{"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/251":{"o":"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᾿ ὅ 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 μηδενος ἄλλου τῶν περὶ ἡμᾶς ὀνομάζεσθαι, κἂν πλούσιός τις ὢν τύχῃ, καὶ εὐπατρίδης, κἂν δυσγενὴς ᾗ 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 και","t":"Your zeal to know how one may be perfected through a life of virtue, so that blamelessness may be achieved in your life in every respect, befits your chosen way of life. For my part, I would have counted it above everything to have examples of what you are eager for found in my own life, so as to give you the teaching you ask for by deeds before words. For then the guidance toward good things would be trustworthy, the life speaking in harmony with the words. But since I pray that this may happen some day, while I do not yet see myself as such that I can show my life in place of speech, so that I may not seem altogether useless to you and of no help toward the goal, I have resolved to set out the aim to which an exact life must strain, beginning my discourse from here. Our good Master Jesus Christ has graciously granted us a share in his worshipped name, so that we are named from nothing else that belongs to us, whether one happens to be rich and well-born, or low-born or poor, or has some distinction from pursuits or offices: all such names lie idle, and he has given one proper name to those who have believed in him, to be called Christians. Since this grace has been confirmed to 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 given such great things; and then to show ourselves through our life such as the power of this great name requires. The greatness of the gift, of which we have been counted worthy by being named together with the Master of our life, would become clear to us if we came to know what the name of Christ itself signifies, so as to understand, when we call on the Lord of all by this word in our prayers, what idea we take up in our souls, or what we","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 251 (PG 46:251–252; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/251)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/253":{"o":"τανοοῦντες, εὐσεβῶς αὐτὸν ἐπικαλεῖσθαι πιστεύομεν. Ἐπειδὰν δὲ τοῦτο νοήσωμεν, τότε δι' ἀκολούθου, καὶ οἷους 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 ζῇν· 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. 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 μονογενῆ δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφανωμένον, καὶ Κύριον τῆς δόξης, καὶ ἀρχὴν τῶν ὄντων (οὕτως εἰπὼν περὶ αὐτοῦ· ὡς 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 κλῆσις ἐστιν Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ","t":"understand by this name when we believe we call on him reverently. When we have understood this, we will then learn clearly, as a consequence, also what kind of people we ought to show ourselves through our zeal for our life, using the name as teacher and guide for life. So if we take Saint Paul as our leader in these two things, we shall have the surest guidance to clarity about what we are seeking. For he, most exactly of all, both understood what Christ is and showed by what he did what one named after him must be, imitating him so clearly as to show his own Master formed in himself, through the most exact imitation, the form of his soul having been changed toward the archetype, so that it no longer seemed to be Paul living and speaking, but Christ himself living in him; as the good man says, perceiving his own good things: “Since you seek proof of Christ speaking in me,” and: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” This man, then, made known to us what the name of Christ signifies, 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, sanctification and redemption, and great high priest, and Passover, propitiation of souls, radiance of glory, impress 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 first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, firstborn from the dead, and firstborn among many brothers, and mediator between God and men, and only-begotten crowned with glory and honour, and Lord of glory, and beginning of the things that are (saying of him “who is the beginning”), and besides these king of righteousness, king of peace, and king of all things, having an unlimited power of kingship. And many other such names, whose number cannot easily be counted. All these, put together, each name's meaning contributing its own share to the indication of what is signified, produce in us some impression of the meaning of the name of Christ, showing us as much of his ineffable majesty as we are able to grasp in our soul. Now since the dignity of kingship lies above every rank and authority and power, and the name of Christ properly and primarily signifies royal power (for, as we have learned in the histories, anointing came before kingship), and in kingship is contained all the power of the other names, therefore whoever has understood the contents has also understood the power that contains them in detail. And this is the kingship of which the title “Christ” is the indicative name. Since, then,","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 253 (PG 46:253–254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/253)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/255":{"o":"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 ὀνόματι καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν καθορᾶσθαι, ὡς μὴ ψευδώνυμον ἐφ ἡμῖν εἶναι τὴν κλῆσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ βίου τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἔχειν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ καλείσθαί τι τὸ εἶναι γίνεται· ἀλλ᾽ ἡ ὑποκειμένη φύσις, οἷα δ' ἂν οὖσα τύχῃ, διὰ τῆς προσφυοῦς τοῦ ὀνόματος σημασίας γνωρίζεται. Οἷόν τι λέγω· Εἰ δένδρῳ τις ἢ πέτρα προσηγορίαν ἀνθρώπου χαρίσαιτο, ἆρα ἄνθρωπος ἔσταί 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 γαρ 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, ἤ τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον, ᾧ ἐπέβαλεν ἡ τέχνη τὸ εἶδος πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν σχηματίσασα. 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 Χριστιάνῷ βίῳ, τὰ μὲν διὰ μιμήσεως, τὰ δὲ διὰ προσκυνήσεως, εἰ μέλλοι ἄρτιος εἶναι ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος, καθώς φησιν ὁ ᾿Απόστολος, 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 πί","t":"our good Master has given us a share in the greatest, 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 be seen in us too, so that the title may not be falsely applied to us but may have the witness of our life. For a thing does not come to be what it is from being called something; rather the underlying nature, whatever it happens to be, is made known by the meaning of the name that fits it. I mean something like this: if someone gave a tree or a rock the name of man, would the plant or the stone be a man because of the name? It is not so. One must first be a man, and then be named with the name of that nature. Nor do names hold properly in the case of likenesses, as when someone calls a statue a man or a copy a horse; but if anything is to be named properly and without falsehood, its nature will certainly show the name to be true. The material that has received the imitation is called whatever it happens to be: bronze or stone or something else of the kind, on which the art has put the form, shaping it as it pleased. So those who name themselves from Christ must first become what the name means, and then fit the name to themselves. And just as anyone distinguishing the real man from the one called by the same name in a picture will make the distinction from their properties (for the one he will call a rational and thinking living being, the other lifeless matter that has taken on the form by imitation), so too we will recognize the Christian, the one who truly is and the one who only seems, by