in both the hidden and the visible man, makes his master the One Who is and is called Lord of glory and not of dishonour. He is also Beginning; and the beginning of every thing is not estranged from what comes after it. For if one should define the beginning to be life,

Editors' notes and page, col. 280

Page

running head: 279 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 280 (shared with col 279; the middle figure of 280 is worn and looks like 3; damaged type, not a misprint)
marginal letters: A ‹τὴν σαφήνειαν τῶν εἰρημένων›; B ‹γενὲς κατὰ τὴν φύσιν›; C ‹τῆς ἁμαρτίας, στέφανον›; D ‹βίος ἡμῶν ἐκκαλέσαιτο› (gutter, shared with col 279)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens at τὴν σαφήνειαν, following πρὸς at the foot of col 277 (no hyphen there); the full-width Greek lines printed across both columns (γάμου; » Πῶς συνεπλάκης … τὸ σκότος; ») are in the import, under this rail; the bracketed letters in τ[οι]αῦτά are printed so and kept by the import; it ends without a hyphen (ὁρίσαιτο·); footnotes (63)–(68) at the page foot are all called in the Latin (col 279)

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ζωὴ πάντως καὶ τὸ μετὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔσται νοούμενον· καὶ εἰ φῶς ἡ ἀρχὴ, φῶς καὶ τὸ μετὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν νοηθήσεται. Τί οὖν διὰ τοῦ πιστεύειν αὐτὸν εἶναι ἀρχὴν ὠφελούμεθα; Τὸ γενέσθαι τοιούτους ἡμᾶς, οἵαν εἶναι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἡμῶν πεπιστεύκαμεν. Οὐ γὰρ σκότους ἀρχὴ τὸ φῶς ὀνομάζεται· οὐδὲ τῆς ζωῆς εἰς ἀρχὴν τεταγμένης, τὸν θάνατον τὸ συνεχὲς τῆς ζωῆς ἐνοήσαμεν. Ἀλλ' εἰ μή τις ὁμοφυῶς πρὸς τὸ καθηγούμενον ἔχοι, δι' ἀπαθείας καὶ ἀρετῆς τῇ ἀρχῇ συναπτόμενος, οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο τούτου ἀρχὴ, ἡ τῶν ὄντων ἀρχή. Σκοτεινοῦ βίου, ὁ κοσμοκράτωρ τοῦ σκότους, ἀρχή· τῆς θανατηφόρου ἁμαρτίας, ὁ ἔχων τοῦ θανάτου τὸ κράτος. Οὐκ ἔστιν οὖν διὰ μοχθηρᾶς ζωῆς ὑπὸ τὴν τοῦ σκότους ἀρχὴν τεταγμένον, τὴν παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ ἀρχὴν ἑαυτοῦ εἶναι λέγειν ἀρχήν· τῆς δὲ αὐτῆς ἔχεται διανοίας, τοῖς πρὸς τὸ ἴδιον ἀγαθὸν τὰς θείας φωνὰς ἐκλαμβάνουσι, τὸ καὶ βασιλέα δικαιοσύνης τε καὶ εἰρήνης αὐτὸν ὀνομάζεσθαι. Ὁ γὰρ, κατὰ τὴν διδασκαλίαν τῆς προσευχῆς, ἐλθεῖν ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείαν εὐχόμενος, μαθὼν ὅτι δικαιοσύνης τε καὶ εἰρήνης ἐστὶ βασιλεὺς ὁ ἀληθινὸς βασιλεὺς, κατορθώσει πάντως τῷ ἰδίῳ βίῳ τὴν δικαιοσύνην τε καὶ εἰρήνην, ἵνα βασιλεύσῃ, αἰτῶν, ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης βασιλεὺς καὶ τῆς εἰρήνης. Οὐκοῦν στρατὸς μὲν νοεῖται τοῦ βασιλέως, πᾶσα ἀρετή· διὰ γὰρ τῆς δικαιοσύνης τε καὶ εἰρήνης πάσας οἶμαι δεῖν τὰς ἀρετὰς νοεῖν· εἴ τις οὖν λειποταξήσας ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ στρατιᾶς, τῇ παρατάξει τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἑαυτὸν καταλέξειε, τοῦ εὑρέτου τῆς κακίας ὁπλίτης γενόμενος, καὶ ἀποδυσάμενος τὸν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν εἰρηνικὴν πανοπλίαν· πῶς οὗτος ὑπὸ τὸν βασιλέα τῆς εἰρήνης ταχθήσεται, ῥίψασπις τῆς ἀληθείας γενόμενος; Δῆλον γὰρ, ὅτι τὸ ἐπίσημον αὐτοῦ τῆς ὁπλίσεως δείξει τὸν βασιλεύοντα, ἀντὶ τῆς ἐνσκιογραφουμένης τοῖς ὅπλοις εἰκόνος ἐν τῷ χαρακτῆρι τοῦ βίου δεικνύων τὸν καθηγούμενον. Ὡς μακάριος ἐκεῖνος, ὁ ὑπὸ τὴν θείαν στρατηγίαν τεταγμένος, καὶ τοῖς τάγμασι τῶν ἐν μυριάσιν ἀριθμουμένων κατειλεγμένος, καὶ μετὰ τῆς κακίας διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν ὁπλιζόμενος, αἳ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ βασιλέως, τοῦ ἐνδυσαμένου αὐτὰς, ἐνσημαίνονται. Καὶ τί χρὴ περαιτέρω τὸν λόγον προάγειν, πάσας τὰς φωνὰς, αἷς τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διερμηνεύεται ὄνομα, προτιθέντα τῇ ἀκολουθίᾳ τῆς ἐξετάσεως, δι' ὧν ἔστι πρὸς τὸν κατ' ἀρετὴν βίον ὁδηγηθῆναι, ἑκάστου ὀνόματος, διὰ τῆς οἰκείας ἐμφάσεως, συνεργοῦντός τι πάντως ἡμῖν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ βίου τελείωσιν; ἀλλὰ καλῶς ἔχειν φημὶ τὴν τῶν μνημονευθέντων ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι μνήμην· ὥστε τινὰ γενέσθαι χειραγωγίαν ἡμῖν πρὸς τὸν τοῦ λόγου σκοπὸν, ὃν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑπεθέμεθα· ζητοῦντες, πῶς ἄν τις τὸ τέλειον ἐν ἑαυτῷ κατορθώσειεν. Οἶμαι γὰρ, εἰ ἀεὶ τοῦτο λογίζοιτο, ὅτι κοινωνός ἐστι τοῦ προσκυνουμένου ὀνόματος, κατὰ τὸ δόγμα τῶν ἀποστόλων Χριστιανὸς χρηματίζων, ἀναγκαίως καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὀνομάτων, οἷς ὁ Χριστὸς νοεῖται, καὶ ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ δεῖξαι τὴν δύναμιν, κοινωνὸς ἑκάστης κλήσεως διὰ τοῦ βίου γινόμενος.

