Epistle 51 of St Gregory the Theologian

To Cledonius, Against Apollinarius

To our most reverend and God-beloved brother and fellow-priest,
Cledonius, from Gregory Greeting in the !ord"
# desire to learn what is this fashion of innovation in things Con$erning the Chur$h,
whi$h allows anyone who li%es, or the passerby, as the &ible says, to tear asunder the
flo$% that has been well led, and to plunder it by lar$enous atta$%s, or rather by pirati$al
and falla$ious tea$hings" 'or if our present assailants had any ground for $ondemning us
in regard of the faith, it would not have been right for them, even in that $ase, to have
ventured on su$h a $ourse without giving us noti$e" They ought rather to have first
persuaded us, or to have been willing to be persuaded by us (if at least any a$$ount is to
be ta%en of us as fearing God, labouring for the faith, and helping the Chur$h), and then,
if at all, to innovate* but then perhaps there would be an e+$use for their outrageous
$ondu$t" &ut sin$e our faith has been pro$laimed, both in writing and without writing,
here and in distant parts, in times of danger and of safety, how $omes it that some ma%e
su$h attempts, and that others %eep silen$e,
The most grievous part of it is not (though this too is sho$%ing) that the men instil their
own heresy into simpler souls by means of those who are worse* but that they also tell
lies about us and say that we share their opinions and sentiments* thus baiting their hoo%s,
and by this $loa% villainously fulfilling their will, and ma%ing our simpli$ity, whi$h
loo%ed upon them as brothers and not as foes, into a support of their wi$%edness" And not
only so, but they also assert, as # am told, that they have been re$eived by the -estern
Synod, by whi$h they were formerly $ondemned, as is well %nown to everyone" #f,
however, those who hold the views of Apollinarius have either now or formerly been
re$eived, let them prove it and we will be $ontent" 'or it is evident that they $an only
have been so re$eived as assenting to the .rthodo+ 'aith, for this were an impossibility
on any other terms" And they $an surely prove it, either by the minutes of the Synod, or
by !etters of Communion, for this is the regular $ustom of Synods" &ut if it is mere
words, and an invention of their own, devised for the sa%e of appearan$es and to give
them weight with the multitude through the $redit of the persons, tea$h them to hold their
tongues, and $onfute them* for we believe that su$h a tas% is well suited to your manner
of life and orthodo+y" /o not let the men de$eive themselves and others with the
assertion that the 01an of the !ord,0 as they $all 2im, -ho is rather our !ord and God,
is without human mind" 'or we do not sever the 1an from the Godhead, but we lay down
as a dogma the 3nity and #dentity of 4erson, -ho of old was not 1an but God, and the
.nly Son before all ages, unmingled with body or anything $orporeal* but -ho in these
last days has assumed 1anhood also for our salvation* passible in 2is 'lesh, impassible
in 2is Godhead* $ir$ums$ript in the body, un$ir$ums$ript in the Spirit* at on$e earthly
and heavenly, tangible and intangible, $omprehensible and in$omprehensible* that by
.ne and the Same 4erson, -ho was perfe$t 1an and also God, the entire humanity fallen
through sin might be $reated anew"
#f anyone does not believe that 2oly 1ary is the 1other of God, he is severed from the
Godhead" #f anyone should assert that 2e passed through the 5irgin as through a $hannel,
and was not at on$e divinely and humanly formed in her (divinely, be$ause without the
intervention of a man* humanly, be$ause in a$$ordan$e with the laws of gestation), he is
in li%e manner godless" #f any assert that the 1anhood was formed and afterward was
$lothed with the Godhead, he too is to be $ondemned" 'or this were not a Generation of
God, but a shir%ing of generation" #f any introdu$e the notion of Two Sons, one of God
the 'ather, the other of the 1other, and dis$redits the 3nity and #dentity, may he lose his