the properties that appear in their characters. And the characteristics of the true Christian are all those that we have understood concerning Christ. Those of them that we can contain we imitate; those that nature cannot contain for imitation we revere and worship. So all the names that interpret the meaning of Christ must shine out in the Christian life, some through imitation, others through worship, if the man of God is to be complete, as the apostle says, nowhere mutilating his completeness by vice. For just as those who fashion mythical monsters, whether in words or by the art of painting, ox-headed creatures or horse-centaurs or serpent-footed beings, or something else of the kind composed of different kinds, do not direct their imitation to the archetype of nature, but, showing nature by this irrational invention, fashion something else and not a man, shaping at their pleasure what does not exist; and no one would call a man what is fashioned by this strange composition, even if some part of the figure happens to resemble some part of the human body; so neither would anyone strictly be called a Christian who has an irrational head, that is, who does not hold in his faith the head of all things, which is the Word, even if he is complete in other respects; or who, while having the head of faith,","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 255 (PG 46:255–256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/255)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/257":{"o":"στεως 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, οἴους τοὺς κενταύρους ἢ τοὺς δρακοντόποδας πλάττουσιν. Ως 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 ᾿Απόστολος. 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 συμμίκτω βίῳ, γινόμενος 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, διχῆ 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, οὗ 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 κρείττον, 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 ζῇν 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.","t":"shows a body of conduct not matching it, either growing together with the rages of serpents and becoming beastly like these reptiles, or joining the lust of horses to the human character and becoming a double-natured horse-centaur, made of rational and irrational. And one can see many such who lead a decent life under the head of a calf, that is, in the doctrine of idolatry (as they paint the Minotaur), or who with a Christian face fit a beastly body to their life, like those who fashion centaurs or serpent-footed creatures. So that the Christian may be recognized, as with the body of a man, the believer must bear in his life the marks of all the good things understood concerning Christ. For to be in some respect such as the name requires, but in others to lean toward the opposite, is nothing other than to cut oneself apart into enemy ranks against oneself, quarrelling within oneself through virtue and vice, becoming irreconcilable and incompatible with oneself in one's life. “For what fellowship has light with darkness?” says the apostle. Since, then, the opposition to light is unmixed and admits no middle, whoever holds to both and does not let go of either is himself of necessity split by the contrariety of things opposed to each other, becoming at once light and darkness in a mixed life, while faith brings in illumination and the dark life blackens the brightness that comes from the word. Since, then, the fellowship of light with darkness is unmixable and incompatible, whoever is held by both of the opposites becomes his own enemy, divided in two toward virtue and vice and setting himself up in an opposing rank against himself. And just as, of two enemies, both cannot become victors over each other (for the victory of one surely brings about the death of its opponent), so also in this civil war that arises through a mixed life, there is no way for the better rank to win unless the other is destroyed in utter ruin. For how will the army of godliness become stronger than vice while the wicked phalanx of the opposite stands against it? But if the better is to win, the opposing side will surely be slain. And so virtue will have the victory over vice when everything hostile to it has passed into non-existence through the alliance of reasonings. And then is fulfilled what is said 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. As long as we hold to the two, grasping each of the opposites with one hand, it is impossible to share in both at the same time.","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 257 (PG 46:257–258; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/257)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/259":{"o":"Τοῦ γὰρ περιδραξαμένου τῆς κακίας, ἡ ἀρετὴ τῆς λαβῆς ἐξωλίσθησεν. 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. 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. \"Ο γάρ τις ἐπικαλεῖται προσευχόμενος, καὶ πρὸς ὅ βλέπει τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμῷ, τοῦτο πρὸς ἑαυτὸν διὰ τῆς εὐχῆς ἐπισπᾶται· καὶ οὕτω δυνάμει τε κραταιοῦται πρὸς τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, καθώς φησιν ὁ ᾿Απόστολος, ὁ πρὸς τὴν δύναμιν βλέπων (Χριστὸς δὲ 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,","t":"For when one has grasped vice, virtue has slipped from one's grip. So let us take up again the argument from the beginning: that there is one road to the pure and divine life for lovers of virtue, to know what the name of Christ signifies, to which our life too must be conformed, shaped toward virtue by the meaning of the other names. So, setting before our present task the words and names that we collected at the beginning of the discourse from the holy voice of Paul as interpreting the meaning of Christ, we will make for ourselves the surest guidance to the life of virtue, imitating some, as has been said before, and worshipping and revering others. Let the order of what was said be the order of our count. We begin, then, from the first: “Christ,” he says, “the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Through these we first learn the ideas befitting God in the title of Christ, through which the name becomes venerable to us. For since the whole creation, both that known by sense and that which lies beyond perception by sense, came into being through him and holds together in him, of necessity, in defining the presence of Christ who made all things, wisdom is joined with power. We understand this through the pairing of these two words, power and wisdom, I mean: that these great and ineffable wonders of creation would not exist unless wisdom had conceived their coming into being, and power had accompanied wisdom to bring what was conceived to completion, the power through which thoughts become works. The meaning of Christ is therefore fittingly divided into a twofold sense, into wisdom and power, so that when we look at the greatness of the constitution of the things that are, we may understand his ineffable power through what we grasp; and when we reckon that the things that were not came into being, the manifold nature in the things that are having been given substance by a divine nod, then we believe Christ to be incomprehensible wisdom. For what one calls upon in prayer, and what one looks to with the eye of the soul, one draws to oneself through prayer; and so the one who looks to power (and Christ is the power) is strengthened with power in the inner man, as the apostle says; and the one who calls upon wisdom becomes wise, as the Proverb says, wisdom which again is understood to be the Lord. So the one who is named with Christ, who is power and wisdom, is also named with power, empowered against sin, and he will show wisdom in himself by choosing the better. When wisdom and power are shown in us, wisdom choosing the good and power making firm what was conceived, the perfection of life is achieved, woven of both. So too, understanding Christ as peace, we will show the title of Christ to be true of ourselves if we show Christ in our life through the peace in us. He killed the enmity,","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 259 (PG 46:259–260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/259)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/261":{"o":"καθώς φησιν ὁ ᾿Απόστολος. 