life too will certainly be what is understood as coming after the beginning; and if the beginning is light, what comes after the beginning will be understood as light too. What benefit, then, do we get from believing Him to be Beginning? To become such as we have believed our beginning to be. For light is not called the beginning of darkness; nor, when life has been ranked as beginning, have we understood death as the continuation of life. But unless one is connatural with what leads, joined to the Beginning through impassibility and virtue, the Beginning of the things that are would not become his beginning. Of a dark life the world-ruler of darkness is beginning; of death-bearing sin, he who has the power of death. It is not possible, then, for one ranked through a wicked life under the beginning of darkness to say that the beginning of every good is his own beginning. And to the same thought belongs, for those who take the divine words for their own good, His being named also King of righteousness and of peace. For he who, according to the teaching of the prayer, prays that the kingdom of God may come upon him, having learned that the true King is King of righteousness and of peace, will surely accomplish righteousness and peace in his own life, so that, as he asks, the King of righteousness and of peace may reign. Accordingly every virtue is understood as the army of the King; for through righteousness and peace I think all the virtues must be understood; if, then, one deserting from the army of God should enlist himself in the battle-line of the foreigners, becoming a hoplite of the inventor of wickedness, and having stripped off the breastplate of righteousness and the whole panoply of peace, how will this man be ranked under the King of peace, having become one who has thrown away the shield of truth? For it is plain that the device of his arming will show who reigns [over him], displaying his leader, instead of by the image sketched upon the arms, by the stamp of his life. How blessed is he who is ranked under the divine generalship, and enrolled in the ranks of those numbered by tens of thousands, and armed through the virtues against wickedness, the virtues which bear the impress of the image of the King Who has put them on. And why must one carry the discourse further, setting out in the sequence of the inquiry all the words by which the name of Christ is interpreted, through which one may be guided towards the life according to virtue, each name, through its proper meaning, certainly co-operating in something with us towards the perfecting of life? But I say it is well to sum up the memory of what has been mentioned, so that there may be some leading by the hand for us towards the goal of the discourse, which we set down from the beginning, seeking how one might accomplish the perfect in himself. For I think that if he should always reckon this, that he is a sharer in the adorable name, being styled Christian according to the teaching of the apostles, he will necessarily show in himself the power of the other names too, by which Christ is understood, becoming through his life a sharer in each appellation.

