Christ head as Creator; Spirit gifts prove his deity
to Adam, he adds, “of God,” (Luke 3:38) setting the God who made him as the human’s beginning. In the same way we say Christ is every man’s head: for man was made through him and brought into being — the Son not creating him as a mere under-worker, but rather in a God-working way, as Creator by nature.
The man is head of the woman because she was taken from his flesh and has him as her beginning. Likewise God is head of Christ because the Word is from him by nature — for the Word has been begotten from God the Father. Then how is Christ not God, whose head by nature is the Father? And when I say “Christ,” I mean the Word from God who has appeared in human form.
“Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except in the Holy Spirit. There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; varieties of ministries, but the same Lord; and varieties of workings, but the same God who works all things in all.” (1 Corinthians 12:3–6)
If saying that Christ is not God by nature and in truth is nothing other than saying “Jesus be cursed,” then those who cast him out from being God according to the truth are not doing this in the Holy Spirit. And if Paul says the varieties of gifts are at one time worked by the Spirit, at another by the same Lord, at another by the same God, he knows Christ to be God — the one who works as God through the Spirit, and who as Lord by nature distributes the gifts from above with authority as he wills. Remember also that Paul said Christ worked in him by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:19).
Greek
ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀδάμ, ἐπιφέρει λέγων «τοῦ Θεοῦ,» ἀρχὴν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τιθεὶς τὸν ποιήσαντα Θεόν. οὕτως εἶναι φαμεν παντὸς ἀνδρὸς κεφαλὴν τὸν Χριστόν· πεποίηται γὰρ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ παρήχθη πρὸς γένεσιν — οὐχ ὑπουργικῶς κτίζοντος αὐτὸν τοῦ Υἱοῦ, θεουργικῶς δὲ μᾶλλον, ὡς φύσει δημιουργοῦ.
κεφαλὴ δὲ γυναικὸς ὁ ἀνήρ, ὅτι ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ ἐλήφθη, καὶ αὐτὸν ὥσπερ ἔχει τὴν ἀρχήν. κεφαλὴ δὲ ὁμοίως Χριστοῦ ὁ Θεός, ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατὰ φύσιν — γεγέννηται γὰρ ὁ Λόγος ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρός. εἶτα πῶς οὐ Θεὸς ὁ Χριστός, οὗ κεφαλὴ τέθειται κατὰ φύσιν ὁ Πατήρ; Χριστὸν δὲ ὅταν λέγοιμι, ἐν ἀνθρωπείᾳ μορφῇ πεφηνότα τὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ Λόγον ἐννοῶ.
«Διὸ γνωρίζω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἐν πνεύματι Θεοῦ λαλῶν λέγει· Ἀνάθεμα Ἰησοῦν· καὶ οὐδεὶς δύναται εἰπεῖν· Κύριος Ἰησοῦς, εἰ μὴ ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ. διαιρέσεις δὲ χαρισμάτων εἰσί, τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ Πνεῦμα· καὶ διαιρέσεις διακονιῶν εἰσιν, ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς Κύριος· καὶ διαιρέσεις ἐνεργημάτων εἰσίν, ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς Θεὸς ὁ ἐνεργῶν τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν.»
εἰ τὸ λέγειν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι φύσει καὶ ἀληθείᾳ Θεὸς ὁ Χριστός, οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν ἢ εἰπεῖν «Ἀνάθεμα Ἰησοῦν,» οἱ ἐκβάλλοντες αὐτὸν τοῦ εἶναι κατὰ ἀλήθειαν Θεόν — οὐκ ἐν Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι τοῦτο ποιοῦσι. καὶ εἰ τὰς τῶν χαρισμάτων διαιρέσεις ποτὲ μὲν ἐνεργεῖν τὸ Πνεῦμά φησι, ποτὲ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν Κύριον, ποτὲ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν Θεόν, οἶδεν ἄρα Θεὸν ὄντα Χριστόν, τὸν ὡς Θεὸν ἐνεργοῦντα διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος, καὶ ὡς Κύριον κατὰ φύσιν διανέμοντα μετ᾽ ἐξουσίας, ὥσπερ ἂν ἐθέλοι, τὰς ἄνωθεν δωρεάς. μνημονεῦσαι δὲ δεῖ ὅτι καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἔφη περὶ Χριστοῦ ὡς ἐνεργήσαντος αὐτὸν ἐν δυνάμει Πνεύματος Ἁγίου.
About this text
Cyril’s court treatise on right faith for Arcadia and Marina (CPG 5219). One Son, Word made flesh — not two Christs. English from Pusey’s Greek.
English follows Pusey’s 1877 Greek of De recta fide ad Arcadiam et Marinam. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Pusey, De recta fide ad reginas (Oxford, 1877) (Greek · CPG 5219 §§1–100)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.