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. ᾿Αλλ' 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 εἰς 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. ᾿Αρεταὶ δὲ εἰσιν αἱ ἀκτῖνες τοῦ ἡλίου τῆς δικαιοσύνης, εἰς φωτισμὸν ἡμῶν ἀποῤῥέουσαι, 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. ἁγιασμὸν τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι νοήσωμεν, τῷ πάσης βεβήλου καὶ ἀκαθάρτου πράξεως καὶ ἐννοίας, οὐχὶ ῥήματι τοῦ ἁγιασμοῦ τὴν δύναμιν ὁμολογοῦντες, ἀλλὰ τῷ βίῳ. ᾿Απολύτρωσιν 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 ζῇν, 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. Ωσπερ γὰρ τοῦ θανάτου κρατοῦντος ἡμῶν, ὁ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐν ἡμῖν νόμος ἐπολιτεύετο· οὕτως ἐπειδὴ τῆς ζωῆς κτῆμα γεγό-","t":"as the apostle says. So let us not bring it to life again in ourselves, but show it dead in our life. Let us never, by anger and remembering wrongs, raise up against ourselves, to the destruction of our souls, the enmity that God rightly put to death for our salvation, bringing about a wicked resurrection of what had rightly died. But if we have Christ, who is peace, let us too put enmity to death in ourselves, so that what we believe of him we may also achieve in our own life. For as he, having broken down the dividing wall of the fence, created in himself the two into one new man, making peace, so let us bring to reconciliation not only those who fight against us from outside but also those in revolt within ourselves, so that the flesh no longer desires against the spirit nor the spirit against the flesh; but, the mind of the flesh being subjected to the divine law, let us be at peace within ourselves, refashioned into the one new and peaceful man, the two becoming one. For the definition of peace is the harmony of what was divided. So when the civil war is removed from our nature, then we too, having made peace within ourselves, become peace, showing the title of Christ true and proper in us. And understanding Christ as true light, unapproachable to falsehood, we learn this: that our life too must be lit by the rays of the true Father. And the virtues are the rays of the sun of righteousness, streaming out for our illumination, through which come the putting away of the works of darkness, walking decently as in the day, renouncing the hidden things of shame, doing everything in the light, and becoming light oneself, so as to shine for others too by one's works, which is the property of light. If we understand Christ to be sanctification, let us show by being strangers to every profane and impure act and thought that we confess the power of sanctification not by word but by life. Having learned that Christ is redemption, who gave himself as a ransom for us, we are taught by such a word to learn that, having paid us immortality as a price, as it were, for each one's soul, he made those he bought back from death through life his own possession. If, then, we have become the slaves of the one who redeemed us, we will surely look to our Lord, so as no longer to live for ourselves but for the one who acquired us through the exchange of life. For we are no longer our own masters; the one who bought us is Lord, and we are his possessions. So the will of our Lord will be the law of our life. For just as, when death ruled us, the law of sin governed in us, so, since we have become the possession of life,","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 261 (PG 46:261–262; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/261)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/263":{"o":"ναμεν, 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 σὰρξ, 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 αἴματι ὁ Χριστὸς νοούμενος διδάσκει τὸν ταῦτα νοήσαντα, αὐτὸν ἕκαστον γενέσθαι ἑαυτῷ ἱλαστήριον, διὰ τῆς τῶν μελῶν νεκρώσεως τὴν ψυχὴν ἀφαγνίζοντα. Ὅταν δὲ δόξης ἀπαύγασμα, καὶ χαρακτήρ 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 θεώθεν 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. 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, ὁ γὰρ, φησὶν, οὐδεὶς, οὐδὲ ἰδεῖν δύνα-","t":"it would be necessary for our conduct to be adapted to the life that rules us, lest, turning aside from the will of life, we desert again through sin to the wicked tyrant of our souls, death I mean. The same thought will bring us close to Christ also when we hear from Paul that he is Passover and high priest. For Christ our Passover was truly sacrificed for us; but the priest who offers the sacrifice to God is no other than Christ himself. For “he offered himself,” he says, “as an offering and sacrifice for us.” So we learn this from these words: that whoever looks to him who brought himself as an offering and sacrifice and became the Passover will himself present himself to God as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, becoming reasonable worship. And the manner of the sacrifice is not to be conformed to this age, but to be transformed by the renewal of one's mind, in proving what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. For while the flesh lives and has not been sacrificed according to the spiritual law, the good will of God cannot be shown in it, because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God and does not submit to the law of God. Nor can it, as long as the flesh lives; but when it has been sacrificed through the life-giving sacrifice, by putting to death the members on earth through which the passions work, the acceptable and perfect will of God will be achieved without hindrance in the life of those who have believed in him. So too Christ, understood as the propitiation in his own blood, teaches the one who has understood these things that each should become a propitiation for himself, purifying his soul by putting the members to death. When Christ is called the radiance of glory and the impress of substance, we take up through these words the ideas of his worshipped majesty. For Paul, truly inspired and taught by God, who searched out in the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God the obscure and hidden things of the divine mysteries, showed through certain riddles the illuminations that came to him from God about the understanding of what cannot be searched or traced, having a tongue weaker than his thought, as the hearing of those receiving his insight into the mystery could contain it, uttering as much as speech was able to serve thought. For having understood all that human power can contain, he presents the account of the transcendent substance as unreachable and ungraspable by human reasonings. Hence, in naming the things contemplated around it, peace, and power, and life, and righteousness, and light, and truth, and the like, he declared that the account of that substance itself is wholly ungraspable, saying that God has never been seen and never will be seen. For he says, “whom no one has seen or can see.”","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 263 (PG 46:263–264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/263)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/265":{"o":"ται. Διὰ τοῦτο ζητῶν, πῶς ὀνομάσει τὸ μὴ δυνάμενον λογισμοῖς ληφθῆναι, ὡς οὐχ εὖρεν ἐμφαντικὸν ὄνομὰ τῆς τῶν ἀκαταλήπτων ἑρμηνείας, δόξαν καὶ ὑπόστασιν ὠνόμασε τὸ ὑπερκείμενον πάντὸς ἀγαθοῦ, τὸ μήτε νοούμενον ἀξίως, μήτε φραζόμενον. Τὴν μὲν οὖν ὑπερκειμένην τῶν ὄντων οὐσίὰν 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 ἀἴδίως 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, ἀλλα τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ Υἱοῦ διὰ τῆς μορφῆς ἐνδεικνύμενος, ᾗ ἐνθεωρεῖται τοῦ Πατρὸς ἡ μεγάλειότης, οὐδαμοῦ τῆς ἰδίας μορφῆς ὑπερπίπτουσα, οὐδὲ ἔξω