Editors' notes and page, col. 281

Page

running head: 281 · DE PERFECTA CHRISTIANI FORMA. · 282 (shared with col 282)
marginal letters: A ‹ζωὴ πάντως καὶ τὸ›; B ‹δὲ αὐτῆς ἔχεται διανοίας›; C ‹ὁπλίτης γενόμενος›; D ‹πρὸς τὸν κατ' ἀρετὴν› (gutter, shared with col 282)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens at ζωὴ πάντως, following ὁρίσαιτο· at the foot of col 280 (no hyphen there); it ends without a hyphen (γινόμενος.); the Greek column stops a line short of the foot, where one full-width Latin line of Migne's translation (Christus nuncupatur … ostensurum esse potestatem.) crosses both columns and belongs to col 282; footnote (69) at the page foot is called in the Latin (col 282)

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Editors' notes and page, col. 282

Footnotes

(69) ‹anchor: in millibus millium numerantur adscriptus› · printed under col 281

Apoc. VII, 4 sqq.

Rev. 7:4 ff.

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running head: 281 · DE PERFECTA CHRISTIANI FORMA. · 282 (shared with col 281)
marginal letters: A ‹tam principium definierit›; B ‹qui mortis habet potestatem›; C ‹militiam deserens›; D ‹nobis omnino ad vitae› (gutter, shared with col 281)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set), including one full-width Latin line printed across both columns at the foot of the text (Christus nuncupatur, arbitror in se ipso ostensurum esse potestatem.). The column opens with tam, the end of vi-/tam from the foot of col 279. The Latin ends at potestatem. without hyphen and resumes in col 283.

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Editors' notes and page, col. 283

Footnotes

(70) ‹anchor: ex fide Paulus peccatum dicit› · printed under col 283

Rom. XIV. 23.

Rom. 14:23.

(71) ‹anchor: omnes peccatores terrae› · printed under col 283

Psal. CXVIII, 119.

Ps. 118:119.

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running head: 283 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 284 (shared with col 284; the middle figure of 283 is worn and looks like 5; damaged type, not a misprint)
marginal letters: A ‹Quod autem dico, sic fere habet›; B ‹tum dicit›; C ‹Ut enim qui Christum›; D ‹perturbatione aliqua aut agitur› (gutter, shared with col 284)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set). Note (70) is printed with a stop after XIV where a comma is usual; recorded as printed. The Latin ends Etenim una, without hyphen, and resumes in col 286. No full-width lines on this page.

