Solutiones

First Chapter of the Solution of Dogmatic Questions Proposed to the Most Holy Cyril. Whether God over all, named by divine Scripture as having hands, feet, eyes, ears, and wings, ought to be understood by us in such a way, not anthropomorphically as if the members are taken in a bodily sense—for he is incorporeal—but just as he is of a certain essence, so also the things spoken of, being of that essence, are themselves divine members according to that essence. Solution. Those who are sound of mind and direct the eye of their understanding with subtlety to the discourses concerning the ineffable divinity see that it exists beyond everything created, rises above every sharpness of mind and bodily imagination, and is completely beyond, and as the all-wise Paul says, "dwells in unapproachable light." But if the light around it is unapproachable, how could anyone gaze upon it? For we see "in a mirror and enigma, and know in part." Therefore the divine is completely incorporeal, without quantity and without magnitude, and not in a circumscribed form. But that which is so in its own nature, how could it be conceived as composed of parts and members? For if one were to grant that this is true, it would no longer be conceived as incorporeal. For that which is at all in a shape is certainly somewhere and in quantity, and that which is in quantity is also in place; and that which is conceived in place is not outside of circumscription. These things are proper to bodies, but completely alien to the incorporeal nature.

Neither, then, should eyes or ears, nor indeed hands and feet or wings be conceived in the case of God, even if one should choose perhaps to conceive such things as in tangible and gross bodies, but as in a fine and immaterial manner, and according to the nature of God; for it is utterly foolish to wish to conceive anything of that sort. For God is spirit; and being this, he has knowledge of all things, oversees and surveys all, and nothing that exists escapes him. But if divine Scripture mentions parts or members when speaking to us about him, it must be known that it speaks to us from what we know and are naturally constituted to be. For it was not otherwise possible for us to understand matters concerning God. The true cause and pretext, then, for the divinely inspired Scripture making its discourses about God in a bodily manner is the poverty of our mind and tongue. For matters concerning him are completely ineffable; and it was not possible for those who exist in tangible and gross bodies to understand any of the necessary things, unless, receiving their own members as a kind of example, we might thus with difficulty ascend to fine conceptions about God. God created man from the earth "and breathed into his face a breath of life, and man became a living soul." And some say that the soul was created by the inbreathing, as the body by hands; others, that that inbreathing became soul for him; and others again, that that inbreathing gave a vital power to the whole created man.

Others say that this breath is the intellect, and it is distinct from the soul, and that this is the image, so that man consists of these three: intellect, soul, and body, each individually in union. And this breath is either proper to the substance of God or alien to it. SOLUTION. Such subtle and not easily handled questions do not require a dogmatic decision, but rather a perplexed inquiry and a probing reflection, while not allowing the argument to fall into what is inappropriate, that is, to be carried beyond what is reasonable. For it is written, "Seek when you seek, and dwell with me." But what the sacred text did not clearly say, how could one clearly interpret it? For instance, I say that in the book of the creation of the world it is written that in the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. And that he made them, the sacred text said, and we accept this as true in faith. But to busy oneself with how or from where or in what manner heaven and earth and the other creatures were brought into existence is not without harm; for one must not plunge the mind into matters too deep. Therefore, whatever the divine scripture does not say very clearly, these things should be left unnoticed and passed over in silence. But if one must conjecture with reasoning that looks to correctness, we say that the creator of all things fashioned man from earth, that is, the body; and having ensouled it with a living and intellectual soul, in the way that he knows, he naturally implanted in him desire and knowledge of every good thing.

For this, I think, is what is indicated by the saying of the blessed evangelist John: "The true light, which illuminates every man coming into the world, was." For the living being is born having a natural aptitude for the good. And the all-wise Paul will teach this when he writes that "we are his creation, created for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we might walk in them." For man is governed by choice and has been entrusted with the reins of his own mind, so that he may run toward whatever he wishes, whether toward the good or toward its opposite. But nature has implanted in itself the desire and eagerness for every good thing, and the will to care for goodness and justice. For in this way we say that man is made in the image and likeness, insofar as the living being is naturally good and just. But since it was necessary not only that he be rational and have an aptitude for doing good and for justice, but also that he be a partaker of the Holy Spirit, so that he might have in himself the characters of the divine nature more brightly, God also breathed into him a breath of life. And this is the Spirit supplied through the Son to rational creation, and forming it into the highest form, that is, the divine. For that the breath breathed into man did not become a soul for him, nor yet an intellect, as some suppose, can be seen from this. First, the one who breathed is understood to be God, and what was breathed from him is certainly understood to be something of him, that is, of his substance. Then how could the Spirit from God have changed into the nature of a soul, or become an intellect?