τοῦ περὶ αὐτὴν χαρακτῆρος εὑρισκομένη. ῎Αμορφον γὰρ καὶ ἀκαλλὲς περὶ τὸν Πατέρα οὐδὲν, ὁ 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, οἱ τὸν περὶ τῆς ὕλης ἀναζητοῦντες λόγον, οὐδαμοῦ τῆς πολυπραγμοσύνης ἴστάνται, 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 μέτρους 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 ἄῦλον είληχε 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 παρἠχθημεν, 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 ζῇν πιστεύων, μάρτυρα τῆς ἀπεμφαινούσης ζωῆς τολμήσαι ποιήσασθαι τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ τὴν ἑκάστου ζωὴν περιέχοντα; Βρῶμα δὲ καὶ πόμα πνευματικὸν ὀνομάζων τὸν Κύριον ὁ θεῖος","t":"For this reason, seeking how to name what cannot be grasped by reasonings, since he found no name expressive enough to interpret the incomprehensible, he named what is beyond every good, what can be neither worthily thought nor spoken, “glory” and “substance.” So he left unnamed the substance that is beyond all things that are; but interpreting the conjunction of the Son with the Father and his inseparability from him, and that he is contemplated together with the boundless and eternal Father boundlessly and eternally, he calls him radiance of glory and impress of substance: by “radiance” showing that they are of one nature, by “impress” that they are equal. For no interval is conceived between the radiance and the nature that sends it forth, nor any falling short of the impress in relation to the substance it expresses. But whoever has understood the radiating nature has surely understood its radiance too; and whoever has taken the greatness of the substance into his mind surely measures the substance by the impress that appears. Hence he also calls the Lord the form of God, not belittling the Lord by the notion 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 impress that belongs to it. For there is nothing formless or unbeautiful in the Father that does not glory in the beauty of the Only-begotten. That is why the Lord says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” signifying by this that there is neither any deficiency nor any excess. And by saying that he upholds all things by the word of his power, Paul resolves the perplexity of those who busy themselves with what cannot be searched out, who, seeking an account of matter, never stop their meddling, saying: “How does matter come from the immaterial? How does quantity come from what has no quantity, shape from the shapeless, colour from the invisible, and what is bounded by its own measures from the boundless? And if there is no quality in the simple and uncompounded, from where is matter interwoven with the qualities around it?” For all these and similar questions are resolved by the one who said that the Word bears all things by the word of his power from non-being into being. For all things, even those that have received the immaterial nature, have one cause of their existence, the word of the ineffable power. From these things we are taught to look to that from which the things that are have their origin. For if we were brought into being from there and hold together in him, it is entirely necessary to believe that nothing is outside the knowledge of the one in whom we are, from whom we came to be, and into whom we are dissolved. And by this thought, in all likelihood, a sinless life is achieved together with it. For who, believing that he lives from him and through him and in him, would dare to make the one who holds each person's life in himself the witness of an unseemly life? Calling the Lord spiritual food and drink, the divine","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 265 (PG 46:265–266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/265)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/267":{"o":"᾿Απόστολος, 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. ᾿Αλλ' 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. 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. ᾿Αλλ' 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 ᾿Αποστόλου 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 βουλευτής, ἀσπίλῳ καὶ καθαρᾷ τῇ σινδόνι τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου διαλαβών, καινῷ τε καὶ καθαρῷ μνήματι ἐναπέθετο· ὥστε νόμον πᾶσιν ἡμῖν τὸ τε τοῦ ᾿Αποστόλου παράγγελμα γενέσθαι, καὶ τὸ τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ παρατήρημα, τοῦ καθαρᾷ τῇ συνειδήσει τὸ ἅγιον ὑποδέχεσθαι σῶμα· εἴ ποὺ 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 ὑπομονὴν, καὶ διὰ τοῦ πρὸς πᾶσαν προσβολὴν ἁμαρτίας ἀντίτυπον καὶ ἀνένδοτον τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι· διὰ τούτων γὰρ καὶ τῶν τοιού","t":"apostle suggests that we understand this from what is said: that human nature is not of one kind, but, the intelligible being mixed with the perceptible, there is a food proper to each of the parts seen in us; perceptible food sustains the body, while spiritual food produces in us the soul's good condition. And just as in the body solid and liquid food, mixed with other things, preserve our nature, being mixed by suitable digestion with each of the elements blended in us, so in the same way Paul by analogy also divides the intelligible food, calling the same thing food and drink, suitably adapted to the need of those who take it. For to the weak and exhausted it becomes bread, strengthening the heart of man; to those worn out by the hardship of this life, and therefore become thirsty, it becomes wine, bringing the heart to gladness. Through what has been said we must understand the power of the Word, by which the soul is nourished in a way suited to its need, receiving the grace from him, according to the riddle of the prophet, who signifies by a place of green grass and water of rest the comfort that comes from the Word to the weary. If anyone, looking to the mystery, says that the Lord is properly called food and drink, this too is not foreign to the proper sense; for his flesh is truly food and his blood is truly drink. But in the earlier sense, sharing in the Word is open to all at will; he becomes food and drink offered without distinction, taken by those who seek him. In the other sense, sharing in such food and drink is not without examination and discernment, since the apostle has laid down: “Let each one examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment on himself.” Looking to this, it seems to me, the evangelist carefully noted that at the time of the mystical passion that honourable councillor wrapped the Lord's body in a spotless and clean linen cloth and laid it in a new and clean tomb; so that the apostle's command and the evangelist's observation become a law for all of us, to receive the holy body with a clean conscience, washing away with the water of tears any stain there may be from sin. Christ, called the rock, will benefit us through this name in the firmness and steadfastness of a life of virtue, in holding firm in the endurance of sufferings, and in showing the soul resistant and unyielding to every attack of sin; for through these and such","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 267 (PG 46:267–268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/267)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/269":{"o":"των πέτρα καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσόμεθα, μιμούμενοι, καθώς 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 κεφαλή, 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 εύσχημοσύνης 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, ὀρθος τε καὶ ἀδιάστροφος, καὶ οὐδὲν ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ σκολιὸν ἢ κατηγκυλωμένον. 