On Perfection 269–285 (On Perfection)

Gregory of Nyssa

On Perfection 269–285

Gregory of Nyssa · On Perfection · ca. 379-394 · place unknown · 9 passages

Greek text: PG 46 (OCR by the Bavarian State Library / Google Books; lines extracted for this site).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

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Chapter 269

269PG 46:269–270

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-

tōn petra kai hēmeis esometha, mimoumenoi, kathōs esti dynaton, en tę̄ treptę̄ physei to atrepton tou Despotou kai ametatheton. Ei de ho autos para tou sophou architektonos kai themelios pisteōs, kai gōnias kephalē onomazetai, oude touto pros tēn tou kat' aretēn biou syneisphoran asynteles hēmin epideichthēsetai. Didaskometha gar dia toutōn, hoti pasēs agathēs politeias, kai pantos agathou mathēmatos te kai epitēdeumatos, kai archē kai telos estin ho Kyrios. Hē te gar elpis (hēn anti kephalēs nooumen, pros hēn panta blepei, ta kat' aretēn spoudazomena) ekeinos estin, houtōs ōnomasmenos para tou Paulou, kai hē archē tēs hypsēlēs tautēs tou biou pyrgopoiias, hē eis auton ginetai pistis, eph᾿ hēs hoion tina themelion tas archas tou biou kataballomenōn hēmōn, kai dia kathēmerinōn katorthōmatōn tas katharas ennoias te kai energeias nomothetountōn, houtōs hē tou pantos kephalē kai hēmetera ginetai kephalē, tois dyo tēs zōēs hēmōn toichois, tois te kata to sōma kai tēn psychēn, di᾽ euschēmosynēs kai katharotētos epoikodomoumenois, dia tēs agōniou symphyïas heautēn epharmozousa. Hōs ean elleipę̄ to heteron tōn oikodomēmatōn, ētoi tēs kata to phainomenon euschēmosynēs tę̄ tēs psychēs katharotēti mē synoikodomoumenēs, ē tēs psychikēs aretēs tǭ phainomenǭ mē symbainousēs, ouk an genoito tou hēmitelous toutou biou kephalē ho Christos, ho monę̄ tę̄ diplę̄ te kai diagōnią oikodomią heauton epharmozōn; oude gar esti dynaton, chōris tēs tōn dyo toichōn symbolēs, gōnias genesthai. Tote oun epitethēsetai tǭ oikodomēmati hēmōn tou akrogōniaiou to kallos, hotan amphoterōthen ton orthon tou biou kanona tę̄ tōn aretōn spartǭ apotathę̄ enarmoniōs ho diplous bios, orthos te kai adiastrophos, kai ouden echōn en heautǭ skolion ē katēnkylōmenon. Eikona de tou Theou tou aoratou ton Christon onomazōn ho Paulos, ton epi pantōn Theon kai megan Theon; kai tautais gar tais phōnais anakēryssei tou alēthinou Despotou to megaleion, legōn; «Tou megalou Theou kai Sōtēros hēmōn Iēsou Christou; kai, Ex hōn ho Christos, to kata sarka, ho hōn epi pantōn Theos, eulogētos eis tous aiōnas; tauta oun legōn pou, paideuei dia tōn legomenōn hēmas, hoti aei hōn hoper estin (esti de ekeino, hoper ho hōn epistatai monos), tēs de anthrōpinēs katalēpseōs, kan aei autǭ dia prokopēs prosengizę̄ ho ta anō phronōn, pantote tǭ isǭ metrǭ hyperanestēken. Houtos toinyn hyperekeina pasēs gnōseōs te kai katalēpseōs, ho aphrastos te kai aneklalētos kai adiēgētos, hina se poiēsę̄ palin eikona Theou, kai autos hypo philanthrōpias egeneto eikōn tou Theou tou aoratou; hōste tę̄ idią morphę̄, ēn anelaben, en soi morphōthēnai, kai se palin di᾽ heautou pros ton charaktēra tou archetypou syschēmatisthēnai kallous, eis to genesthai, hoper hēs ex archēs. Oukoun ei melloimen ginesthai kai hēmeis eikōn tou Theou tou aoratou, pros to ekkeimenon hēmin tou biou hypodeigma typousthai zōēs prosēkei tēs hēmōn to eidos; touto de esti ti? to sarki zōn-

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

1 Cor 3:10–11 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 2:20 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 1:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Col 1:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Titus 2:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 9:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:14 (echo, low confidence) · Gal 4:19 (echo, low confidence) · Gen 1:27 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ as rock, foundation, and cornerstone teaches steadfastness and a life in which outward conduct and inward purity meet; as image of the invisible God, the incomprehensible God made himself an image so that we might be restored to his image.

Allusions and quotations: 1 Cor 3:10–11 (wise master builder, foundation); Eph 2:20 (cornerstone); 1 Tim 1:1 (Christ our hope); Col 1:15; Titus 2:13; Rom 9:5; Exod 3:14 LXX (“the One Who Is”); Col 3:2 (things above); Gal 4:19; Gen 1:26–27.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR split word): όνο μάζων → ὀνομάζων.

Topics: Christology, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Perf. 269 (PG 46:269–270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/269). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/269

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.