part in the adoption promised to those who believe aright" 'or God and 1an are two
natures, as also soul and body are* but there are not two Sons or two Gods" 'or neither in
this life are there two manhoods* though 4aul spea%s in some su$h language of the inner
and outer man" And (if # am to spea% $on$isely) the Saviour is made of elements whi$h
are distin$t from one another (for the invisible is not the same with the visible, nor the
timeless with that whi$h is sub6e$t to time), yet 2e is not two 4ersons" God forbid7 'or
both natures are one by the $ombination, the /eity being made 1an, and the 1anhood
deified or however one should e+press it" And # say different Elements, be$ause it is the
reverse of what is the $ase in the Trinity* for There we a$%nowledge different 4ersons so
as not to $onfound the persons* but not different Elements, for the Three are .ne and the
same in Godhead"
#f any should say that it wrought in 2im by gra$e as in a 4rophet, but was not and is not
united with 2im in Essen$e--let him be empty of the 2igher Energy, or rather full of the
opposite" #f any worship not the Cru$ified, let him be Anathema and be numbered among
the /ei$ides" #f any assert that 2e was made perfe$t by wor%s, or that after 2is &aptism,
or after 2is 8esurre$tion from the dead, 2e was $ounted worthy of an adoptive Sonship,
li%e those whom the Gree%s interpolate as added to the ran%s of the gods, let him be
anathema" 'or that whi$h has a beginning or a progress or is made perfe$t, is not God,
although the e+pressions may be used of 2is gradual manifestation" #f any assert that 2e
has now put off 2is holy flesh, and that 2is Godhead is stripped of the body, and deny
that 2e is now with 2is body and will $ome again with it, let him not see the glory of 2is
Coming" 'or where is 2is body now, if not with 2im -ho assumed it, 'or it is not laid
by in the sun, a$$ording to the babble of the 1ani$haeans, that it should be honoured by a
dishonour* nor was it poured forth into the air and dissolved, us is the nature of a voi$e or
the flow of an odour, or the $ourse of a lightning flash that never stands" -here in that
$ase were 2is being handled after the 8esurre$tion, or 2is being seen hereafter by them
that pier$ed 2im, for Godhead is in its nature invisible" 9ay* 2e will $ome with 2is
body--so # have learnt--su$h as 2e was seen by 2is /is$iples in the 1ount, or as he
shewed 2imself for a moment, when his Godhead overpowered the $arnality" And as we
say this to disarm suspi$ion, so we write the other to $orre$t the novel tea$hing" #f anyone
assert that 2is flesh $ame down from heaven, and is not from hen$e, nor of us though
above us, let him be anathema" 'or the words, The Se$ond 1an is the !ord from 2eaven*
and, As is the 2eavenly, su$h are they that are 2eavenly* and, 9o man hath as$ended up
into 2eaven save 2e whi$h $ame down from 2eaven, even the Son of 1an whi$h is in
2eaven* and the li%e, are to be understood as said on a$$ount of the 3nion with the
heavenly* 6ust as that All Things were made by Christ, and that Christ dwelleth in your
hearts is said, not of the visible nature whi$h belongs to God, but of what is per$eived by
the mind, the names being mingled li%e the natures, and flowing into one another,
a$$ording to the law of their intimate union"
#f anyone has put his trust in 2im as a 1an without a human mind, he is really bereft of
mind, and :uite unworthy of salvation" 'or that whi$h 2e has not assumed 2e has not
healed* but that whi$h is united to 2is Godhead is also saved" #f only half Adam fell, then
that whi$h Christ assumes and saves may be half also* but if the whole of his nature fell,
it must be united to the whole nature of 2im that was begotten, and so be saved as a
whole" !et them not, then, begrudge us our $omplete salvation, or $lothe the Saviour only
with bones and nerves and the portraiture of humanity" 'or if 2is 1anhood is without