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 ὧν ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸς, εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ταῦτα οὖν λέγων που, παιδεύει διὰ τῶν λεγομένων ἡμᾶς, ὅτι ἀεὶ ὧν ὅπερ ἐστὶν (ἔστι δὲ ἐκεῖνο, ὅπερ ὁ ὧν ἐπίσταται μόνος), τῆς δὲ ἀνθρωπίνης καταλήψεως, κἂν ἀεὶ αὐτῷ 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, ἦν ἀνέλαβεν, ἐν σοὶ μορφωθῆναι, καὶ σὲ πάλιν δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ πρὸς τὸν χαρακτῆρα τοῦ ἀρχετύπου συσχηματισθῆναι κάλλους, εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι, ὅπερ ἧς 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 δὲ ἐστι τί; τὸ σαρκὶ ζῶν-","t":"things we too shall be a rock, imitating, as far as is possible in a changeable nature, the Master's unchangeableness and immovability. And if the same one is called by the wise master builder both the foundation of faith and the head of the corner, this too will be shown to contribute not a little to our life of virtue. For we are taught by these that the Lord is both beginning and end of every good way of life and of every good learning and pursuit. For he is the hope (which we understand as the head, toward which all the things pursued in virtue look), being so named by Paul; and the beginning of this lofty tower-building of life is faith in him. On it, as on a foundation, we lay the beginnings of our life, and by daily good deeds we give law to pure thoughts and actions; and so the head of all things becomes our head too, fitting itself, by the joining of the corner, to the two walls of our life, those of the body and of the soul, built up through decency and purity. So if one of the two structures is lacking, either outward decency not being built together with purity of soul, or the soul's virtue not agreeing with what is outward, Christ would not become the head of this half-finished life, since he fits himself only to the double structure that forms a corner; for without the meeting of two walls a corner cannot come into being. Then, therefore, the beauty of the cornerstone will be set on our building, when the double life is stretched harmoniously on both sides along the straight rule of life by the line of the virtues, upright and undistorted, having nothing crooked or bent in itself. Paul calls Christ the image of the invisible God, 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, “from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed for ever.” Saying these things, then, he teaches us through them that, being always what he is (and he is that which the One Who Is alone knows), he stands always at the same distance above human comprehension, even though the one who sets his mind on things above always draws nearer to him by progress. So he who is beyond all knowledge and comprehension, the ineffable, unspeakable, and indescribable, in order to make you again the image of God, himself out of love for mankind became the image of the invisible God, so as to be formed in you by his own form, which he took up, and to conform you again through himself to the stamp of the archetypal beauty, so that you become what you were from the beginning. So if we too are to become the image of the invisible God, the form of our life must be stamped according to the model of life set before us. And what is this? That we who live in the flesh","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 269 (PG 46:269–270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/269)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/271":{"o":"τας, μὴ κατὰ σάρκα ζῇν. Καὶ γὰρ ἡ πρωτότυπος ἐκείνη τοῦ ἀοράτου Θεοῦ εἰκὼν, ἡ διὰ τῆς Παρθένου ἐπιδημήσασα, ἐπειράθη 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, τεχνίτις 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 χαρακτήρα σκιογραφήσαντας. ᾿Αλλὰ 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, μιμητής τοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ τοῦ κατ᾿ ἀρετὴν βίου γινόμενος. 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 ἐμπτοόμενον, νῶτον πληγαῖς ἐκδεδομένον, κριτήριον ἀσεβὲς, ἀπόφασις ἀπηνὴς, στρατιῶται τῆς σκυθρωπῆς ἀποφάσεως κατατρυφῶντες, ἐν χλευασμοῖς καὶ εἰρωνείαις καὶ ταῖς ἐκ καλάμου πληγαῖς, ἦλοι, καὶ χολὴ, καὶ ὅξος 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 ὄρων 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; 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 ἦν ὁ βλέπων, καὶ κατ' ἐκείνην ἐναργῶς καλλωπίζων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μορφὴν, εἰκὼν καὶ αὐτὸς γίνεται τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου. διὰ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ζωγραφούμενος. Ὁ δὲ κεφα-","t":"should not live according to the flesh. For that archetypal image of the invisible God, who came among us through the Virgin, was tempted in all things after the likeness of human nature, but did not admit the experience of sin alone. “For he committed no sin,” it says, “nor was deceit found in his mouth.” So, just as, if we were being taught the art of painting and the teacher set before us some beautiful figure on a panel, each of us would surely have to imitate its beauty in his own painting, so that everyone's panels would be beautified according to the model of beauty set before them; in the same way, since each person is the painter of his own life, and the craftsman of this work is free choice, and the colours for producing the image are the virtues, there is no small danger of changing the imitation of the archetypal beauty into some ugly and shapeless mask with filthy colours, sketching the stamp of vice in place of the Master's form. Rather, we must take, as far as possible, the pure colours of the virtues, blended with one another by a skilful mixing, for the imitation of beauty, so that we become the image of the image, taking the impress of the archetypal beauty by as effective an imitation as possible, as Paul did, becoming an imitator of Christ through a life of virtue. If we must also distinguish in our discourse each of the things through which the imitation of the image comes about, one colour is humility. “Learn from me,” he says, “for I am gentle and humble in heart.” Another colour is long-suffering: how did it appear in the image of the invisible God? Swords and clubs, chains and scourges, cheeks struck, a face spat upon, a back given up to blows, an impious court, a harsh sentence, soldiers making sport of the grim sentence with mockery and irony and blows with a reed, nails, gall, vinegar, and all the most terrible things, brought on him without cause, or rather given in return for his manifold kindness. What, then, was his retaliation against those who did these things? “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Was he not able to break the heaven down on them from above, or to make the insolent disappear in a chasm of the earth, or to throw the sea out of its own bounds and put the land under the depths, or to bring on them the Sodomite rain of fire, or to do something else grim by a command? But he bore these things with gentleness and long-suffering, giving the law of long-suffering to your life through himself. So too one can see all the other qualities in the archetypal image of God; whoever looks to it and clearly beautifies his own form after it becomes himself an image of the invisible God, painted through patient endurance. Whoever","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 271 (PG 46:271–272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/271)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/273":{"o":"λὴν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι μαθὼν, τοῦτο πρὸ πάντων διανοείσθω, ὅτι πᾶσα κεφαλὴ τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ σώματι ὁμοφυῆς ἐστι καὶ ὁμοούσιος, καὶ μία τῖς 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 δὲ 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 ᾿Αποστόλου, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος μέν ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ, ἐξ αὐτοῦ δὲ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα συναρμολογούμενον καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον διὰ πάσης ἀφῆς, 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 ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐστι τῷ σώματι τὸ πρὸς τὰς ἐνεργείας ἐνδόσιμον· δι᾿ ὀφθαλμοῦ γὰρ καὶ ἀκοῆς