Chapter 271

271PG 46:271–272

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-

tas, mē kata sarka zę̄n. Kai gar hē prōtotypos ekeinē tou aoratou Theou eikōn, hē dia tēs Parthenou epidēmēsasa, epeirathē men kata panta, kath' homoiotēta tēs anthrōpinēs physeōs, monēs d' ou paredexato tēs hamartias tēn peiran. «Hos hamartian gar ouk epoiēse, phēsin, oud᾽ heurethē dolos en tǭ stomati autou. "Hōsper toinyn, ei tēn zōgraphikēn epaideuometha technēn, prothentos hēmin tou didaskalou kekallōpismenēn tina morphēn epi pinakos; edei pantōs to ap' ekeinēs kallos epi tēs idias hekaston zōgraphias mimēsasthai, hōste tous pantōn pinakas kata to ekkeimenon tou kallous hypodeigma kallōpisthēnai; kata ton auton tropon, epeidē tēs idias hekastos esti zōēs zōgraphos, technitis de tēs dēmiourgias tautēs estin hē proairesis, chrōmata de pros tēn apergasian tēs eikonos hai aretai; kindynos ou mikros, metacharaxai tou prōtotypou kallous tēn mimēsin eis eidechthes ti kai amorphon prosōpeion, dia tōn rhyparōn chrōmatōn, anti tou Despotikou eidous ton tēs kakias charaktēra skiographēsantas. ᾿Alla hōs esti dynaton, kathara tōn aretōn ta chrōmata, kata tina technikēn mixin pros allēla synkekramena, pros tēn tou kallous mimēsin paralambanein, hōste genesthai hēmas tēs eikonos eikona, di' energous hōs hoion te mimēseōs ekmaxamenous to prōtotypon kallos, hōs epoiei ho Paulos, mimētēs tou Christou dia tou kat᾿ aretēn biou ginomenos. Ei de chrē kai ta kath᾿ hekaston dieukrinēsai tǭ logǭ, di' hōn hē tēs eikonos mimēsis ginetai, hen chrōma hē tapeinophrosynē. Mathete gar, phēsin, ap᾿ emou, hoti praos eimi, kai tapeinos tę̄ kardią. Heteron chrōma, hē makrothymia, hē pōs tę̄ eikoni tou aoratou Theou epiphaneisa? Machaira te kai xyla, kai desma kai mastiges, siagones rhapizomenai, prosōpon emptoomenon, nōton plēgais ekdedomenon, kritērion asebes, apophasis apēnēs, stratiōtai tēs skythrōpēs apophaseōs katatryphōntes, en chleuasmois kai eirōneiais kai tais ek kalamou plēgais, ēloi, kai cholē, kai hoxos kai panta ta deinotata, aneu aitias autǭ prosagomena, mallon de hyper tēs polytropou euergesias antididomena. Tis oun kata tōn tauta poiountōn hē amyna? Pater, synchōrēson autois; ou gar oidasi ti poiousi. Mē ouk ēn dynaton anōthen autois auton epirrhēxai ton ouranon, ē chasmati gēs exaphanisai tous hybristas, ē epekbalein exō tōn idiōn orōn tēn thalassan, kai tois bythois poiēsai tēn gēn hypobrychion, ē tēn Sodomitikēn autois epibalein tou pyros epombrian, ē allo ti poiēsai tōn skythrōpōn dia prostagmatos? Alla tauta ēnenken en praotēti kai makrothymią, ho tǭ sǭ biǭ di᾽ heautou nomothetōn to makrothymon. Houtō kai ta alla panta peri tēn prōtotypon tou Theou eikona estin idein, pros ēn ho blepōn, kai kat' ekeinēn enargōs kallōpizōn tēn heautou morphēn, eikōn kai autos ginetai tou Theou tou aoratou. dia tēs hypomonēs zōgraphoumenos. Ho de kepha-

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

2 Cor 10:3 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 4:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:22 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 11:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 26:47 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 26:67 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:26–34 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 23:34 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 19:24 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ, sinless though tempted, is the model each person paints in his own life with the colours of the virtues; above all humility and the long-suffering he showed in his Passion, forgiving his tormentors.

Quotations and allusions: Rom 8:4, 12–13 and 2 Cor 10:3 (living in the flesh, not according to the flesh); Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22 (Isa 53:9); 1 Cor 11:1; Matt 11:29; Matt 26:47, 67; 27:26–34; Luke 23:34; Gen 19:24.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR joined words; OCR split word; OCR stray Latin letter joining words; OCR stray letter; OCR stray mark; OCR stray mark splitting a word): ἀπ εργασίαν → ἀπεργασίαν; αἱξἀρεταί → αἱ ἀρεταί; εἰςεἰδεχθές → εἰς εἰδεχθές; συγκεκρα. μένα → συγκεκραμένα; καὶ·πάντα → καὶ πάντα; τὸν Ο οὐρανὸν → τὸν οὐρανὸν; Σοδομι τικὴν → Σοδομιτικὴν; μακροθυ μίᾳ → μακροθυμίᾳ.

Topics: Christology, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Perf. 271 (PG 46:271–272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/271). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/271

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.