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Οἷόν τι λέγω· Τρία τὰ χαρακτηριζόμενα τοῦ Χριστιανοῦ τὸν βίον ἐστὶ, πρᾶξις, λόγος, ἐνθύμιον. Ἀρχὴ γὰρ γίνεται λόγου παντὸς ἡ διάνοια· δεύτερον δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐνθύμησιν, ὁ λόγος ἐστὶ, τὴν ἐντυπωθεῖσαν τῇ ψυχῇ διάνοιαν διὰ τῆς φωνῆς ἐκκαλύπτων. Τρίτην δὲ τάξιν ἐπέχει μετὰ τὸν νοῦν καὶ τὸν λόγον ἡ πρᾶξις, τὸ νοηθὲν εἰς ἐνέργειαν ἄγουσα. Οὐκοῦν, ὅταν εἴς τι τούτων ἡμᾶς ἀκολούθως τῷ βίῳ προσαγάγηται, καλῶς ἔχει παντὸς καὶ λόγου καὶ ἔργου καὶ ἐνθυμήματος τὰ θεῖα ταῦτα νοήματα, δι᾽ ὧν ὁ Κύριος νοεῖται καὶ ὀνομάζεται, δι᾽ ἀκριβείας ἐπισκοπεῖσθαι, μὴ ἔξω τῆς δυνάμεως τῶν ὑψηλῶν ἐκείνων ὀνομάτων φέρηται ἡμῶν ἢ τὸ ἔργον, ἢ ὁ λόγος, ἢ τὸ ἐνθύμιον. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ Παῦλός φησιν, ὅτι πᾶν, ὃ μὴ ἐκ πίστεως, ἁμαρτία ἐστίν· οὕτως ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ ἀκολούθου νοήσαντα σαφῶς ἀποφήνασθαι, ὅτι πᾶν ὃ μὴ εἰς Χριστὸν ἢ ῥῆμα, ἢ ἔργον, ἢ νόημα, εἰς τὸ ἀντικείμενον τῷ Χριστῷ πάντως ὁρᾷ. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι τὸν ἔξω φωτὸς ἢ ζωῆς γενόμενον, μὴ ἐν σκότει πάντως ἢ ἐν θανάτῳ εἶναι. Εἰ τοίνυν τὸ μὴ κατὰ Χριστὸν ἐνεργούμενόν τε καὶ λαλούμενον, καὶ νοούμενον, πρὸς τὸ τῷ ἀγαθῷ ἀντικείμενον οἰκείως ἔχει· παντὶ δῆλον ἂν εἴη, τὸ διὰ τούτων ἀναφαινόμενον, ὅτι ἀφίησι τὸν Χριστὸν, ὁ ἔξω ἐκείνου γενόμενος, δι᾽ ὧν ἢ νοεῖταί τι, ἢ πράττει, ἢ φθέγγεται. Οὐκοῦν ἀληθεύει ἡ θεία τοῦ προφήτου φωνὴ, ἥ φησι· « Παραβαίνοντας ἐλογισάμην πάντας τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς τῆς γῆς. » Ὡς γὰρ ὁ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐν τοῖς διωγμοῖς ἀρνησάμενος, παραβάτης ἐστὶ τοῦ προσκυνουμένου ὀνόματος· οὕτω καὶ εἴ τις ἀλήθειαν ἢ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἀρνήσαιτο, ἢ τὸν ἁγιασμόν τε καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν, ἢ εἴ τι ἄλλο τῶν κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν νοουμένων, ἐν καιρῷ τῆς τῶν παθημάτων ἐπικρατήσεως, ἀποβάλοι τοῦ βίου, παραβάτης ὀνομάζεται ὑπὸ τῆς προφητείας· δι᾽ ἑκάστου τούτων τὸν ταῦτα ὄντα παραβαίνων τῷ βίῳ. Τί οὖν χρὴ πράττειν τὸν τῆς μεγάλης τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπωνυμίας ἀξιωθέντα; τί ἄλλο, ἢ διὰ παντὸς φιλοκρινεῖν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὰ νοήματά τε καὶ τὰ ῥήματα, καὶ τὰ ἔργα, εἴτε πρὸς Χριστὸν ἕκαστον τούτων βλέπει, εἴτε τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἠλλοτρίωται; Πολλὴ δὲ τῆς διακρίσεως τῶν τοιούτων ἐστὶν ἡ εὐκολία. Ὃ γὰρ διὰ πάθους τινὸς ἐνεργεῖται, ἢ νοεῖται, ἢ λέγεται, τοῦτο οὐδεμίαν ἔχει πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν συμφωνίαν, ἀλλὰ τὸν χαρακτῆρα τοῦ ἀντικειμένου φέρει, ὃς ἀντὶ βορβόρου τὰ πάθη τῷ μαργαρίτῃ τῆς ψυχῆς προσαλείφων, τὴν λαμπηδόνα τοῦ τιμίου λίθου διαλυμαίνεται. Τὸ δὲ καθαρεῦον πάσης ἐμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως, πρὸς τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ἀπαθείας βλέπει, ὅς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς, ἐξ οὗ, καθάπερ ἐκ καθαρᾶς καὶ ἀφράκτου πηγῆς, ἀρυόμενός τις εἰς ἑαυτὸν τὰ νοήματα, τοιαύτην ἑαυτῷ πρὸς τὸ πρωτότυπον δείξει τὴν ὁμοιότητα, οἵα ἐστὶ πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ τῷ ὕδατι, τῷ τε πηγαίῳ τῷ βρύοντι, καὶ τῷ ἐκεῖθεν ἐν τῷ ἀμφορεῖ γεγενημένῳ. Μία γὰρ τῇ φύσει ἡ καθαρότης, ἥ τε ἐν Χριστῷ καὶ ἡ ἐν τῷ μετέχοντι θεωρουμένη. Ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν πηγάζει· ὁ δὲ μετέχων ἀρύεται, μετάγων ἐπὶ τὸν βίον τὸ ἐν τοῖς νοήμασι κάλλος· ὥστε συμφωνίαν εἶναι τοῦ κρυπτοῦ ἀνθρώπου πρὸς τὸν φαινόμενον, συμβαινούσης τῆς

