Firstborn among brothers; God is his own Father
From Luke. “And it came to pass while they were there that the days were fulfilled for her to give birth, and she bore her son, the firstborn, and wrapped him and laid him in the manger, because there was no place for them in the lodging.” (Luke 2:6–7) The holy virgin has borne one and only son, Emmanuel. How then does it say “her son, the firstborn” (Romans 8:29)? For others have not come to be after him, and she has remained a virgin. So it is marked from the God-breathed scripture: the Only-begotten Word of God has been named firstborn. For he has shared blood and flesh and similarly to us shared the same things. Thus he became firstborn among many brothers; yet as God he is worshiped by us ourselves and by the spirits above.
“And his mother said to him: Child, why have you done thus to us? See, your father and I, being in pain, were seeking you. And he said to them: Why is it that you were seeking me? Did you not know that I must be in the things of my Father?” (Luke 2:48–49) Observe how he names as his own Father the one in the heavens. But if he were a human alone, and understood as that very thing according to us, how would it not rather have been necessary to say: Did you not know that I must be in the things of the Father of all? But he makes him his own. For he alone has been begotten from him by nature divinely; and the same one, having also become human, has God as Father by nature and as his own.
Greek
Ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Λουκᾶν εὐαγγελίου.
* Ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι avrovs ἐκεῖ, ἐπλήσθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι
* ToU τεκεῖν αὐτὴν, καὶ ἔτεκε TOV υἱον αὐτῆς TOV πρωτότοκον,
ἐς Ἁ » , , Ἁ AJ] 3 ’᾽ 393 ἃ 3 -^ /, P kai ἐσπαργάνωσεν avrov καὶ ἀνέκλινεν avrov ἐν τῇ φατνῃ
διότι ovk ἦν αὐτοῖς τόπος ἐν TQ καταλύματι. ἕνα καὶ ὅ
7 , [δὼ * » A e € ^]; L4 ^
118 A. a μόνον τέτοκεν viov TOv Εϊμμανονὴλ ἡ ayia, παρθένος. πῶς
οὖν φησι “Τὸν viov αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον ;. ov yap yeyova-
σιν ἔτεροι μετ᾽ avrov, μεμένηκε δὲ παρθένος. ἐπισημαίνεται
οἵ. Schal τοίνυν ὡς ἐκ τῆς θεοπνεύστου γραφῆς" ὠνόμασται γὰρ 8 .. ’ « Ἁ ^ ^ , , x πρωτότοκος ὃ Movoyevns τοῦ Θεοῦ Λογος. κεκοινώνηκε yap xo
αἵματος kal σαρκὸς kai παραπλησίως ἡμῖν μετέσχε TOV
αὐτῶν. οὕτω γέγονεν ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς πρωτοτοκος"
Ὁπλὴν ὡς Θεὸς προσκυνεῖται παρὰ τε ἡμῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν
ἄνω πνευματων.
Ib 48,49. — * Kai εἶπε, φησὶν, πρὸς avrov ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ Τέκνον, τί 15
ἐποίησας ἡμῖν οὕτως ; iÓov ὃ πατὴρ σου καὶ ἐγὼ ὀδυνώ-
μενοι ἐζητοῦμέν σε. καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς Τί ὅτι ἐζητεῖτέ Ψ o ^ ^ , ^ 3 Φ * με; οὐκ ἤδειτε ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρὸς μου δεῖ με εἶναι 5
ἄθρει δὴ οὖν, ὅπως ἴδιον ἑαυτοῦ Πατέρα τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς
208 R. ὀνομάζει. ἀλλ᾽ εἴπερ ἦν ἄνθρωπος κατὰ μόνας, καὶ αὐτὸ δὴ 20 ^ , ε ^ ^ ^ ^ »
e τοῦτο νοούμενος καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς, πῶς ovk ἔδει μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν Οὐκ
ἤδειτε ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πάντων llarpos eivai ue δεῖ; ἀλλὰ
ἴδιον αὐτοῦ ποιεῖται. μόνος γὰρ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγέννηται κατὰ
φύσιν θεϊκῶς" 0 δὲ αὐτὸς kai ἄνθρωπος γεγονώς, ἴδιον €xet
’ ’ὕὥ A] , ᾿ καὶ φύσει Πατέρα rov Ocov. 25
Ib. v. Kai ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι avrov ἐν μιᾷ τῶν πόλεων, kai
^»!* «ς ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ πλήρης λέπρας, kai ἰδὼν TOv ᾿Ιησοῦν, πεσὼν
* ἐπὶ πρόσωπον ἐδεήθη αὐτοῦ λέγων Κύριε, ἐὰν θέλῃς, ἃ “ δύνασαί με καθαρίσαι. καὶ ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα ἥψατο 6. τέτοκεν C. Comm. ἔτεκεν Edd. τὸ pro τὸν C. II. ἡμῖν om. Edd.
23. γεγένηται (pro more) C. 29— p. 249, l. 4 citat (sub titulo κυρίλλονυ ἐκ τοῦ πρὺς θεοδύσιον τὸν βασιλέα (sic) προσφωνητικοῦ) t. fol. 126.
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.