Chapter 273

273PG 46:273–274

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

lēn tēs Ekklēsias ton Christon einai mathōn, touto pro pantōn dianoeisthō, hoti pasa kephalē tǭ hypokeimenǭ sōmati homophyēs esti kai homoousios, kai mia tis esti tōn kath᾿ hekaston melōn pros to holon symphyïa, dia mias sympnoias katergazomenē pros ta merē tǭ panti tēn sympatheian. Oukoun ei ti tou sōmatos estin ektos, touto kai pros tēn kephalēn pantōs allotriōs echei. Paideuei toinyn dia toutōn ho logos hēmas, hoper estin hē kephalē kata tēn physin, touto kai ta kath᾿ hekaston ginesthai melē, hina pros tēn kephalēn oikeiōs echę̄. Hēmeis de esmen ta melē, hoi eis to sōma tou Christou syntelountes. Ei toinyn tis aras to melos tou Christou, poiēsę̄ melos pornēs• hoion tina machairan embalōn tēn akolaston lyssan, dia tou ponērou toutou pathous to melos pantōs tēs kephalēs ēllotriōsen. Houtō de kai ta loipa tēs kakias organa, machairai ginontai, di' hōn ta melē tou symphyous apotemnetai sōmatos, kai tēs kephalēs aphorizetai panta, kathōs an tēn tomēn energēsę̄ ta pathē. Hina oun toinyn en tǭ kata physin holon diamenę̄ to sōma, pros tēn kephalēn oikeiōs echein prosēkei kai ta kath᾽ hekaston melē, hoion katharan tǭ logǭ tēs ousias tēn kephalēn syntelounta. Ei aphtharsian nooumen tēn kephalēn, en aphtharsią chrē pantōs synestanai ta melē. Houtō kai ta alla noēmata, hosa hē kephalē noeitai, kai epi tōn melōn akolouthon esti kathorasthai, tēn eirēnēn, ton hagiasmon, tēn alētheian, kai panta ta toiauta. Dia gar tou Huiou tauta kai ta toiauta en tois melesi deiknytai, tǭ symphyōs echein auta pros tēn kephalēn martyreisthai houtōs eipontos tou ᾿Apostolou, hoti ekeinos men estin hē kephalē, ex autou de pan to sōma synarmologoumenon kai symbibazomenon dia pasēs aphēs, tēs kat᾿ energeian en metrǭ henos hekastou merous, tēn auxēsin tou sōmatos poieitai. Kai touto prosēkei dia tou tēs kephalēs onomatos paideuthēnai, hoti hōsper epi tōn zōōn epi tēs kephalēs esti tǭ sōmati to pros tas energeias endosimon; di᾿ ophthalmou gar kai akoēs ta kath᾿ hekaston euthynetai, hē te dia podōn kinēsis kai hē dia cheirōn energeia; ou gar estin ē ophthalmou mē epistatountos tōn spoudazomenōn, ē mē dechomenēs tēs akoēs tēn hyphēgēsin, deontōs ti tōn prokeimenōn genesthai houtō chrē kata tēn alēthinēn kephalēn kai hēmas to sōma katallēlōs kineisthai pros pasan hormēn kai energeian, hopouper ho plasas ton ophthalmon, ē ho phyteusas to ous kathēgēsetai. Epei oun hē kephalē ta anō blepei, kai ta melē dei pantōs, ta hyphērmosmena tę̄ kephalę̄, epesthai tę̄ tēs kephalēs hodēgią, kai pros ta anō tēn rhopēn echein. Hotan de prōtotokon tēs ktiseōs einai auton akousōmen, kai prōtotokon ek nekrōn, kai prōtotokon en pollois adelphois, prōton men tas hairetikas hypolēpseis apopempōmetha, hōs oudemian synēgorian tēs ponēras autōn dogmatopoiias ek tōn prokeimenōn rhēmatōn echousas. Meta tauta de kai ta pros ton ēthikon bion dia toutōn hēmin syntelounta katanoēsōmen. Epeidē gar ton Monogenē Theon ton tou pantos

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,

Eph 5:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:18 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:27 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 6:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:15–16 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 94:9 (93:9 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:1–2 (echo, low confidence) · Col 1:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:29 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: As members of Christ's body Christians must share the nature of their head (incorruption, peace, holiness) and follow his lead; sins like fornication cut members off from him. Gregory turns to the title “firstborn” and the heretics' use of it.

Quotations and allusions: Eph 5:23 and Col 1:18 (head of the church); 1 Cor 12:27; 1 Cor 6:15 (member of a harlot); Eph 4:15–16; Ps 94:9 (93:9 LXX: he who planted the ear, formed the eye); Col 3:1–2; Col 1:15, 18; Rom 8:29.
The clause “οἷον καθαρὰν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς οὐσίας τὴν κεφαλὴν συντελοῦντα” is defective in the scan text and is translated by sense.
“The fighters against God” (θεομάχοι) are the Eunomians, who called the Son a creature; the polemic is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR letter error; OCR repeated syllables; OCR split word; OCR split word with wrong letter; OCR stray mark): και κίας → κακίας; ἄλλα' νοήματα → ἄλλα νοήματα; μαρτυρεῖσθαι τυρεῖσθαι → μαρτυρεῖσθαι; σώματος· ποιεῖται → σώματος ποιεῖται; ἐκὶ τῆς → ἐπὶ τῆς; διὰ' ποδῶν → διὰ ποδῶν; πρὸς· πᾶσαν → πρὸς πᾶσαν; ἀκού σωμεν → ἀκούσωμεν.

Topics: Ethics, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Perf. 273 (PG 46:273–274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/273). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/273

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.