What I mean is something like this. There are three things that characterize the life of the Christian: action, word, thought. For thought is the beginning of every word; and second after the thinking comes the word, uncovering through the voice the thought imprinted upon the soul. And action holds the third rank after mind and word, bringing what has been thought into act. Therefore, whenever [the course of things] brings us, in keeping with our life, to any one of these, it is well that every word and deed and thought be examined with exactness [against] these divine conceptions through which the Lord is understood and named, lest our deed, or word, or thought be carried outside the power of those lofty names. For as Paul says that everything which is not of faith is sin, so it is possible, having understood it by consequence, to declare plainly that everything that is not [directed] towards Christ, whether word, or deed, or thought, looks wholly towards what is opposed to Christ. For it is not possible that one who has come to be outside light or life should not be wholly in darkness or in death. If, then, what is done and spoken and thought not according to Christ belongs properly with what is opposed to the good, it would be plain to everyone, as is made manifest through these things, that he who has come to be outside Him abandons Christ, through the things by which he either thinks something, or does, or utters. Therefore the divine voice of the prophet speaks truly, which says: « I have reckoned all the sinners of the earth transgressors. » For as he who denied Christ in the persecutions is a transgressor of the adored name, so also if anyone should deny truth or justice, or sanctification and incorruption, or should cast out of his life any other of the things understood according to virtue, at the time when the passions prevail, he is named a transgressor by the prophecy, transgressing by his life, through each of these, Him Who is these things. What then must he do who has been deemed worthy of the great name of Christ? What else than to scrutinize continually in himself his thoughts and his words and his deeds, whether each of these looks towards Christ, or has been estranged from Christ? And the discerning of such things is very easy. For whatever is done, or thought, or said through some passion, this has no concord with Christ, but bears the stamp of the adversary, who, smearing the passions like mud upon the pearl of the soul, defiles the lustre of the precious stone. But what is pure of every passionate disposition looks towards the author of dispassion, Who is Christ; from Whom, as from a pure and unobstructed spring, one who draws his thoughts into himself will show in himself such a likeness to the archetype as water has to water, the water gushing at the spring to that which has come thence into the jar. For the purity is one by nature, both that which is seen in Christ and that in him who shares [in it]. But the one wells forth, while he who shares draws, carrying over into his life the beauty that is in his thoughts; so that there is concord of the hidden man with the one who appears, the

Editors' notes and page, col. 284

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running head: 283 · S. GREGORII NYSSENI · 284 (shared with col 283)
marginal letters: A ‹Οἷόν τι λέγω›; B ‹σαφῶς ἀποφήνασθαι›; C ‹καιοσύνην ἀρνήσαιτο›; D ‹λαμπηδόνα τοῦ τιμίου› (gutter, shared with col 283)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens at Οἷόν τι λέγω, following γινόμενος. at the foot of col 281 (no hyphen there); it ends without a hyphen (συμβαινούσης τῆς); no full-width lines on this page; footnotes (70)–(71) at the page foot are called in the Latin (col 283); a small mark like a closing parenthesis stands at the foot of this column below the text, probably a printer's mark, not text

PG 46:285

τοῦ βίου εὐσχημοσύνης τοῖς κατὰ Χριστὸν κινουμένοις νοήμασι.

seemliness of his life agreeing with the thoughts that are moved according to Christ.

