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Greek · Homilies ·

Homilia de passione et cruce domin1

Athanasius the Great of Alexandria · khazarzar

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JSON Dossier
machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 366 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The 'Homilia de passione et cruce domini' is a Greek homily traditionally attributed to Athanasius the Great of Alexandria, surviving in a single medieval manuscript. Its theology and style align with 4th-century Alexandrian preaching, but the attribution is unconfirmed before the 9th century. The homily reflects Christological controversies, particularly anti-Arian polemic, and emphasizes the cosmic significance of the crucifixion. It was not widely circulated in later Greek Christian tradition and lacks citation in patristic florilegia or Byzantine liturgical sources. The edition provides no critical apparatus, limiting assessment of textual transmission.

This homily provides insight into 4th-century Alexandrian Christology and anti-Arian rhetoric, even if its attribution to Athanasius remains uncertain. It illustrates how passion narratives were used to argue for Christ's divinity. Its limited transmission highlights the fragility of patristic texts and the importance of manuscript evidence for reconstructing early Christian theology.

Historical context

The homily is attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373), a key figure in the Arian controversy. If authentic, it would date to the 4th century, likely composed in Alexandria for a Greek-speaking Christian community. The text engages with Arian denial of Christ's full divinity, asserting the Logos as uncreated and co-eternal with God. Its sole witness is a medieval manuscript, suggesting limited circulation; it is not cited in known patristic collections or Byzantine liturgy. The homily's genre is a homily on the passion, blending exegesis, typology, and polemic. Its survival depends entirely on this single copy, with no independent textual tradition to verify the attribution or detect scribal alterations.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

12 commentary units 2 scripture2 background2 structure2 caution1 term1 reception1 sense1 parallel 0 derived notes 3 open questions 2 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • coverageNo English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed.
  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: homily in ancient Greek; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 2 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: khazarzar — Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-homilia-de-passione-et-cruce-domin1:1 · narrativehigh
Source
ΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΟΥ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΠΑΘΟΣ. «Ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Μωσέως.» Ἄρτι δὲ τολμήσας κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, θεωρεῖ ἑαυτὸν ἐκβληθέντα τοῦ παντὸς, καὶ ὑπὸ πάντων καταπατούμενον, καὶ συντριβόμενον ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας ἡμῶν· τό γε μὴν μέγα καὶ παράδοξον, ὅτι καὶ ἐπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ σταυροῦ κρεμαμένου τοῦ Κυρίου, (αὐτοῦ γὰρ ἦν τὸ σῶμα, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἦν ὁ Λόγος·) ὁ μὲν ἥλιος ἐσκοτίσθη, ἡ δὲ γῆ ἐτρόμαξεν, αἱ πέτραι ἐσχίσθησαν, καὶ τὸ καταπέτασμα τοῦ ναοῦ ἐσχίσθη, καὶ πολλὰ σώματα τῶν προκεκοιμωμένων ἀνέστη· καὶ οὐδεὶς, ὥσπερ νῦν Ἀρειανοὶ τολμῶσι, διελογίσατο εἰ δεῖ σαρκωθέντι τῷ Λόγῳ πείθεσθαι· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνθρωπον βλέποντες, ἐπεγίνωσκον αὐτὸν ὄντα δημιουργὸν αὐτῶν· καὶ ἀνθρωπίνης φωνῆς ἀκούοντες, οὐ διὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον ἔλεγον ὅτι ὁ Λόγος κτίσμα ἐστίν· ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον ἔτρεμον, καὶ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐγίνωσκον, ὅτι ἐκ ναοῦ ἁγίου ἐφθέγγετο· οὐ γὰρ κτίσμα ἡ κτίσις προσκυνεῖ· οὐδὲ πάλιν διὰ τὴν σάρκα, παρῃτεῖτο τὸν Κύριον ἑαυτῆς προσκυνεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἑαυτῆς δημιουργὸν ἔβλεπεν ἐν τῷ σώματι· καὶ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πᾶν γόνυ ἔκαμπτε καὶ κάμψει, καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται ὅτι Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός· οὐ γὰρ ἀδοξίαν ἤνεγκεν ἡ σὰρξ τῷ Λόγῳ· μὴ γένοιτο· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον αὕτη δεδόξασται παρ' αὐτοῦ· οὐδὲ ἐπειδὴ δούλου μορφὴν ἀνέλαβεν ὁ ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων Υἱὸς, ἠλαττώθη τῆς θεότητος, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον καὶ αὐτὸς ἐλευθερωτὴς πά ης σαρκὸς καὶ πάσης κτίσεως γέγονεν· ὃς καὶ σταυρούμενος, ἐμαρτυρεῖτο Δεσπότης τῆς κτίσεως·
English
Athanasius on the Passion. "Death reigned from Adam until Moses." But when it dared against the Lord, it sees itself cast out of the whole, and trampled underfoot by all, and crushed beneath our feet. And what is great and astonishing, even while the Lord was hanging on the cross (for the body was His, and the Word was in it), the sun was darkened, the earth trembled, the rocks were split, the veil of the temple was rent, and many bodies of those who had fallen asleep arose. And no one, as the Arians now dare, debated whether one ought to obey the Word made flesh; but even seeing a man, they recognized Him as their Creator; and hearing a human voice, they did not say because of the human that the Word is a creature; but rather they trembled, and knew no less that He spoke from a holy temple. For creation does not worship a creature; nor again, because of the flesh, did it refuse to worship its own Lord, but it saw its own Creator in the body. And at the name of Jesus Christ every knee bends and will bend, and every tongue will confess that the Lord is Jesus Christ. For the flesh brought no dishonor to the Word—far from it; rather, it was glorified by Him. Nor, because the Son, who exists in the form of God, assumed the form of a servant, was He diminished in divinity; but rather He became the liberator of all flesh and of all creation. He, even when crucified, was attested as the Master of creation.
khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-homilia-de-passione-et-cruce-domin1:2 · narrativehigh
Source
συστείλαντος μὲν ἡλίου τὰς ἀκτῖνας, καὶ τῆς γῆς τρεμούσης, τῶν δὲ πετρῶν σχιζομένων, καὶ τῶν δημίων ἐπιγνόντων, ὅτι ἀληθῶς Θεοῦ Υἱός ἐστιν ὁ σταυρωθείς· οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρώπου τινὸς ἦν τὸ βλεπόμενον σῶμα, ἀλλὰ Θεοῦ· ἐν ᾧ τυγχάνων καὶ ὅτε ἐσταυροῦτο, ἤγειρε νεκρούς· ὅτε καὶ ὁ ἥλιος ἀγανακτῶν, καὶ μὴ φέρων τὰς κατὰ τοῦ κοινοῦ πάντων Δεσπότου γενομένας σωματικὰς ὕβρεις, ἃς ἑκὼν αὐτὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὑπέμεινεν, ἀπεστράφη· καὶ τὰς ἀκτῖνας συστείλας, τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην ἀνήλιον ἔδειξεν.
English
The sun drew in its rays, the earth quaked, the rocks were split, and the executioners recognized that truly the one crucified was the Son of God; for the body that was seen was not that of some man, but of God—in which he was present, and even while being crucified, he raised the dead. At that time the sun, indignant and unable to bear the bodily outrages committed against the common Master of all, which he willingly endured for our sake, turned away; and drawing in its rays, it showed that day to be without sunlight.
Citation. Tergwame, “Homilia de passione et cruce domin1”, khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-homilia-de-passione-et-cruce-domin1:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-homilia-de-passione-et-cruce-domin1#s1
Colophon. Source: khazarzar · licence: Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0014 · generated 2026-11-15.