Chapter 275

275PG 46:275–276

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-

dēmiourgon, ton ex hou, kai di' hou, kai en hǭ ta panta, ergon einai tou Theou, kai ktisma, kai poiēma, legousin hoi theomachoi, kai dia touto pasēs tēs ktiseōs prōtotokon auton legesthai, diorizontai; ē, hōs adelphon onta tēs ktiseōs, monois tois tou chronou presbeiois auton protereuonta, hōs ton Rhoubim tōn idiōn adelphōn, ou physei protetagmenon, alla tois ek chronou presbeiois protereuonta; prōton men touto pros ekeinous rhēteon, hoti ouk esti ton auton kai monogenē kai prōtotokon pisteuesthai. Oute gar ho monogenēs meta adelphōn noeitai; oute chōris adelphōn ho prōtotokos, monogenēs pantōs oute estin, oute legetai. Oukoun asymbata esti kai akoinōnēta tauta pros allēla epi tou autou ta noēmata, hōs adynaton einai, ta dyo ton auton onomazesthai, kai monogenē kai prōtotokon. Alla mēn eirētai para tēs Graphēs peri tou en archę̄ ontos Logou, hoti ho Monogenēs Theos, Prōtotokos pasēs ktiseōs. Oukoun epimerisai prosēkei tǭ mystēriǭ tēs alētheias, hekateron toutōn tōn onomatōn eusebōs diasteilanta; hōste Monogenē men einai ton proaiōnion Logon, tēs de meta tauta en tǭ Christǭ genomenēs ktiseōs prōtotokon genesthai ton Logon, sarka genomenon. Kai hoper an hēmin engenētai noēma, prōtotokon auton ek nekrōn einai mathontes, kai prōtotokon en pollois adelphois ekeino kai epi tǭ prōtotokǭ tēs ktiseōs akolouthōs noēsomen. Oukoun ek nekrōn men prōtotokos ginetai, ho aparchē tōn kekoimēmenōn genomenos, hina hodopoiēsę̄ sarki tēn anastasin. Kai mellōn hēmas dia tēs anōthen gennēseōs, di᾽ hydatos kai Pneumatos, huious hēmeras kai huious phōtos apergazesthai, tous proteron ontas tekna physei orgēs, autos kathēgeitai tēs toiautēs gennēseōs, en tǭ rheithrǭ tou Iordanou, epi tēn aparchēn tēs physeōs hēmōn, tēn tou Pneumatos charin epispasamenos. Ōste pantas tous ek tēs pneumatikēs anagennēseōs eis zōēn gennōmenous, adelphous chrēmatisai tou progennēthentos dia tou hydatos te kai Pneumatos. Kata ton auton tropon, kai tēs en Christǭ genomenēs ktiseōs prōtotokon auton noountes, ouk exō ginometha tēs eusebous hypolēpseōs. Epeidē gar hē archaia ktisis parēlthe dia tēs hamartias achreiōtheisa, anankaiōs tēn tōn aphanisthentōn parodon diedexato hē kainē tēs zōēs ktisis, dia tēs anagennēseōs kai tēs ek nekrōn anastaseōs synistamenē hēs ho archēgos tēs zōēs hēgēsamenos, prōtotokos tēs zōēs ginetai kai onomazetai. 'All' hopōs chrē pros tous antitetagmenous echein, di᾽ oligōn tōn eirēmenōn rhadion an genoito tois philoponōterois, autarkē symmachian pros tēn alētheian echein. Hopōs d᾽ an phaneiē syntelounta pros ton kat' aretēn bion ta rhēmata tauta, dia bracheōn epeleusometha; Prōtotokos ēn tōn met᾿ auton dia gennēseōs parachthentōn ho Rhoubim; hōs emartyrei tois met᾿ auton gennētheisi tēn pros auton syngeneian ho epiphainomenos autois charaktēr, oikeiōs pros ton prōtotokon echōn, hōste mē agnoeisthai tēn adel-

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-

Rom 11:36 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 49:3 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:18 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:20 (allusion, high confidence) · John 3:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 2:3 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Thess 5:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 3:16 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 3:15 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Against the heretics who make the Son a creature, Gregory distinguishes: the eternal Word is only-begotten; the incarnate Word is firstborn of the new creation, of the dead, and of the many brothers reborn through water and Spirit, as he was at the Jordan.

The heretics (“fighters against God”) are the Eunomians; the argument is translated as written. The sentence on the only-begotten is awkward in the scan text (“μονογενὴς πάντως οὔτε ἔστιν, οὔτε λέγεται”) and is translated by sense: a firstborn without brothers is not and is not called only-begotten.
Quotations and allusions: Rom 11:36; Col 1:15; Gen 49:3 (Reuben); John 1:1, 18; John 1:14; 1 Cor 15:20; John 3:3–5; Eph 2:3; 1 Thess 5:5; Matt 3:16; 2 Cor 5:17; Acts 3:15.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR split word): λέ γουσιν → λέγουσιν; ὁδοποιή σῃ → ὁδοποιήσῃ.

Topics: Christology, Heresy, Baptism

Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Perf. 275 (PG 46:275–276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/275). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/275

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.

Chapter 277

277PG 46:277–278

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

photēta, dia tēs kata tēn morphēn homoiotētos martyroumenēn. Oukoun ei dia tēs homotropou anagennēseōs, tēs di᾽ hydatos kai pneumatos, kai hēmeis adelphoi tou Kyriou gegonamen, tou di᾽ hēmas genomenou prōtotokou en pollois adelphois; akolouthon an eiē, dia tōn tou biou charaktērōn epideiknyein tēn pros auton anchisteian; emmorphoumenou tę̄ zōę̄ hēmōn tou prōtotokou tēs ktiseōs. Tina de charaktēra tēs ekeinou morphēs para tēs Graphēs memathēkamen pollois eirēkamen, hoti; ῾Amartian ouk epoiēsen, oude heurethē dolos en tǭ stomati autou. Oukoun ei melloimen adelphoi chrēmatizein tou kathēgēsamenou hēmōn tēs gennēseōs, to anamartēton tēs zōēs hēmōn pistōsetai tēn pros ekeinon syngeneian, mēdenos rhypou tēs pros tēn katharotēta synapheias hēmas aphorizontos. ᾿Alla kai dikaiosynē kai hagiasmos ho prōtotokos esti, kai agapē, kai apolytrōsis, kai ta toiauta. Oukoun ei dia tōn toioutōn kai ho hēmeteros charaktērizoito bios, enargē parexometha tēs eugeneias hēmōn ta gnōrismata, hōste ton tauta en tę̄ zōę̄ kathorōnta tę̄ hēmeterą, prosmartyrein hēmin tēn pros ton Christon adelphotēta. Autos gar estin ho anoixas hēmin tēn thyran tēs anastaseōs, kai dia touto aparchē tōn kekoimēmenōn genomenos. Hoti men oun pantes anastēsometha en atomǭ, en rhopę̄ ophthalmou, en tę̄ eschatę̄ salpingi touto edeixen, hois te eph᾽ heautou kai hois epi tōn loipōn, tōn hypo tou thanatou kratēthentōn, epoiēsen. Ou mēn isē katastasis en tǭ meta tauta biǭ pantas tous ek tou tēs gēs chōmatos anastantas ekdexetai, alla Poreusometha, phēsin, «hoi men ta agatha poiēsantes, eis anastasin zōēs; hoi de ta phaula praxantes, eis anastasin kriseōs. Hōste ei tinos pros tēn phoberan ekeinēn katakrisin ho bios blepei houtos, kan dia tēs anōthen gennēseōs tois adelphois tou Kyriou synarithmoumenos tychę̄, katapseudetai tou onomatos, en tę̄ morphę̄ tēs kakias tēn pros ton prōtotokon anchisteian arnoumenos. Ho de mesitēs Theou kai anthrōpōn, ho di᾽ heautou synaptōn tǭ Theǭ to anthrōpinon, ekeino synaptei monon, hoper an tēs pros Theon symphyïas axion hę̄ Hōsper oun ton heautou anthrōpon tę̄ dynamei tēs theotētos heautǭ prosǭkeiōse, meros men tēs koinēs physeōs onta, ou mēn tois pathesin hypopeptōkota tēs physeōs tois eis hamartian ekkaloumenois ῾Amartian, gar, phēsin, ouk epoiēsen, oude heurethē dolos en tǭ stomati autou houtō kai tous kath᾿ hekaston prosaxei tę̄ synapheią tēs theotētos, ei mēden epagointo tēs pros to Theion synapheias anaxion. All᾽ ei tis alēthōs eiē Theou naos, mēden kakias eidōlon kai aphidryma en heautǭ periechōn, houtos hypo tou mesitou pros metousian tēs theotētos paralēphthēsetai, katharos genomenos pros tēn hypodochēn tēs autou katharotētos. Oute gar eis kakotechnon psychēn eiseleusetai sophia, kathōs ho logos phēsin, oute ho katharos tę̄ kardią allo ti para ton Theon en heautǭ blepei hǭ dia tēs aphtharsias proskollētheis, entos heautou pasan tēn agathēn basileian edexato. Mallon d᾽ an genoito hēmin kataphanes to legomenon, ei tēn tou Kyriou phōnēn, hēn dia tēs Marias pros tous apostolous pepoiētai, pros