τὰ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον εὐθύνεται, ἡ τε διὰ ποδῶν κίνησις καὶ ἡ διὰ χειρῶν ἐνέργεια· οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἢ ὀφθαλμοῦ μὴ ἐπιστατοῦντὸς 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, ἔπεσθαι 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 Μονογενή Θεὸν τὸν τοῦ παντὸς","t":"has learned that Christ is the head of the church, let him consider this before all else: that every head is of the same nature and the same substance as the body beneath it, and there is one natural union of the individual members with the whole, producing through one common breath the sympathy of the whole with its parts. So if anything is outside the body, it is surely foreign to the head too. Scripture therefore teaches us through this that what the head is by nature, the individual members also become, so that they may be akin to the head. And we are the members, we who make up the body of Christ. If, then, anyone takes a member of Christ and makes it a member of a harlot, thrusting in licentious madness like a sword, he has certainly estranged the member from the head through this wicked passion. So too the other instruments of vice become swords by which members are cut off from the body to which they naturally belong, and all are severed from the head, according as the passions work the cut. So, in order that the whole body may remain in its natural state, the individual members too must be akin to the head: for example, if the head is pure by the definition of its substance, the members must be pure too. If we understand the head as incorruption, the members too must surely consist in incorruption. So too the other notions under which the head is understood, peace, sanctification, truth, and all such, must in consequence be seen in the members too. For through the Son these and such things are shown in the members, which are attested to be naturally united with the head, as the apostle says: that he is the head, and from him the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint, according to the working in the measure of each part, makes the growth of the body. And we ought to be taught this too by the name of head: that, as with living creatures, the signal for action is given to the body by the head; for through eye and hearing each thing is directed, both movement by the feet and action by the hands; for nothing that lies before us can be done properly unless the eye oversees what is being pursued or the hearing receives guidance; so too we, the body, must move suitably, in every impulse and action, after the true head, wherever he who formed the eye or planted the ear leads. Since, then, the head looks to things above, the members fitted to the head must surely also follow the head's guidance and have their inclination upward. When we hear that he is the firstborn of creation, and firstborn from the dead, and firstborn among many brothers, let us first dismiss the heretical notions, since they get no support for their wicked dogma-making from these words. After that let us consider also what these contribute to our moral life. For since the fighters against God say that the only-begotten God, the maker of the universe,","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 273 (PG 46:273–274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/273)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/275":{"o":"δημιουργόν, 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 Ῥουβίμ 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 μονογενής μετὰ ἀδελφῶν νοεῖται· οὔτε χωρὶς ἀδελφῶν ὁ πρωτότοκος, μονογενής πάντως οὔτε ἔστιν, οὔτε λέγεται. 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 Μονογενής 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. Ώστε 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. 'Αλλ' 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 χαρακτήρ, οἰκείως πρὸς τὸν πρωτότοκον ἔχων, ὥστε μὴ ἀγνοεῖσθαι τὴν ἀδελ-","t":"from whom and through whom and in whom are all things, is a work of God and a creature and a thing made, and for this reason they define him as called the firstborn of all creation; or as a brother of creation, taking precedence only by seniority in time, as Reuben did over his brothers, not ranked first by nature but taking precedence by seniority in time; first we must say this to them: that the same one cannot be believed to be both only-begotten and firstborn. For the only-begotten is not thought of with brothers, and the firstborn is not without brothers; and he who is only-begotten certainly neither is nor is called so. So these notions are incompatible and have nothing in common with each other in the same subject, so that it is impossible for the same one to be named both, only-begotten and firstborn. Yet Scripture has said of the Word who was in the beginning that the only-begotten God is the firstborn of all creation. So we must assign each of these names to the mystery of the truth, distinguishing them reverently: so that the Word before the ages is only-begotten, while of the creation that came about afterwards in Christ the Word became firstborn, having become flesh. And whatever notion comes to us when we learn that he is firstborn from the dead and firstborn among many brothers, that same notion we will in consequence apply to the firstborn of creation too. So he becomes firstborn from the dead, having become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, in order to make a road for the flesh to resurrection. And being about to make us, who were before children of wrath by nature, sons of the day and sons of light through the birth from above, through water and Spirit, he himself leads the way in such a birth, drawing the grace of the Spirit upon the first fruits of our nature in the stream of the Jordan, so that all who are born to life through spiritual rebirth are called brothers of the one who was born before them through water and Spirit. In the same way, understanding him also as firstborn of the creation that came about in Christ, we do not go outside the godly notion. For since the old creation passed away, made useless through sin, of necessity the new creation of life succeeded the passing away of what had vanished, constituted through rebirth and the resurrection from the dead; and the author of life, leading it, becomes and is named the firstborn of life. How one should deal with the opponents will be easy for the more diligent, from the little that has been said, so as to have sufficient help for the truth. But how these words may be shown to contribute to the life of virtue we will go through briefly. Reuben was the firstborn of those brought forth by birth after him; and the stamp that appeared on those born after him, being akin to the firstborn, testified to their kinship with him, so that their brother-","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 275 (PG 46:275–276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/275)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/277":{"o":"φότητα, 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 πολλοῖς εἰρήκαμεν, ὅτι· ῾Αμαρτίαν 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. ᾿Αλλὰ 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. Οὐ μὴν ἴση κατάστασις ἐν τῷ μετὰ ταῦτα βιῳ 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 ᾗ 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 ῾Αμαρτίαν, 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","t":"hood was not unknown, being attested by likeness of form. So if through a like rebirth, through water and Spirit, we too have become brothers of the Lord, who for our sake became the firstborn among many brothers, it would follow that we show our kinship with him through the marks of our life, the firstborn of creation being formed in our life. What mark of his form have we learned from Scripture? We have said it many times: “He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.” So if we are to be called brothers of the one who led the way in our birth, the sinlessness of our