soul, even the Arians admit this, that they may attribute 2is 4assion to the Godhead, as
that whi$h gives motion to the body is also that whi$h suffers" &ut if 2e has a soul, and
yet is without a mind, how is 2e man, for man is not a mindless animal, And this would
ne$essarily involve that while 2is form and taberna$le was human, 2is soul should be
that of a horse or an o+, or some other of the brute $reation" This, then, would be what 2e
saves* and # have been de$eived by the Truth, and led to boast of an honour whi$h had
been bestowed upon another" &ut if 2is 1anhood is intelle$tual and nor without mind, let
them $ease to be thus really mindless" &ut, says su$h an one, the Godhead too% the pla$e
of the human intelle$t" 2ow does this tou$h me, 'or Godhead 6oined to flesh alone is not
man, nor to soul alone, nor to both apart from intelle$t, whi$h is the most essential part of
man" ;eep then the whole man, and mingle Godhead therewith, that you may benefit me
in my $ompleteness" &ut, he asserts, 2e $ould not $ontain Two perfe$t 9atures" 9ot if
you only loo% at 2im in a bodily fashion" 'or a bushel measure will not hold two bushels,
nor will the spa$e of one body hold two or more bodies" &ut if you will loo% at what is
mental and in$orporeal, remember that # in my one personality $an $ontain soul and
reason and mind and the 2oly Spirit* and before me this world, by whi$h # mean the
system of things visible and invisible, $ontained 'ather, Son, and 2oly Ghost" 'or su$h is
the nature of intelle$tual E+isten$es, that they $an mingle with one another and with
bodies, in$orporeally and invisibly" 'or many sounds are $omprehended by one ear* and
the eyes of many are o$$upied by the same visible ob6e$ts, and the smell by odours* nor
are the senses narrowed by ea$h other, or $rowded out, nor the ob6e$ts of sense
diminished by the multitude of the per$eptions" &ut where is there mind of man or angel
so perfe$t in $omparison of the Godhead that the presen$e of the greater must $rowd out
the other, The light is nothing $ompared with the sun, nor a little damp $ompared with a
river, that we must first do away with the lesser, and ta%e the light from a house, or the
moisture from the earth, to enable it to $ontain the greater and more perfe$t" 'or how
shall one thing $ontain two $ompletenesses, either the house, the sunbeam and the sun, or
the earth, the moisture and the river, 2ere is matter for in:uiry* for indeed the :uestion is
worthy of mu$h $onsideration" /o they not %now, then, that what is perfe$t by
$omparison with one thing may be imperfe$t by $omparison with another, as a hill
$ompared with a mountain, or a grain of mustard seed with a bean or any other of the
larger seeds, although it may be $alled larger than any of the same %ind, .r, if you li%e,
an Angel $ompared with God, or a man with an Angel" So our mind is perfe$t and
$ommanding, but only in respe$t of soul and body* not absolutely perfe$t* and a servant
and a sub6e$t of God, not a sharer of 2is 4rin$edom and honour" So 1oses was a God to
4haraoh, but a servant of God, as it is written* and the stars whi$h illumine the night are
hidden by the Sun, so mu$h that you $ould not even %now of their e+isten$e by daylight*
and a little tor$h brought near a great bla<e is neither destroyed, nor seen, nor
e+tinguished* but is all one bla<e, the bigger one prevailing over the other"
&ut, it may be said, our mind is sub6e$t to $ondemnation" -hat then of our flesh, #s that
not sub6e$t to $ondemnation, =ou must therefore either set aside the latter on a$$ount of
sin, or admit the former on a$$ount of salvation" #f 2e assumed the worse that 2e might
san$tify it by 2is in$arnation, may 2e not assume the better that it may be san$tified by
2is be$oming 1an, #f the $lay was leavened and has be$ome a new lump, . ye wise
men, shall not the #mage be leavened and mingled with God, being deified by 2is
Godhead, And # will add this also #f the mind was utterly re6e$ted, as prone to sin and
