Codex Satberdiensis

Page of sec. ed.: 139 The discourse of the holy and blessed father of ours, Gregory, bishop of Nyssa, concerning the creation of man, which he wrote to his brother Peter, bishop of Sebastia. If indeed it were fitting that the glory of those who acquire virtue be honored with the rewards of honor, then all the boasts of price would be found insufficient, when I consider your virtues in the manner of the saying of Solomon the Wise, for above that honor of price is the grace worthy of you. And now we celebrate the feast of the holy and glorious Ascension, according to the custom of the first mercy, your friendship and we place before your glory. O man of God, a small gift and such as is worthy of you, but not less than our power. And this gift is spoken of as a humble garment woven from the intellect of a poor man with labor. And the reason for this discourse I think many will suppose, that this beginning of ours was made with boldness, of which we were not worthy and co-heirs. But not far from the co-heirship of the righteous law is the holy Basil—the father and teacher of all—he alone among the creatures of God is rightly created in the image of God truly, whose soul is as the image of its creator.

He revealed the hidden commandment of the creatures of God and made them manifest and comprehensible concerning themselves to those who sought Him. But we diminish the wonders toward Him, which are added from the glories and terrors of His. And it became necessary for us, from the justice of the comparison, to complete that remnant of the first revelation of that wise teacher concerning the creation of man. Not that we see this utterance of his as deficient, by which we have become participants through this utterance of ours. Let this not be considered as an insult to that great person, as if it were disparaged or made deficient by this utterance of ours. But lest anyone think that the glory of the teacher is diminished among his disciples, and if indeed his utterance were truly deficient, which he spoke concerning the creation of the six days, and if none of his disciples had obtained the completion of his remnant, which remained unclarified by him, there would be power and cause upon the teacher, when he did not give among his disciples the power to comprehend and express. And for this reason we boldly take it upon ourselves to complete what remained of his first.

And if anything is found in this our discourse that is worthy to be said, as that it is from his teaching, then it is confirmed by him. And if this our discourse is inferior to his intentions, then it is simple, when among his disciples there was no power to attain. And we are guilty and confess our deficiency to those who accuse us, when our mind did not grasp that wisdom of the teacher. And it seems fitting that what we have said of this our discourse is not less than those wonders that are among the creatures, but is above and beyond all those comprehensible things, for there is nothing among beings like unto God, as is the creation of man, and therefore we are more to be forgiven by those who find purity than by those who do not listen. And if our discourse is found to be deficient beyond what is fitting, page of sec.

141. Which is the same, for it is necessary to investigate the first of his completed [work] and that which now exists and that which is yet to be, so that nothing among the beings remains uninvestigated, which we call selection and narration of deeds confirmed among men. But that which is conceivable, as being outside this written discourse, upon which man came into being in the act of creation, which is not now visible therein. But we shall reveal from the books and what we take from the treasury of reason, so that this our discourse may be united in every respect with the assistance of divine power, which gives the power to know and the ability to attain the unattainable and leads there where there is no strength. And it seemed fitting to me to set forth a division of the types of these our statements, so that the power of all their established [principles] may be known from them individually, quickly. Chapter 1: On the nature of the earth as one part and the revelation of the remnants, which came into being before man. Chapter 2: Why man came into being last of all created beings. Chapter 3: That the nature of man is more honorable among all that have appeared from created beings. Chapter 4: That the preparation [of man] indicates the rule of sovereignty in every respect.

Chapter 5: That man is like the kingdom of God. Chapter 6: Concerning investigation, which have united the intellect with nature, and therein is the explanation of the sayings of the deceivers. Chapter 7: Why man was created fearful of his own weapons and of the natural garment. Chapter 8: Why the preparation of man is rightly defined, and that the hands were created for the sake of reasoning, and the investigation for the sake of the division of the soul. Chapter 9: That the body of man was created as a vessel for the sake of reasoning. Chapter 10: That the intellect performs its own works from the senses. Chapter 11: That the nature of the intellect is invisible. Chapter 12: Investigation concerning the treasure of the intellect, and the natural word concerning laughter and weeping. Chapter 13: Concerning sleep and dreams and visions. Chapter 14: That the intellect does not reside in a single part of the body, and the division of the movements of the spiritual and the corporeal. Chapter 15: Concerning the soul: truly, the rational soul is rightly named, while the others are named soul only by participation in the name, and that every power of the intellect is diffused throughout the whole body, in each member according to its power.

Chapter 6: Concerning investigation, which God said: "Let us make man in our image and likeness." And therein is the inquiry concerning likeness, or how that which is subject to passion resembles that which is without passion, and the mortal resembles the immortal, or how it is possible for male and female to exist among those who are like God. Chapter 7: What to answer to those who inquire concerning sowing and procreation, whether it came about after sin, and if man had not sinned, whence would souls be? Chapter 8: That the animal-like stirring is established among us by reason of our proximity to them. Chapter 9: Concerning those who say that the good things of the future are to be derived from foods and drinks, because man was commanded at the beginning to live from these two. Chapter 10: What is that life which is in paradise, and what is the tree from which they were set apart. Chapter 11: That belief in the resurrection is to be expected with a multiplicity of forms, following after what is said in the books. Chapter 12: Concerning those who inquire: if the resurrection is good and sweet, why does it not happen now, but we wait for it after many times?

Chapter 23: Concerning those who acknowledge the beginning of the world as involuntary, and also deny its end. Chapter 24: A refutation of those who say that matter is co-eternal with God. Chapter 25: How those who are without law may accept the scriptural statement concerning resurrection. Chapter 26: That resurrection is not impossible. Chapter 27: That it is possible for the bodies of men to be again from the four elements of the earth after their dissolution and to become uniform each individually from all parts. Chapter 28: Concerning those who say that souls were created before bodies, or bodies before souls. A refutation of their statement, who affirm that souls dwell in many bodies. Chapter 29: An investigation which shows that the existence of soul and body is united. Chapter 30: A discourse from physicians, which shows the letters of the human body in their formation, and that discourse is brief.