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:

John 3:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 8:29 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:22 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:30 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:20 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:52 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:29 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Tim 2:5 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 6:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 17:21 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Those reborn as Christ's brothers must show his likeness by a sinless life, for all will rise but not all to life; the Mediator joins to God only what is worthy, as he joined his own sinless humanity.

Quotations and allusions: John 3:5; Rom 8:29; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 Cor 1:30; 1 Cor 15:20; John 10:9 (the door); 1 Cor 15:52; John 5:29; 1 Tim 2:5; 2 Cor 6:16; Wis 1:4; Matt 5:8; Luke 17:21.
“His own man” (τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἄνθρωπον) means the human nature the Word assumed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR letter error; OCR split word): θα νάτου → θανάτου; θὔτε → Οὔτε.

Extrabiblical texts: Wis 1:4 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Christology, Eschatology, Baptism

Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Perf. 277 (PG 46:277–278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/277). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/277

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.

Chapter 279

279PG 46:279–280

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·

tēn saphēneian tōn eirēmenōn symparalaboimen; Poreuomai, phēsi, pros ton Patera mou kai Patera hymōn, kai Theon mou kai Theon hymōn. Tauta gar ho mesitēs metaxy tou Patros kai tōn apokēryktōn phēsin, ho di᾽ heautou tous echthrous tou Theou katallaxas tę̄ alēthinę̄ kai monę̄ Theotēti. Epeidē gar, kata ton prophētikon logon, apēllotriōthēsan tēs zōopoiou mētras dia tēs hamartias hoi anthrōpoi, kai apo tēs gastros eplanēthēsan, en hę̄ eplasthēsan, to pseudos anti tēs alētheias lalēsantes, toutou charin tēn aparchēn tēs koinēs physeōs analabōn, dia psychēs te kai sōmatos, hagian epoiēse, pasēs kakias amigē te kai aparadekton autēn en heautǭ diasōsas hina tautēn anatheis, dia tēs aphtharsias, tǭ Patri tēs aphtharsias, synepispasētai di᾿ autēs pan to syngenes kata tēn physin autę̄ kai homophylon, kai prosdexētai, tous apokēryktous eis tēn huiothesian, kai tous echthrous tou Theou eis tēn tēs theotētos autou metousian. Oukoun, hōsper hē aparchē tou phyramatos, dia katharotētos te kai apatheias ǭkeiōthē tǭ alēthinǭ Patri kai Theǭ; houtō kai hēmeis to phyrama, dia tōn homoiōn hodōn tǭ Patri tēs aphtharsias kollēthēsometha, dia tou mimēsasthai, kathōs an hę̄ dynaton, tou mesitou ta apathes te kai analloiōton. Houtō gar esometha tou Monogenous Theou stephanos ek lithōn timiōn, timē kai doxa dia tou biou genomenoi. Phēsi gar ho Paulos, hoti «Brachy ti auton elattōsas,» dia to pathēma tou thanatou, «para tous angelous. Tous proteron eis akanthēs physin metatethentas dia tēs hamartias, stephanon heautǭ dia tēs kata ton thanaton oikonomias epoiēsen, eis timēn kai doxan metastoicheiōsas dia tou pathous tēn akanthan. Kindynos oun ou mikros, hapax tou airontos tēn hamartian tou kosmou, ton ex akanthōn stephanon͵ analabontos tę̄ kephalę̄, hina poiēsę̄ ton ek timēs te kai doxēs symplekomenon stephanon, heurethēnai tina tribolon, onta dia tou kakou biou kai akanthan, eita en mesǭ tǭ Despotikǭ stephanǭ dia tēs tou sōmatos autou koinōnias pareneiromenon. Pros hon erei pantōs hē dikaia phōnēs; Pōs eisēlthes hōde, mē echōn endyma gamou? Pōs syneplakēs tois dia timēs kai doxēs tǭ emǭ stephanǭ enērmosmenois, akantha ōn? Tis koinōnia Christǭ pros Belian? Tis meris pistǭ meta apistou? Ti koinon tǭ phōti pros to skotos? Hōs an oun mē toiauta pote rhēmata kath' hēmōn ho bios hēmōn ekkalesaito, epimelēteon an eiē tou pan akanthōdes ergon te kai rhēma, kai noēma, dia pasēs tēs zōēs tou biou hēmōn aposkeuasasthai, hina tę̄ katharą te kai apathei politeią timē kai doxa genomenoi, tēn tou pantos kephalēn di᾽ heautōn stephanōsōmen, hōsper ti keimēlion kai ktēma tǭ Despotę̄ genomenoi. Oudenos gar atimou katadechetai Kyrios einai te kai legesthai ho tēs doxēs Kyrios. Oukoun ho pasēs aschēmosynēs te kai bdelyrias allotrios, kata te ton krypton kai phainomenon anthrōpon, despotēn heautou poieitai ton doxēs kai ouk atimias Kyrion onta te kai legomenon. Esti kai archē; archē de pantos pragmatos ouk allotriōs pros ta meth᾽ heautēn echei. Ei gar zōēn tēn archēn einai tis orisaito;