sub6e$t to damnation, and for this reason 2e assumed a body but left out the mind, then
there is an e+$use for them who sin with the mind* for the witness of God-- a$$ording to
you--has shewn the impossibility of healing it" !et me state the greater results" =ou, my
good sir, dishonour my mind (you a Sar$olater, if # am an Anthropolater that you may tie
God down to the 'lesh, sin$e 2e $annot be otherwise tied* and therefore you ta%e away
the wall of partition" &ut what is my theory, who am but an ignorant man, and no
4hilosopher" 1ind is mingled with mind, as nearer and more $losely related, and through
it with flesh, being a 1ediator between God and $arnality"
'urther let us see what is their a$$ount of the assumption of 1anhood, or the assumption
of 'lesh, as they $all it" #f it was in order that God, otherwise in$omprehensible, might be
$omprehended, and might $onverse with men through 2is 'lesh as through a veil, their
mas% and the drama whi$h they represent is a pretty one, not to say that it was open to
2im to $onverse with us in other ways, as of old, in the burning bush and in the
appearan$e of a man" &ut if it was that 2e might destroy the $ondemnation by san$tifying
li%e by li%e, then as 2e needed flesh for the sa%e of the flesh whi$h had in$urred
$ondemnation, and soul for the sa%e of our soul, so, too, 2e needed mind for the sa%e of
mind, whi$h not only fell in Adam, but was the first to be affe$ted, as the do$tors say of
illnesses" 'or that whi$h re$eived the $ommand was that whi$h failed to %eep the
$ommand, and that whi$h failed to %eep it was that also whi$h dared to transgress* and
that whi$h transgressed was that whi$h stood most in need of salvation* and that whi$h
needed salvation was that whi$h also 2e too% upon 2im" Therefore, 1ind was ta%en
upon 2im" This has now been demonstrated, whether they li%e it or no, by, to use their
own e+pression, geometri$al and ne$essary proofs" &ut you are a$ting as if, when a man>s
eye had been in6ured and his foot had been in6ured in $onse:uen$e, you were to attend to
the foot and leave the eye un$ared for* or as if, when a painter had drown something
badly, you were to alter the pi$ture, but to pass over the artist as if he had su$$eeded" &ut
if they, overwhelmed by these arguments, ta%e refuge in the proposition that it is possible
for God to save man even apart
from mind, why, # suppose that it would be possible for 2im to do so also apart from
flesh by a mere a$t of will, 6ust as 2e wor%s all other things, and has wrought them
without body" Ta%e away, then, the flesh as well as the mind, that your monstrous folly
may be $omplete" &ut they are de$eived by the latter, and, therefore, they run to the flesh,
be$ause they do not %now the $ustom of S$ripture" -e will tea$h them this also" 'or what
need is there even to mention to those who %now it, the fa$t that everywhere in S$ripture
he is $alled 1an, and the Son of 1an,
#f, however, they rely on the passage, The -ord was made 'lesh and dwelt among us,and
be$ause of this erase the noblest part of 1an (as $obblers do the thi$%er part of s%ins) that
they may 6oin together God and 'lesh, it is time for them to say that God is God only of
flesh, and not of souls, be$ause it is written, 0As Thou hast given 2im power over all
'lesh,0 and 03nto Thee shall all 'lesh $ome*0 and 0!et all 'lesh bless 2is holy 9ame,0
meaning every 1an" .r, again, they must suppose that our fathers went down into Egypt
without bodies and invisible, and that only the Soul of ?oseph was imprisoned by
4haraoh, be$ause it is written, >> They went down into Egypt with threes$ore and fifteen
Souls,0 and 0The iron entered into his Soul,0 a thing whi$h $ould not be bound" They who
argue thus do not %now that su$h e+pressions are used by Syne$do$he, de$laring the
whole by the part, as when S$ripture says that the young ravens $all upon God, to
indi$ate the whole feathered ra$e* or 4leiades, 2esperus, and Ar$turus are mentioned,
instead of all the Stars and 2is 4roviden$e over them"