Τοῦτο τοίνυν ἐστὶ, κατά γε τὴν ἐμὴν κρίσιν, τὸ ἐν τῷ Χριστιανῷ βίῳ τέλειον, ὃ πάντων τῶν ὀνομάτων εἰς τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διασημαίνεται ὄνομα, τὸ κοινωνίαν ἔχειν ἐν ψυχῇ τε καὶ λόγῳ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς τοῦ βίου ἐπιτηδεύμασιν, ὥστε ὁλοτελῆ τὸν ἁγιασμὸν, κατὰ τὴν εὐλογίαν τοῦ Παύλου, ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ, ἐν ὁλοκλήρῳ τῷ σώματι καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ἔξω τῆς πρὸς τὸ κακὸν ἐπιμιξίας διηνεκῶς φυλασσόμενον. Εἰ δέ τις λέγοι δυσκατόρθωτον εἶναι, ἐπειδὴ ἄτρεπτος μόνος ὁ τῆς κτίσεως Κύριος, τρεπτὴ δὲ ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις, καὶ πρὸς τὰς μεταβολὰς ἐπιτηδείως ἔχει, πῶς οὖν ἐστι δυνατὸν, τὸ ἐν τῷ ἀγαθῷ πάγιόν τε καὶ ἀμετάτρεπτον ἐν τῇ τρεπτῇ κατορθωθῆναι φύσει· πρὸς τοίνυν τὸν τοιοῦτον λόγον, ἐκεῖνό φαμεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι στεφανωθῆναί τινα τὸν μὴ νομίμως ἀθλήσαντα· οὐκ ἂν δὲ γένοιτο νομίμως ἄθλησις, μὴ ὄντος τοῦ προσπαλαίοντος. Εἰ οὖν μὴ ἦν ὁ ἀντίπαλος, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὁ στέφανος ἦν· ἡ νίκη γὰρ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν οὐκ ἔστιν, ἐὰν μὴ ᾖ τὸ ἡττώμενον. Οὐκοῦν πρὸς αὐτὸ τὸ τρεπτὸν τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ἀγωνισώμεθα, οἷόν τινι ἀντιπάλῳ διὰ τῶν λογισμῶν συμπλεκόμενοι, οὐ διὰ τοῦ καταβαλεῖν αὐτὴν νικηταὶ γινόμενοι, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦ μὴ συγχωρῆσαι πεσεῖν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ μόνον πρὸς τὸ κακὸν ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῇ τροπῇ χρῆται (ἢ γὰρ ἂν ἀμήχανον ἦν αὐτὸν ἐν ἀγαθῷ γενέσθαι, εἰ πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον μόνον τὴν ῥοπὴν εἶχεν ἐκ φύσεως)· νυνὶ δὲ τὸ κάλλιστον τῆς τροπῆς ἔργον, ἡ ἐν τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἐστιν αὔξησις, πάντοτε τῆς πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον ἀλλοιώσεως ἐπὶ τὸ θειότερον μεταποιούσης τὸν καλῶς ἀλλοιούμενον. Οὐκοῦν τὸ φοβερὸν εἶναι δοκοῦν (λέγω δὲ τὸ τρεπτὴν ἡμῶν εἶναι τὴν φύσιν), οἷόν τι πτερὸν πρὸς τὴν ἐπὶ τὰ μείζω πτῆσιν ὁ λόγος ὑπέδειξεν· ὡς ζημίαν εἶναι ἡμῖν τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι τὴν πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον ἀλλοίωσιν δέξασθαι. Μὴ τοίνυν λυπείσθω ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῇ φύσει τὸ πρὸς τὴν μεταβολὴν ἐπιτήδειον, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον πάντως ἀλλοιούμενος, καὶ ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν μεταμορφούμενος, οὕτω τρεπέσθω, διὰ τῆς καθ᾽ ἡμέραν αὐξήσεως πάντοτε κρείττων γινόμενος, καὶ ἀεὶ τελειούμενος, καὶ μηδέποτε πρὸς τὸ πέρας φθάνων τῆς τελειότητος. Αὐτίκα γάρ ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς τελειότης τὸ μηδέποτε στῆναι πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον αὐξανόμενον, μηδέ τινι πέρατι περιορίσαι τὴν τελειότητα.