“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,

John 20:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 58:3 (57:4 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 8:15 (echo, low confidence) · Ps 21:3 (20:4 LXX) (allusion, low confidence) · Heb 2:7–9 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 3:18 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 22:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 6:14–15 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:8 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 3:4 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Through his sinless humanity, the first fruits of our nature, the Mediator reconciles us and makes us God's adopted children; we are to become his crown of glory, not thorns woven into it, lest he say, “How did you come in here without a wedding garment?”

The end of this page is badly disordered in the scan text (two columns of lines interleaved). The words are restored to their evident order by a logged correction, without adding or removing any word: “How did you come in here without a wedding garment? How were you woven in … being a thorn? What fellowship has Christ with Belial? What share has a believer with an unbeliever? What has light in common with darkness? … to put away every thorny deed and word and thought through the whole course of our life.”
Quotations and allusions: John 20:17; Ps 58:3 (57:4 LXX); Rom 11:16 (first fruits and lump); Rom 8:15 (adoption); Ps 21:3 (20:4 LXX, crown of precious stones); Heb 2:7–9 (Ps 8:5); Gen 3:18; John 1:29; Matt 27:29; Matt 22:12; 2 Cor 6:14–15; 1 Cor 2:8; 1 Pet 3:4 (the hidden man).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR Latin o for ο; OCR split word; OCR stray letters; OCR stray mark; marginal numeral caught inside a word; two columns of OCR lines interleaved; words restored to their order (ἔνδωμα read as ἔνδυμα), none added or removed): πρὸς τὸν. Πατέρα → πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα; ἀποκηρύ κτων → ἀποκηρύκτων; κατ αλλάξας → καταλλάξας; συγΒ΄ γενὲς → συγγενὲς; αὐτοῦ. μετουσίαν → αὐτοῦ μετουσίαν; κολ ληθησόμεθα → κολληθησόμεθα; δυνατ. τὸν → δυνατὸν; Κίνδυνος oὖν → Κίνδυνος οὖν; ὄντα. διὰ → ὄντα διὰ; μὴ ἔχων. ἔνδωμα τῷ ἐμῷ στεφάνῳ ἐνηρμοσμένοις, ἄκανθα, ὧν; «Τίς, ἀπίστου; Τί κοινὸν τῷ φωτὶ πρὸς τὸ σκότος;» γάμου;» Πῶς συνεπλάκης τοῖς διὰ τιμῆς καὶ δόξης κοινωνία Χριστῷ πρὸς Βελίαν Τίς μερὶς πιστῷ μετὰ ἀκανθῶδες ἔργον τε καὶ ῥῆμα, καὶ νόημα, διὰ πάσης Ὡς ἂν οὖν μὴ τ[οι]αῦτά ποτε ῥήματα καθ' ἡμῶν ὁ βίος ἡμῶν ἐκκαλέσαιτο, ἐπιμελητέον ἂν εἴη τοῦ πᾶν τῆς ζωῆς → 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; και θαρᾷ → καθαρᾷ; γενό μενοι → γενόμενοι.

Topics: Christology, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Perf. 279 (PG 46:279–280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/279). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/279

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.

Chapter 281

281PG 46:281–282

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.

zōē pantōs kai to meta tēn archēn estai nooumenon; kai ei phōs hē archē, phōs kai to meta tēn archēn noēthēsetai. Ti oun dia tou pisteuein auton einai archēn ōpheloumetha? To genesthai toioutous hēmas, oian einai tēn archēn hēmōn pepisteukamen. Ou gar skotous archē to phōs onomazetai oude tēs zōēs eis archēn tetagmenēs, ton thanaton to syneches tēs zōēs enoēsamen. ᾿All' ei mē tis homophyōs pros to kathēgoumenon echoi, di᾽ apatheias kai aretēs tę̄ archę̄ synaptomenos, ouk an genoito toutou archē, hē tōn ontōn archē. Skoteinou biou, ho kosmokratōr tou skotous, archē; tēs thanatēphorou hamartias, ho echōn tou thanatou to kratos. Ouk estin oun dia mochthēras zōēs hypo tēn tou skotous archēn tetagmenon, tēn pantos agathou archēn heautou einai legein archēn tēs de autēs echetai dianoias, tois pros to idion agathon tas theias phōnas eklambanousi, to kai basilea dikaiosynēs te kai eirēnēs auton onomazesthai. Ho gar, kata tēn didaskalian tēs proseuchēs, elthein ep᾿ auton tēn tou Theou basileian euchomenos, mathōn hoti dikaiosynēs te kai eirēnēs, esti basileus ho alēthinos basileus, katorthōsei pantōs tǭ idiǭ biǭ tēn dikaiosynēn te kai eirēnēn, hina basileusę̄, aitōn, ho tēs dikaiosynēs basileus kai tēs eirēnēs. Oukoun stratos men noeitai tou basileōs, pasa aretē dia gar tēs dikaiosynēs te kai eirēnēs pasas oimai dein tas aretas noein ei tis oun leipotaktēsas apo tēs tou Theou stratias, tę̄ parataxei tōn allophylōn heauton katalexeie, tou heuretou tēs kakias hoplitēs genomenos, kai apodysamenos ton thōraka tēs dikaiosynēs, kai pasan tēn eirēnikēn panteuchian pōs houtos hypo ton basilea tēs eirēnēs tachthēsetai, rhipsaspis tēs alētheias genomenos? Dēlon gar, hoti to episēmon autou tēs hopliseōs deixei ton basileuonta, anti tēs enskiographoumenēs tois hoplois eikonos en tǭ charaktēri tou biou deiknyōn ton kathēgoumenon. Hōs makarios ekeinos, ho hypo tēn theian stratēgian tetagmenos, kai tois tagmasi tōn en myriasin arithmoumenōn kateilegmenos, kai meta tēs kakias dia tōn aretōn hoplizomenos, hai tēn eikona tou basileōs, tou endysamenou autas, ensēmainontai. Kai ti chrē peraiterō ton logon proagein, pasas tas phōnas, hais to tou Christou diermēneuetai onoma, protithenta tę̄ akolouthią tēs exetaseōs, di' hōn esti pros ton kat᾿ aretēn bion hodēgēthēnai, hekastou onomatos, dia tēs oikeias emphaseōs, synergountos ti pantōs hēmin pros tēn tou biou teleiōsin? alla kalōs echein phēmi tēn tōn mnēmoneuthentōn anakephalaiōsasthai mnēmēn hōste tina genesthai cheiragōgian hēmin pros ton tou logou skopon, hon ex archēs hypethemetha; zētountes, pōs an tis to teleion en heautǭ katorthōseien. Oimai gar, ei aei touto logizoito, hoti koinōnos esti tou proskynoumenou onomatos, kata to dogma tōn apostolōn Christianos chrēmatizōn, anankaiōs kai tōn allōn onomatōn, hois ho Christos noeitai, kai eph᾽ heautou deixai tēn dynamin, koinōnos hekastēs klēseōs dia tou biou ginomenos.