It is impossible for the Spirit to undergo change. But if one were to grant that it is possible for it to become a soul or a mind by change—which is among the impossible things—yet this at once is evident: for if the divine Spirit had become a soul for man, the soul and the mind would have remained incapable of receiving sin. But if the Spirit from God, having been changed into a soul, has fallen into sins, a twofold accusation is brought against it by us: first, that it underwent a change into what it was not, and then, in addition to this, we say that it became receptive of sin. Therefore, the living being was ensouled by an ineffable power of God, and came into being in likeness to him, insofar as it is naturally capable of being good and just and receptive of every virtue; and it was sanctified, having been shown to be a partaker of the divine Spirit, which it also cast off because of sin. For God said somewhere: "My Spirit will not remain in these men because they are flesh," that is, because they think only of fleshly things. But since God the Father was pleased to recapitulate all things in Christ—that is, to lead them back to the beginning, restoring to us the Holy Spirit which had flown away and departed from us—he breathed this upon the holy apostles.

Saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit." For the renewal of that ancient gift, and of the inbreathing given to us, is what has come about through Christ, reshaping us into our first sanctification, and restoring human nature, as in the beginning to the holy apostles, to the sanctification given to us from above and in our original constitution. Whether "according to the image" and "according to the likeness" are different or the same. For they say that we received "according to the image" immediately when we were created, but "according to the likeness" we did not, and it is preserved for us in the future age. Therefore, it is said, it is written, "When Christ is revealed, we shall be like him." And again it is said, they say, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness," and after the creation of man it said, "And God made man, he made him according to his own image," here being silent about "according to the likeness," in order to show, they say, that we have not yet received this, but it is preserved for us in that blessed life. 555 SOLUTION. If they say that "according to the image" and "according to the likeness" are different from one another, let them teach the difference. For we are disposed that "according to the image" signifies nothing other than "according to the likeness," and likewise "according to the likeness" signifies "according to the image." And we obtained likeness to God in our original constitution, and we are images of God. For, as I said, human nature is receptive of goodness and justice and sanctification, and has the desire for these things implanted in it by God. And this can be seen from the following.

A deviation has occurred in the human mind, not from base things to the good, but from the good to the base. First, then, that which we have abandoned and from which we have deviated must be presupposed. For that a desire, eagerness, and knowledge of every good was implanted in the human soul from its original constitution, the all-wise Paul will make clear, saying: "For when nations that do not have law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness." If even in nations outside the law there is naturally present the knowledge of the law, that is, of the lawgiver's intent, it will be clear to everyone that human nature was just and good in its beginnings, and was brought into being by God for this purpose, bearing his form and the image of his goodness. For the first period of human life was holy; but when sin intruded, the marks of likeness to God no longer remained bright in us. But since the Only-begotten Son of God, the Word, became man, human nature has again become holy, being reshaped toward him through sanctification and righteousness. Thus the all-wise Paul says: "We all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from a master spirit. And the Lord is the spirit." Therefore, a renewal and, as it were, a refashioning has come to human nature in Christ, our flesh being regulated into holy life in the Spirit.

If the sacred scripture said somewhere that God made man according to his own image, but was silent about the phrase "according to likeness," it must be understood that it was content to say "according to image," as the phrase "according to likeness" indicates nothing else. For it is superfluous to say that this has been reserved for us in the future age. For if God said, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness," who would dare to say that he was made according to image but not yet according to likeness? We shall be like Christ at least in incorruption, and in being beyond death, and indeed also in the glory which he himself might bestow upon us. For the apostle Paul writes again, sometimes that "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God; when Christ, your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory," and at other times again, "Who will transform the body of our humility, so that it becomes conformed to the body of his glory." For even now we are not outside of being according to his likeness, if it is true that he is formed in us through the Holy Spirit. For Paul writes again to the Galatians, "Little children, whom I again labor over, until Christ is formed in you." For when we keep ourselves faithful and holy, then he is seen being formed in us, flashing his own characters intelligibly into our minds.