life will confirm our kinship with him, no stain separating us from union with purity. But the firstborn is also righteousness and sanctification, and love, and redemption, and the like. So if our life too is marked by such things, we will offer clear signs of our noble birth, so that whoever sees these in our life will testify to our brotherhood with Christ. For he is the one who opened to us the door of resurrection, and for this reason became the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. That we shall all rise in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, he showed by what he did both in himself and in the others who were held by death. Yet not an equal state in the life after this will receive all who rise from the dust of the earth; but, it says, “we shall go forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” So if anyone's life here looks toward that fearful condemnation, even if he happens to be counted among the Lord's brothers through birth from above, he belies the name, denying his kinship with the firstborn by the form of vice. The mediator between God and men, who through himself joins humanity to God, joins only what is worthy of union with God. So just as he made his own man his own by the power of the Godhead, a part of our common nature yet not subject to the passions of nature that call to sin (for “he committed no sin,” it says, “nor was deceit found in his mouth”), so too he will bring each one to union with the Godhead if they bring nothing unworthy of union with the Divine. If anyone is truly a temple of God, holding within himself no idol or image of vice, he will be taken up by the mediator to participation in the Godhead, having become pure to receive his purity. For wisdom will not enter a soul that devises evil, as the word says, and the pure in heart sees nothing in himself but God, to whom he has been joined through incorruption and has received within himself the whole good kingdom. What is said would become still clearer if, for the clarity of what has been said, we took up the word of the Lord which he spoke to the apostles through Mary:","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 277 (PG 46:277–278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/277)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/279":{"o":"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 ᾗ δυνατὸν, τοῦ μεσίτου τὰ 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 φωνής· 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; Ὡς ἂν οὖν μὴ τοιαῦτά 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 ἀρχὴ· ἀρχὴ δὲ παντὸς πράγματος οὐκ ἀλλοτρίως πρὸς τὰ μεθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν ἔχει. Εἰ γὰρ ζωὴν τὴν ἀρχὴν εἶναί τις ὀρίσαιτο·","t":"“I am going,” he says, “to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.” For the mediator says this between the Father and the disowned, he who through himself reconciled the enemies of God to the true and only Godhead. For since, according to the prophetic word, men through sin were estranged from the life-giving womb and went astray from the belly in which they were formed, speaking falsehood instead of truth, for this reason he took up the first fruits of our common nature, through soul and body, and made it holy, keeping it in himself unmixed with every vice and not admitting it, so that, having offered it through incorruption to the Father of incorruption, he might draw along with it everything of the same kind and kin to it by nature, and receive the disowned into adoption and the enemies of God into participation in his Godhead. So, just as the first fruits of the lump were made God's own, the true Father and God, through purity and freedom from passion, so we too, the lump, will be joined by the same ways to the Father of incorruption, by imitating, as far as possible, the mediator's freedom from passion and unchangeableness. For so we shall become 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 than the angels,” because of the suffering of death. Those who before had been changed through sin into the nature of thorns he made into a crown for himself through the dispensation of death, transforming the thorn through his passion into honour and glory. There is no small danger, then, once he who takes away the sin of the world has taken up the crown of thorns on his head in order to make the crown woven of honour and glory, that someone should be found who is a thistle and a thorn through an evil life, and is then threaded into the middle of the Master's crown through communion in his body. To him the just voice will surely say: “How did you come in here without a wedding garment? How were you woven in among those fitted into my crown through honour and glory, being a thorn? What fellowship has Christ with Belial? What share has a believer with an unbeliever? What has light in common with darkness?” So that our life may never call such words down on us, we must take care to put away every thorny deed and word and thought through the whole course of our life, so that, having become honour and glory by a pure and passionless way of life, we may crown the head of all things through ourselves, having become a treasure and possession for the Master. For the Lord of glory does not consent to be or be called Lord of anything dishonourable. So whoever is a stranger to all shamefulness and foulness, 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 the beginning; and the beginning of anything is not foreign to what follows it. For if one should define the beginning as life,","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 279 (PG 46:279–280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/279)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/281":{"o":"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, οἴαν 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. ᾿Αλλ' 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, ἀρχὴ· 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 ἀρχὴν 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 λειποτακτήσας ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ στρατιᾶς, τῇ παρατάξει τῶν ἀλλοφύλῶν ἑαυτὸν καταλέξειε, τοῦ εὑρέτου τῆς κακίας ὁπλίτης γενόμενος, καὶ ἀποδυσάμενος τὸν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν εἰρηνικὴν παντευχίαν 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, αἱ 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 Χριστιανός χρηματίζων, ἀναγκαίως καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὀνομάτων, οἷς ὁ Χριστὸς νοεῖται, καὶ ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ δεῖξαι τὴν δύναμιν, κοινωνὸς ἑκάστης κλήσεως διὰ τοῦ βίου γινόμενος.","t":"what comes after the beginning will surely also be understood as life; and if the beginning is light, what comes after the beginning will also be understood as light. What benefit, then, do we gain from believing him to be the beginning? That we become such as we have believed our beginning to be. For light is not called the beginning of darkness, nor, when life is set as the beginning, have we understood death as continuous with life. But unless one is of the same nature as what leads, joined to the beginning through freedom from passion and virtue, the beginning of all things would not become his beginning. Of a dark life the beginning is the world-ruler of darkness; of death-bearing sin, the one who has the power of death. So one who is ranked under the rule of darkness by a wicked life cannot say that the beginning of every good is his own beginning. To the same thought belongs, for those who take the divine words for their own good, his being named king of righteousness and of peace. For whoever, 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 peace, will surely achieve righteousness and peace in his own life, so that the king of righteousness and peace may reign, as he asks. So every virtue is understood as the king's army; for under righteousness and peace I think we must understand all the virtues. If, then, anyone deserts