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.

Col 1:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 6:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 2:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 7:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 6:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 6:14–16 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 11:26 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ as beginning, and as king of righteousness and peace, demands that we become what our beginning is and serve as soldiers in his army of virtues; Gregory begins to sum up.

“Armed against vice” translates “μετὰ τῆς κακίας” by sense (probably for “κατὰ τῆς κακίας”).
Allusions: Col 1:18 (the beginning); Eph 6:12 (world-rulers of darkness); Heb 2:14 (power of death); Heb 7:2; Matt 6:10; Eph 6:14–16 (breastplate of righteousness, shield); Acts 11:26 (Christians).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR split word; OCR stray letter; OCR stray mark): ζωῆς. εἰς ἀρχὴν → ζωῆς εἰς ἀρχὴν; ἀρχῇ: συναπτόμενος → ἀρχῇ συναπτόμενος; σκότους· ἀρχὴν → σκότους ἀρχὴν; δι καιοσύνης → δικαιοσύνης; θώρακα α τῆς → θώρακα τῆς.

Topics: Ethics, Prayer

Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Perf. 281 (PG 46:281–282; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/281). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/281

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.

Chapter 283

283PG 46:283–284

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

Hoion ti legō Tria ta charaktērizomena tou Christianou ton bion esti, praxis, logos, enthymion. Archē gar ginetai logou pantos hē dianoia; deuteron de meta tēn enthymēsin, ho logos esti, tēn entypōtheisan tę̄ psychę̄ dianoian dia tēs phōnēs ekkalyptōn. Tritēn de taxin epechei meta ton noun kai ton logon hē praxis, to noēthen eis energeian agousa. Oukoun, hotan eis ti toutōn hēmas akolouthōs tǭ biǭ prosagagētai, kalōs echei pantos kai logou kai ergou kai enthymēmatos ta theia tauta noēmata, di᾽ hōn ho Kyrios noeitai kai onomazetai, di' akribeias episkopeisthai, mē exō tēs dynameōs tōn hypsēlōn ekeinōn onomatōn pherētai hēmōn ē to ergon, ē ho logos, ē to enthymion. Hōs gar ho Paulos phēsin, hoti pan, ho mē ek pisteōs, hamartia estin; houtōs estin ek tou akolouthou noēsanta saphōs apophēnasthai, hoti pan ho mē eis Christon ē rhēma, ē ergon, ē noēma, eis to antikeimenon tǭ Christǭ pantōs horą. Ou gar esti ton exō phōtos ē zōēs genomenon, mē en skotei pantōs ē en thanatǭ einai. Ei toinyn to mē kata Christon energoumenon te kai laloumenon, kai nooumenon, pros to tǭ agathǭ antikeimenon oikeiōs echei; panti dēlon an eiē, to dia toutōn anaphainomenon, hoti aphiēsi ton Christon, ho exō ekeinou genomenos, di' hōn ē noeitai ti, ē prattei, ē phthengetai. Oukoun alētheuei hē theia tou prophētou phōnē, hē phēsi; Parabainontas elogisamēn pantas tous hamartōlous tēs gēs. Hōs gar ho ton Christon en tois diōgmois arnēsamenos, parabatēs esti tou proskynoumenou onomatos houtō kai ei tis alētheian ē tēn dikaiosynēn arnēsaito, ē ton hagiasmon te kai aphtharsian, ē ei ti allo tōn kat᾿ aretēn nooumenōn, en kairǭ tēs tōn pathēmatōn epikratēseōs, apobaloi tou biou, parabatēs onomazetai hypo tēs prophēteias; di' hekastou toutōn ton tauta onta parabainōn tǭ biǭ. Ti oun chrē prattein ton tēs megalēs tou Christou epōnymias axiōthenta? ti allo, ē dia pantos philokrinein en heautǭ ta noēmata te kai ta rhēmata, kai ta erga, eite pros Christon hekaston toutōn blepei, eite tou Christou hēllotriōtai? Pollē de tēs diakriseōs tōn toioutōn estin hē eukolia. Ho gar dia pathous tinos energeitai, ē noeitai, ē legetai, touto oudemian echei pros ton Christon symphōnian, alla ton charaktēra tou antikeimenou pherei, hos anti borborou ta pathē tǭ margaritę̄ tēs psychēs prosaleiphōn, tēn lampēdona tou timiou lithou dialymainetai. To de kathareuon pasēs empathous diatheseōs, pros ton archēgon tēs apatheias blepei, hos estin ho Christos, ex hou, kathaper ek katharas kai aphraktou pēgēs, aryomenos tis eis heauton ta noēmata, toiautēn heautǭ pros to prōtotypon deixei tēn homoiotēta, hoia esti pros to hydōr tǭ hydati, tǭ te pēgaiǭ tǭ bryonti, kai tǭ ekeithen en tǭ amphorei gegenēmenǭ. Mia gar tę̄ physei hē katharotēs, ē te en Christǭ kai hē en tǭ metechonti theōroumenē. All᾿ ho men pēgazei; ho de metechōn aryetai, metagōn epi ton bion to en tois noēmasi kallos; hōste symphōnian einai tou kryptou anthrōpou pros ton phainomenon, symbainousēs tēs