We are not, he says, an image of God, but an image of an image. For the Son and Word of God and Father is his image; but man is not an image of the archetype, but of the image, that is, of the Son, so that we are an image of an image. For it is not said, he says, that God made man his own image, but "according to image," so that man is according to the image of God and Father, that is, an image of the Son, which is an image of an image. SOLUTION. The divine and consubstantial Trinity is beyond every form and corporeal imagination. But one must believe that the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, and that he who has seen the Son has seen the Father; and the Son is also seen in the consubstantial Spirit. For it is written that "the Lord is the Spirit." Where there is complete identity of essence, there would surely be nothing different. But whatever you conceive the Father to be, that is also the Son, except only for being father; and whatever you suppose the Son to be, that is also the Spirit, except only for being son. For each of the named persons subsists individually, and is truly what it is said to be; but the likeness of the holy Trinity in every respect is unvarying. Therefore, even if man was made according to the image of the Son, he is thus according to the image of God. For the characters of the entire consubstantial Trinity shine forth in him, since the divinity according to nature is one in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The inspired Moses writes: "And God said, 'Let us make man according to our image and likeness.'" The phrase "our" does not indicate a single person, because the fullness of the divine and ineffable nature exists in three hypostases. It is therefore superfluous to be overly curious and to quibble and say that we are not images of God, nor of the archetype, but of the image of God. It is enough to believe with simplicity that we have been made according to the divine image, having received naturally our formation toward God. But if one must say something not implausible, it was necessary that we, who are to be called sons of God, be made rather according to the image of the Son, so that the character of sonship might befit us. That in the future state the soul, possessing the rational faculty and therefore not lacking knowledge, makes progress. But others say that if the soul has progress, then it certainly also has diminution, passion, corruption, and from this, death and revival again.

SOLUTION. Those who ponder these things seem to be ignorant of the grace that will be given to human nature after the resurrection from the dead. For if "this perishable thing must put on imperishability" and cast off corruption, we will evidently cast off along with corruption the passions that come from it; these are every carnal desire. And we will then pass over into a holy and spiritual life, with the earnest of this being given to us by our Savior Christ, who is over all. For if now, having the earnest of the Spirit, we live in a holy manner, what will we be when we receive the fullness? And where there is fullness of the Spirit, there surely is also security of mind and steadfastness of heart, which looks toward the good and toward pure contemplation of God. Therefore, we will be better than ourselves, having cast off corruption and having a spiritual body, that is, one that looks only to the things of the Spirit. And there will be no disturbance that drags us down into baseness at that time, since the Creator holds us in his own will through the Holy Spirit, just as indeed he does the holy angels. Something like this Christ declared when he said, "In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven." Why is it that, dying in Adam, we pay a paternal penalty, and each of us owes for his transgression, but when my father is brought to life in Christ and purified through the Holy Spirit from both the ancestral debt and his own fault, he did not impart to me, his offspring, that purity, nor did the grace of the righteousness in him benefit me, even though it prevails over sin?

SOLUTION. It is necessary to examine how the forefather Adam transmitted to us the penalty imposed upon him for the transgression. He heard, "You are earth, and to earth you shall return," and he became corruptible from incorruptible, and was subjected to the bonds of death. Since he begot children after falling into this state, we who have come from him have been born corruptible from a corruptible being. Thus we are heirs of the curse in Adam. For we are not punished as though we had joined him in disobeying the divine commandment which he received, but because, as I said, having become mortal, he transmitted the curse to his seed; for we have become mortal from a mortal. But our Lord Jesus Christ, being the second Adam and the second beginning of our race after the first, reshaped us into incorruptibility, having confronted death and abolished it in his own flesh, and the power of the ancient curse is dissolved in him. Therefore the all-wise Paul says that just as "through a man came death, so also through a man comes resurrection of the dead," and again, "Just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive." Thus the universal and most general penalty from the transgression in Adam is corruption and death; likewise, the universal and most general redemption has been accomplished in Christ. For human nature in him put off the death cast upon it, because the first man became corruptible. But each one's own father, even if sanctified by the Holy Spirit and granted remission of his offenses, will not transmit the gift to us.