from God's army and enrols himself in the battle line of the foreigners, becoming a soldier of the inventor of vice, and strips off the breastplate of righteousness and all the armour of peace, how will he be ranked under the king of peace, having thrown away the shield of truth? For it is clear that the emblem of his arms will show who reigns over him, displaying his leader in the stamp of his life instead of the image painted on his weapons. How blessed is the one ranked under the divine generalship and enrolled in the ranks of those numbered in myriads, armed against vice with the virtues, which bear the image of the king who clothed them! And why must the discourse go further, setting out in the sequence of our examination all the words by which the name of Christ is interpreted, through which one can be guided to the life of virtue, each name by its own meaning surely helping us toward the perfection of life? I think it good rather to sum up the memory of what has been mentioned, so as to have some guidance by the hand toward the aim of the discourse that we set out at the beginning, seeking how one might achieve perfection in himself. For I think that if one always reckons this, that he shares in the worshipped name, being called a Christian according to the teaching of the apostles, he will of necessity show in himself the power of the other names too by which Christ is understood, becoming by his life a sharer in each title.","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 281 (PG 46:281–282; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/281)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/283":{"o":"Οἷόν τι λέγω Τρία τὰ χαρακτηριζόμενα τοῦ Χριστιανοῦ τὸν βίον ἐστὶ, πρᾶξις, λόγος, ἐνθύμιον. Ἀρχή 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, ὅ μὴ ἐκ πίστεως, ἁμαρτία ἐστίν· οὕτως ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ ἀκολούθου νοήσαντα σαφῶς ἀποφήνασθαι, ὅτι πᾶν ὁ μὴ εἰς Χριστὸν ἢ ῥῆμα, ἢ ἔργον, ἢ νόημα, εἰς τὸ ἀντικείμενον τῷ Χριστῷ πάντως ὁρᾷ. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστι 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 φωνή, ἡ 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 ἡλλοτρίωται; Πολλὴ δὲ τῆς διακρίσεως τῶν τοιούτων ἐστὶν ἡ εὐκολία. Ὁ 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, οἷα ἐστὶ πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ τῷ ὕδατι, τῷ τε πηγαίῳ τῷ βρύοντι, καὶ τῷ ἐκεῖθεν ἐν τῷ ἀμφορεῖ γεγενημένῳ. Μία γὰρ τῇ φύσει ἡ καθαρότης, ἢ 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","t":"I mean something like this: three things characterize the Christian's life: action, speech, thought. For thought is the beginning of every word; second after thinking comes speech, revealing through the voice the thought imprinted on the soul; and action holds the third place after mind and speech, bringing what was thought into effect. So, whenever life leads us in turn to any of these, it is good to examine carefully, for every word and deed and thought, these divine notions by 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 “whatever is not of faith is sin,” so one who has understood can clearly declare by consequence that every word or deed or thought that is not directed to Christ looks wholly to what opposes Christ. For one who is outside light or life must be in darkness or in death. If, then, what is done and spoken and thought not according to Christ is akin to what opposes the good, it would be clear to all from what appears through these that whoever is outside him, in what he thinks or does or says, abandons Christ. So the divine voice of the prophet speaks truly, which says: “I counted all the sinners of the earth as transgressors.” For as whoever denied Christ in the persecutions is a transgressor of the worshipped name, so too if anyone, when passions prevail, denies truth or righteousness, or sanctification and incorruption, or casts out of his life anything else understood as virtue, he is called a transgressor by the prophecy, transgressing in his life, through each of these, him who is these things. What, then, must the one counted worthy of the great title of Christ do? What else but continually examine in himself his thoughts and words and deeds, whether each of them looks to Christ or is estranged from Christ? And the discernment of such things is very easy. For whatever is done or thought or said through some passion has no harmony with Christ, but bears the stamp of the adversary, who smears the passions like mud on the pearl of the soul and ruins the brightness of the precious stone. But whatever is pure of every passionate disposition looks to the author of freedom from passion, who is Christ; drawing thoughts into himself from him as from a pure and unfenced spring, one will show a likeness to the archetype like that of water to water, of the water gushing from the spring and the water from there put into the jar. For the purity seen in Christ and that seen in one who shares in him is one in nature. But he is the spring, while the one who shares draws from it, carrying over the beauty in his thoughts into his life, so that there is harmony between the hidden man and the visible one, the decency of","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 283 (PG 46:283–284; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/283)."},"gregory-nyssa-perfectione/285":{"o":"τοῦ βίου εὐσχημοσύνης τοῖς κατὰ Χριστὸν κινουμένοις νοήμασι. 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 όλοκλήρῳ τῷ σώματι καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ἔξω τῆς πρὸς τὸ κακὸν ἐπιμιξίας διηνεκῶς φυλασσόμενον. Εἰ δὲ 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 (ἡ 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 κρείττον 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 τε-","t":"life agreeing with the thoughts moved according to Christ. This, then, in my judgment, is perfection in the Christian life: to have a share, in soul and speech and the pursuits of life, in all the names that are signified by the name of Christ, so that one keeps in oneself, according to Paul's blessing, a complete sanctification, in the whole body and soul and spirit, constantly guarded from any mixing with evil. If someone says that this is hard to achieve, since only the Lord of creation is unchangeable while human nature is changeable and prone to alteration, so how can firmness and unchangeableness in the good be achieved in a changeable nature, to such an argument we say this: that no one is crowned who has not competed lawfully; and there could be no lawful contest without an opponent to wrestle. If there were no adversary, there would be no crown either; for victory does not exist by itself, unless there is something defeated. So let us contend against the very changeableness of our nature, grappling with it as with an opponent through our reasonings, becoming victors not by throwing it down but by not allowing it to fall. For man does not use his changeableness only toward evil (for then it would be impossible for him to come to be in the good, if he had by nature an inclination only toward the opposite); but as it is, the finest work of changeableness is growth in good things, change for the better always transforming the one who is well changed toward the more divine. So what seems fearful (I mean that our nature is changeable) the argument has shown to be like a wing for flight toward greater things; so that it would be a loss to us not to be able to receive change for the better. Let no one, then, be grieved who sees in his nature the aptness for change; but, being changed always for the better and transformed from glory to glory, let him so change, becoming always better through daily growth, and always being perfected, and never reaching the limit of perfection. For this truly is perfection: never to stop growing toward the better, nor to bound perfection by any limit.","f":"Gregory of Nyssa, <i>Perf.</i> 285 (PG 46:285–286; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/285)."}}