Rational soul against Apollinaris; life-giving flesh of the one sent
And again “he began to be grieved and distressed,” (Matthew 26:37–38) and to say, “My soul is deeply grieved unto death,” and again, “And crying out with a great voice Jesus said: Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) Those defeated by Apollinaris’s opinion, who choose to think his thoughts and insist that the temple united to the Word is both soulless and mindless—what then would they say, when the holy evangelists have written such things for us about Christ the Savior of us all? For the divine and highest nature of the Word would reasonably be wholly unreceptive of panic and grief and the causes of cowardice; it will refuse altogether to be in those states at any time, and will not endure our passions at all. And again a body that is soulless and mindless would not admit grief, nor would it conceive any of the gloomy things, nor foresee in advance the fear of what is expected to happen. But a rational soul, examining with the mind both what is already present and also what will follow, would suffer such things, as I suppose seems good to all. How then does Emmanuel say, “Now my soul has been troubled”? (John 12:27) And how did he begin to be grieved and distressed?
Christ entrusts his own spirit to the Father, and he renewed this way for us. For we will not walk into Hades—how could we?—but we will rather follow him also in this, and by entrusting our own souls to the faithful Creator we are in good hopes; for Christ will raise all.
“Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who eats me will live because of me.” (John 6:57) I would gladly ask those who split the one into two Christs: who then is the one sent from God and Father, living because of him, and for that reason life-giving? If it is the Word from him bare and by himself, how is he eaten by us so that we may live through him? For the divine is bodiless by nature. But if they say the one sent is only a human by himself, how then is he life-giving?
Greek
Καὶ πάλιν «ἤρξατο λυπεῖσθαι καὶ ἀδημονεῖν,» καὶ λέγειν «Περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου,» καὶ πάλιν «Καὶ φωνήσας φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπε· Πάτερ, εἰς χεῖράς σου παρατίθεμαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου.» οἱ τῆς Ἀπολιναρίου δόξης ἡττώμενοι, καὶ τὰ αὐτῷ δοκοῦντα φρονεῖν ἡρημένοι, ἐνιστάμενοί τε καὶ λέγοντες ἄψυχόν τε καὶ ἄνουν ὑπάρχειν τὸν ἑνωθέντα τῷ Λόγῳ ναόν—τί δὴ ἄρα φαῖεν ἂν, γεγραφότων ἡμῖν τὰ τοιάδε τῶν ἁγίων εὐαγγελιστῶν περὶ τοῦ πάντων ἡμῶν σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ; πτοίας μὲν γὰρ καὶ λύπης καὶ τῶν εἰς δειλίαν αἰτιαμάτων ἀνεπίδεκτος παντελῶς ἂν εἴη κατὰ γε τὸ εἰκὸς ἡ θεία τε καὶ ἀνωτάτω τοῦ Λόγου φύσις· παραιτήσεται γὰρ εἰς ἅπαν τὸ ἔν γε τούτοις εἶναι ποτε, καὶ παθῶν ὅλως τῶν καθ’ ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἀνέξεται. σῶμα δὲ πάλιν ἄψυχόν τε καὶ ἄνουν οὐκ ἂν εἰσδέξαιτο λύπην, ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἂν ἐννοήσειέ τι τῶν σκυθρωπῶν ἢ τὸν ἐκ τῶν ἔσεσθαι προσδοκωμένων προαναθρήσει φόβον. πάθοι δ’ ἂν τὰ τοιάδε, κατά γε τὸ πᾶσιν ὡς γε οἶμαι δοκοῦν, ψυχὴ λογικὴ κατασκεπτομένη τῷ νῷ τά τε ἤδη παρόντα καὶ πρός γε τούτοις τὰ συμβησόμενα. πῶς οὖν ἄρα φησὶν ὁ Ἐμμανουήλ «Νῦν ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται»; πῶς δὲ ἤρξατο λυπεῖσθαι καὶ ἀδημονεῖν;
Παρατίθεται δὲ τῷ Πατρὶ τὸ ἴδιον πνεῦμα ὁ Χριστός, καὶ ταύτην ἡμῖν ἐνεκαίνισε τὴν ὁδόν. βαδιούμεθα γὰρ οὐκ εἰς ᾅδου—πόθεν;—ἑψόμεθα δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο αὐτῷ, καὶ τῷ πιστῷ κτίστῃ τὰς ἑαυτῶν παρατιθέμενοι ψυχὰς ἐν ἐλπίσιν ἐσμὲν ἀγαθαῖς· ἐγερεῖ γὰρ ἅπαντας ὁ Χριστός.
«Καθὼς ἀπέστειλέ με ὁ ζῶν πατὴρ κἀγὼ ζῶ διὰ τὸν πατέρα, καὶ ὁ τρώγων με κἀκεῖνος ζήσει δι’ ἐμέ.» ἡδέως ἂν ἐπυθόμην τῶν εἰς δύο χριστοὺς διοριζόντων τὸν ἕνα· τίς δὴ ἄρα ἐστὶν ὁ ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς καὶ ζῶν δι’ αὐτοῦ, ὑπάρχων τε διὰ τοῦτο ζωοποιός; εἰ μὲν οὖν γυμνὸς καὶ καθ’ ἑαυτὸν ὁ ἐξ αὐτοῦ Λόγος, πῶς ἐσθίεται πρὸς ἡμῶν, ἵνα ζήσωμεν δι’ αὐτοῦ; ἀσώματον γὰρ τῇ φύσει τὸ θεῖον. εἰ δὲ μόνον καὶ καθ’ ἑαυτὸν ἄνθρωπον εἶναί φασι τὸν ἀπεσταλμένον, πῶς ἄρα ἐστὶ ζωοποιός;
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.