For there is one who sanctifies all, justifies, and restores to incorruption, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the gift comes to all equally through him and from him. But remission of sins is one thing, and deliverance from death is another. And each one gains remission of his own transgressions in Christ through the Holy Spirit; but all of us together are released from the penalty imposed upon us in the beginning, I mean the penalty of death, which runs to all, in likeness to the first who fell into death. For this reason also the all-wise Paul says that "death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression"; for until the law the penalty of death prevailed. But when Christ shone forth, righteousness entered, justifying by grace, and driving away corruption from our bodies. If the resurrection has already taken place, which the prophet Ezekiel saw—when bone came to bone, and joint to joint, and flesh and skin and hair and

Spirit, and a resurrection of a great multitude was seen, which the divine Scripture showed us in a prophetic vision as an image of the future universal resurrection. SOLUTION. The great matters, and those which, because of the excess of the wonder concerning them, are liable to be disbelieved by some, were not taught to the prophets at the times only through mere announcement, the Holy Spirit illuminating for them the knowledge of each thing; but they also saw them in actual deeds, so that they themselves, having believed before others, might thus transmit them to others as well. Therefore, when the God of all promised to bring back even those already dead from Babylon to Jerusalem, he showed the prophet clearly not the resurrection on earth, I suppose, but the one understood as above and in the heavens, and in what manner it will be at the appointed times; which the divine David had already proclaimed beforehand, saying concerning us, that is, concerning every man: "When you turn away your face, they will be troubled, and they will return to their dust. You will send forth your Spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth." For having stumbled in Adam through the transgression, we have come to be in a state of turning away from God. And because of this cause we have returned to our own dust, having become accursed. For the Creator said, "You are earth and you will go to earth." But in the last times of the age, by the power of the life-giving Spirit, God the Father will raise all the dead in Christ.

That the resurrection of the dead has not yet happened, but will occur at the appointed times, the all-wise Paul confirms when he writes that Hymenaeus and Alexander suffered shipwreck concerning the faith, saying that the resurrection had already taken place. If the one who says this endures shipwreck concerning the faith, it would then be clear that the blessed prophet Ezekiel has usefully beheld the power of the resurrection as in a prophetic vision. To those who say that each has been allotted a fitting recompense: for the Savior did not say "a certain poor man," but "Lazarus," in order to show by the name that this was done in experience and truth. SOLUTION. The divine Scripture everywhere says that judgment will take place after the resurrection from the dead. But there will be no resurrection unless Christ again visits us from the heavens in the glory of the Father with the holy angels. Thus also the all-wise Paul says: "That the Lord Himself will descend from heaven at the command, in the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God. For He will sound the trumpet, and the dead in Christ will rise incorruptible." Since the Judge of all has not yet descended from heaven, neither has the resurrection of the dead taken place. Then how is it not implausible to suppose that recompense for evil or good deeds has already occurred for some? Therefore, what was said by Christ concerning the rich man and Lazarus is a form of parable, cleverly fashioned.

The account holds, as the Hebrew tradition has it, that Lazarus was someone at that time in Jerusalem suffering extreme poverty and illness, whom the Lord also mentioned, taking him as an example for a clearer demonstration of the argument. So then, before the universal Savior Christ descended from the heavens, neither a resurrection has occurred, nor has any recompense for action followed for anyone, but as in an image, in the parable a rich and luxurious and pitiless man is written, and a poor man in illness, so that those who possess wealth on earth might know that if they are not willing to be kind and generous and communal, and to choose to aid the needs of the poor, they will fall into a terrible and inescapable penalty. If the God of all can make things that have already happened and been done never to have occurred, according to "No word will be impossible for him." For we do not say that they did not happen, but that they never began to happen—for instance, if he can make a prostitute a virgin from her mother's womb, so that she who prostituted herself is not a prostitute, because "things impossible among men are possible for God." RESOLUTION. We must inquire concerning the power of God, whether it is great and admirable, when the action is not incongruous with divine glory. For not because he can do everything, should he therefore be seen as a worker of absurdities. For we consider that it is absurd to say: If God can make himself not be God, if he can make himself susceptible to sin, if he can make himself not be good or life or just. Therefore, one must reject with all strength such absurd questions.

Why is God not able to make a woman who has committed fornication never to have been a fornicator? Because he cannot make falsehood truth. And this is not an accusation of weakness, but a demonstration of nature, which does not allow itself to suffer anything that is not fitting for it; falsehood is entirely alien to God, for it is a lie to make the one who has fornicated never to have fornicated. But, as I said, such foolish questions, which contain much absurdity, ought not even to be entertained from the start; these things ought not even to have been committed to writing. However, for the sake of your reverence, so that when you encounter them on your own you may have your own thoughts in good order, I have been eager to clarify as much as possible what pertains to each of the chapters.