Firstborn from the dead in his own body; dies humanly as immortal God
…of the church, who is beginning, firstborn from the dead, that he might become first in all things; because in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.” (Colossians 1:18–20) He calls the Son naturally begotten from him — that is, the God Word — the image of the invisible God, and also that through him all things were brought to birth, whether visible or invisible, in heaven and on earth, and that he himself is before all things: “for in the beginning was the Word,” (John 1:1) and he is the maker of the ages, having existence older than all time. But he says that the one who is such by his own nature has been given by the Father as head of the church’s body, and that he himself is the firstborn from the dead. Then how is the God Word who always exists, in whom all things hold together, said to become firstborn from the dead and firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, unless the body taken by him is truly his own? When it has suffered death, he himself would be understood to suffer — the event having a not-implausible account in him, for what is his own has suffered. In this way he is understood as firstborn from the dead, though by nature immortal and life itself. So when, having lowered himself into emptying, he has been given as head of the church’s body, then the one who as God does not know how to suffer death is also said to die in a human way for us.
Greek
…τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων· ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι, καὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ ἀποκαταλλάξαι τὰ πάντα εἰς αὐτόν, εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ, εἴτε τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς εἴτε τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.» εἰκόνα φησὶ τοῦ ἀοράτου Θεοῦ τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεννηθέντα κατὰ φύσιν Υἱόν, τουτέστι τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον, καὶ μὴν ὅτι δι’ αὐτοῦ τὰ πάντα παρήχθη πρὸς γένεσιν, εἴτε τὰ ὁρατὰ εἴτε τὰ ἀόρατα, ἔν τε οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ὅτι πρὸ πάντων ἐστὶν αὐτός· «ἐν ἀρχῇ γὰρ ἦν ὁ Λόγος,» καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ τῶν αἰώνων δημιουργός, καὶ χρόνου παντὸς πρεσβυτέραν ἔχων τὴν ὕπαρξιν. ἀλλὰ τὸν οὕτως ἔχοντα κατὰ φύσιν ἰδίαν δεδόσθαι φησὶ παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς κεφαλὴν τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας, αὐτόν τε εἶναι τὸν πρωτότοκον ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν. εἶτα πῶς ὁ ὑπάρχων ἀεὶ Θεὸς Λόγος, ὁ ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα συνέστηκε, πρωτότοκος ἐκ νεκρῶν γενέσθαι λέγεται καὶ ἀπαρχὴ τῶν κεκοιμημένων, εἰ μή ἐστιν αὐτοῦ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ἴδιον σῶμα τὸ παρ’ αὐτοῦ ληφθέν; οὗ πεπονθότος τὸν θάνατον, αὐτὸς ἂν νοοῖτο παθεῖν, οὐκ ἀπίθανον ἔχοντος λόγον ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ τοῦ συμβεβηκότος· πέπονθε γὰρ τὸ ἴδιον αὐτοῦ. οὕτω νοεῖται πρωτότοκος ἐκ νεκρῶν, καίτοι τὴν φύσιν ἀθάνατος ὢν καὶ αὐτόχρημα ζωή. ὅτε τοίνυν δέδοται κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καθεὶς ἑαυτὸν εἰς κένωσιν, τότε λέγεται καὶ ἀποθανεῖν ἀνθρωπίνως ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὁ παθεῖν οὐκ εἰδὼς τὸν θάνατον ὡς Θεός.
About this text
Cyril’s court treatise on right faith for Pulcheria and Eudocia (CPG 5220). One Son who suffers in flesh yet remains impassible as God. English from Pusey’s Greek.
English follows Pusey’s 1877 Greek of De recta fide ad Pulcheriam et Eudociam. 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 5220 §§1–48)
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.