This, then, is, in my judgement at least, the perfection in the Christian life, that which is signified by all the names [gathered] into the name of Christ: to have fellowship [with them] in soul and in word, and in the pursuits of life, so that one keeps sanctification entire in oneself, according to the blessing of Paul, in body and soul and spirit whole, continually guarded outside all mingling with evil. But if anyone should say that this is hard to achieve, since the Lord of creation alone is unchangeable, while human nature is changeable and readily disposed to alterations — how then is it possible for what is fixed and unalterable in the good to be achieved in a changeable nature? — to such an argument we say this: that no one can be crowned who has not contended lawfully; and there could be no lawful contest were there none to wrestle against. If, then, there were no adversary, neither would there be the crown; for victory does not exist of itself, unless there be that which is defeated. Let us therefore contend against this very changeableness of our nature, grappling with it through our reasonings as with an adversary, becoming victors not by throwing it down, but by not permitting it to fall. For man does not use his changeableness towards evil only (for otherwise it would have been impossible for him to come to be in the good, if by nature he had the inclination towards the contrary only); but as it is, the fairest work of changeableness is the growth in good things, the alteration towards the better ever transforming towards what is more divine him who is well altered. Therefore that which seems to be fearful (I mean that our nature is changeable), the argument has shown to be as it were a wing for the flight towards greater things; so that it would be a loss to us not to be able to receive alteration towards the better. Let him not grieve, then, who sees in his nature the aptness for change; but, being altered wholly towards the better, and transformed from glory to glory, let him so change, becoming ever better through daily growth, and always being perfected, and never arriving at the limit of perfection. For indeed this is truly perfection: never to stand still in growing towards the better, nor to bound perfection by any limit.

Editors' notes and page, col. 285

Page

running head: 285 · DE PERFECTA CHRISTIANI FORMA. · 286 (shared with col 286)
marginal letters: A ‹τοῦ βίου εὐσχημοσύνης›; B ‹ἔχει, πῶς οὖν ἐστι›; C ‹κάλλιστον τῆς τροπῆς›; D ‹τον αὐξανόμενον, μηδέ› (gutter, shared with col 286)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: imported column, checked against the page: it opens at τοῦ βίου, following συμβαινούσης τῆς at the foot of col 284 (no hyphen there); after its first two lines, four full-width Latin lines of Migne's translation (tur, haec inde manat … et moveant.) cross both columns and belong to col 286; the Greek then resumes at Τοῦτο τοίνυν, which the import has; the work ENDS in this column with τελειότητα. (τε-/λειότητα split across two lines within the column, set whole by the import); the rest of the page is blank below the text of both columns; the next work (Περὶ τοῦ κατὰ Θεὸν σκοποῦ / De proposito secundum Deum) begins with its own full-width titles at the head of col 287; footnotes (72)–(73) under this column are called in the Latin (col 286)

PG 46:286

Editors' notes and page, col. 286

Footnotes

(72) ‹anchor: a Paulo commendatam sanctitatem suscipientes› · printed under col 285

I Thess. V, 23.

1 Thess. 5:23.

(73) ‹anchor: qui non legitime certaverit› · printed under col 285

II Tim. II, 5.

2 Tim. 2:5.

Page

running head: 285 · DE PERFECTA CHRISTIANI FORMA. · 286 (shared with col 285)
marginal letters: A ‹et eadem est, quae in Christo›; B ‹mutationes proclivis›; C ‹mum motionis opus est›; D ‹ut qui augetur in melius› (gutter, shared with col 285)
old-edition numerals: none
signature: none
other: Migne's Latin translation (not set), including four full-width Latin lines printed across both columns below the first two lines (tur, haec inde manat … et moveant.). The Latin translation ends in this column with conclusam.; the work ends here (the Greek ends in col 285 with τελειότητα.). A short centred rule stands below the text, and the rest of the page is blank; the next work begins at the head of col 287, outside the unit.