1oreover, in no other way was it possible for the !ove of God toward us to be
manifested than by ma%ing mention of our flesh, and that for our sa%e 2e des$ended even
to our lower part" 'or that flesh is less pre$ious than soul, everyone who has a spar% of
sense will a$%nowledge" And so the passage, The -ord was made 'lesh, seems to me to
be e:uivalent to that in whi$h it is said that 2e was made sin, or a $urse for us* not that
the !ord was transformed into either of these, how $ould 2e be, &ut be$ause by ta%ing
them upon 2im 2e too% away our sins and bore our ini:uities" This, then, is suffi$ient to
say at the present time for the sa%e of $learness and of being understood by the many"
And # write it, not with any desire to $ompose a treatise, but only to $he$% the progress of
de$eit* and if it is thought well, # will give a fuller a$$ount of these matters at greater
length"
&ut there is a matter whi$h is graver than these, a spe$ial point whi$h it is ne$essary that #
should not pass over" # would they were even $ut off that trouble you, and would
reintrodu$e a se$ond ?udaism, and a se$ond $ir$um$ision, and a se$ond system of
sa$rifi$es" 'or if this be done, what hinders Christ also being born again to set them aside,
and again being betrayed by ?udas, and $ru$ified and buried, and rising again, that all
may be fulfilled in the same order, li%e the Gree% system of $y$les, in whi$h the same
revolutions of the stars bring round the same events, 'or what the method of sele$tion is,
in a$$ordan$e with whi$h some of the events are to o$$ur and others to be omitted, let
these wise men who glory in the multitude of their boo%s shew us"
&ut sin$e, puffed up by their theory of the Trinity, they falsely a$$use us of being
unsound in the 'aith and enti$e the multitude, it is ne$essary that people should %now that
Apollinarius, while granting the 9ame of Godhead to the 2oly Ghost, did not preserve
the 4ower of the Godhead" 'or to ma%e the Trinity $onsist of Great, Greater, and
Greatest, as of !ight, 8ay, and Sun, the Spirit and the Son and the 'ather (as is $learly
stated in his writings), is a ladder of Godhead not leading to 2eaven, but down from
2eaven" &ut we re$ogni<e God the 'ather and the Son and the 2oly Ghost, and these not
as bare titles, dividing ine:ualities of ran%s or of power, but as there is one and the same
title, so there is one nature and one substan$e in the Godhead"
&ut if anyone who thin%s we have spo%en rightly on this sub6e$t reproa$hes us with
holding $ommunion with hereti$s, let him prove that we are open to this $harge, and we
will either $onvin$e him or retire" &ut it is not safe to ma%e any innovation before
6udgment is given, espe$ially in a matter of su$h importan$e, and $onne$ted with so great
issues" -e have protested and $ontinue to protest this before God and men" And not even
now, be well assured, should we have written this, if we had not seen that the Chur$h was
being tom asunder and divided, among their other tri$%s, by their present synagogue of
vanity" &ut if anyone when we say and protest this, either from some advantage they will
thus gain, or through fear of men, or monstrous littleness of
mind, or through some negle$t of pastors and governors, or through love of novelty and
proneness to innovations, re6e$ts us as unworthy of $redit, and atta$hes himself to su$h
men, and divides the noble body of the Chur$h, he shall bear his 6udgment, whoever he
may be, and shall give a$$ount to God in the day of 6udgment" &ut if their long boo%s,
and their new 4salters, $ontrary to that of /avid, and the gra$e of their metres, are ta%en
for a third Testament, we too will $ompose 4salms, and will write mu$h in metre" 'or we
also thin% we have the spirit of God, if indeed this is a gift of the Spirit, and not a human
novelty" This # will that thou de$lare publi$ly, that we may not be held responsible, as
overloo%ing su$h an evil, and as though this wi$%ed do$trine re$eived food and strength
from our indifferen$e"