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

Rom 14:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:119 (118:119 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:33 (echo, low confidence) · Matt 13:45–46 (echo, low confidence) · 1 Pet 3:4 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Since the Christian life consists of thought, word, and deed, each must be tested by whether it looks to Christ; whatever springs from passion belongs to the adversary, while purity drawn from Christ as from a spring makes inner and outer man agree.

Quotations and allusions: Rom 14:23; Ps 119:119 (118:119 LXX); Matt 10:33 (denying Christ); Matt 13:45–46 (pearl); 1 Pet 3:4 (hidden man).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR joined words; OCR split word; OCR stray mark): τὰ θεῖα' ταῦτα → τὰ θεῖα ταῦτα; μὴὲν → μὴ ἐν; λαλού μενον → λαλούμενον; γενό μενος → γενόμενος; ἁμαρτω λοὺς → ἁμαρτωλοὺς; ἀφθαρ“σίαν → ἀφθαρσίαν.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Perf. 283 (PG 46:283–284; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/283). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/283

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.

Chapter 285

285PG 46:285–286

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-

tou biou euschēmosynēs tois kata Christon kinoumenois noēmasi. Touto toinyn esti, kata ge tēn emēn krisin, to en tǭ Christianǭ biǭ teleion, ho pantōn tōn onomatōn eis to tou Christou diasēmainetai onoma, to koinōnian echein en psychę̄ te kai logǭ, kai en tois tou biou epitēdeumasin, hōste holotelē ton hagiasmon, kata tēn eulogian tou Paulou, eph' heautou, en oloklērǭ tǭ sōmati kai tę̄ psychę̄ kai tǭ pneumati, exō tēs pros to kakon epimixias diēnekōs phylassomenon. Ei de tis legoi dyskatorthōton einai, epeidē atreptos monos ho tēs ktiseōs Kyrios, treptē de hē anthrōpinē physis, kai pros tas metabolas epitēdeiōs echei, pōs oun esti dynaton, to en tǭ agathǭ pagion te kai ametatrepton en tę̄ treptę̄ katorthōthēnai physei; pros toinyn ton toiouton logon, ekeino phamen, hoti ouk esti stephanōthēnai tina ton mē nomimōs athlēsanta ouk an de genoito nomimōs athlēsis, mē ontos tou prospalaiontos. Ei oun mē ēn ho antipalos, oud᾽ an ho stephanos ēn; hē nikē gar kath' heautēn ouk estin, ean mē ę̄ to hēttōmenon. Oukoun pros auto to trepton tēs physeōs hēmōn agōnisōmetha, hoion tini antipalǭ dia tōn logismōn symplekomenoi, ou dia tou katabalein autēn nikētai ginomenoi, alla dia tou mē synchōrēsai pesein. Oude gar monon pros to kakon ho anthrōpos tę̄ tropę̄ chrētai (hē gar an amēchanon ēn auton en agathǭ genesthai, ei pros to enantion monon tēn rhopēn eichen ek physeōs) nyni de to kalliston tēs tropēs ergon, hē en tois agathois estin auxēsis, pantote tēs pros to kreitton alloiōseōs epi to theioteron metapoiousēs ton kalōs alloioumenon. Oukoun to phoberon einai dokoun (legō de to treptēn hēmōn einai tēn physin), hoion ti pteron pros tēn epi ta meizō ptēsin ho logos hypedeixen; hōs zēmian einai hēmin to mē dynasthai tēn pros to kreitton alloiōsin dexasthai. Mē toinyn lypeisthō ho blepōn en tę̄ physei to pros tēn metabolēn epitēdeion, alla pros to kreitton pantōs alloioumenos, kai apo doxēs eis doxan metamorphoumenos, houtō trepesthō, dia tēs kath' hēmeran auxēseōs pantote kreittōn ginomenos, kai aei teleioumenos, kai mēdepote pros to peras phthanōn tēs teleiotētos. Autika gar estin hōs alēthōs teleiotēs to mēdepote stēnai pros to kreitton auxanomenon, mēde tini perati periorisai tēn te-

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.

1 Thess 5:23 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Tim 2:5 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 3:13–14 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Perfection is to share in all the names of Christ in thought, word, and life; human changeableness is no obstacle but a wing, since perfection itself is endless growth toward the better, from glory to glory.

The scan text breaks off in the last word (“τὴν τε-”, for τελειότητα, “perfection”); the sentence is translated as the sense completes it.
Allusions: 1 Thess 5:23; 2 Tim 2:5; 2 Cor 3:18; Phil 3:13–14.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR joined words): ἦτὸ → ᾖ τὸ.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Perf. 285 (PG 46:285–286; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/285). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-perfectione/285

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-perfectione-285) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 46 (Bavarian State Library OCR); compared afterwards with FOTC 58 (private check) where it exists, otherwise re-read against the Greek.