Adversus Porphyrium (Fragmenta)

The Son of God, Christ, came to the visible creation by the commands of the Father, in order to overthrow the powers of the tyrannizing demons and to deliver souls from bitter slavery, since nature, bewitched by the preliminary draughts of injustice, was filled with tumult and disorder, no longer able to recall what was beneficial.

Therefore, it was easily drawn toward the idols, since evil had flooded everything and had spread over all generations, according to the alteration that had been brought about in our fleshly tabernacles through disobedience, until the Lord Christ, by the manifestation through which he appeared to the world, dimmed the assaults of the pleasures with which the lower powers armed themselves against us in order to enslave the rational faculty, and he showed man to be free from all evils.

For this reason indeed the Lord Jesus took on flesh, and became man, and was nailed to the cross in the divine economy, so that through that flesh by which the demons boasted to display themselves as gods, having hooked souls toward death by methods of deceit, they might, being overturned through it, be exposed as not being gods.

for preventing their vainglory from being further exalted, he became man, so that through that very body by which they, having alienated the rational race from the true worship of God, wrought destruction, through this body, which received the Word by ineffable arts of wisdom, they might be exposed as destroyers, and not as benefactors of souls.

It was not at all astonishing for Christ of God to overawe the opposing natures of the demons by the immutable magnitude of his power. But since this very thing brought them grief (for they would rather have been defeated by the stronger), for this reason he managed the outcome for the salvation of all through a human being, so that, on the one hand, men, with life itself and truth having descended upon them bodily, might check the allurements of sin and run back to the formation and illumination of the Word, and on the other hand, the demons, having been defeated and despised by the weaker, might cease from their audacity, their inflammation like that of Typhon being bound.

For this reason especially the cross was introduced, set up as a trophy against injustice and as a terror, so that from then on man would no longer be subject to wrath, having wrestled back the defeat from disobedience, conquered the lower powers lawfully, and been shown free from every debt by the gifts of God, since in this way the firstborn Word of God, having armed man with the weapons of righteousness, in whom he dwelt, overcame the powers that enslaved us through the cross-shaped form, as has been said, showing the man who had been dominated by corruption to be free with outstretched hands.

For this is, if one must speak by definition, the firmament of victory, the descent of God to man, a trophy against the material spirits, deliverance from death, a foundation for the ascent to the true day, and a ladder for those hastening to enjoy the light there, a device by which those who are fit for the building of the church are drawn up from below, like a square stone, to be fitted into the divine Word.

for this reason the kings here, perceiving that the cross-shaped figure is taken up for the dispersal of every evil disposition, devised what are called in the Roman language vexilla. Hence the sea, yielding to this figure, offers itself navigable to men. For the whole creation, so to speak, has been clothed with this sign for freedom; for the birds flying high form the cross-shape in their extension.

they hint at the form of wings, and man himself, stretching out his hands, appears to be nothing other than this.

Therefore, with this very thing with which he had been adorned by nature, the Lord, having shaped him, mingled him with divinity, so that he might henceforth be a sacred instrument of God, free from all discord and lack of rhythm.

For after the human being was fitted for piety and the immaculate member of truth had been fitted in, through which the divinity was received by the wood of life, just as strings and tones are fitted together, it is no longer possible for him to fall into disproportion and corruption.

... for this was a power in him; for it belongs to power to be contracted in small things and to be shortened, and to be extended in large things and to be magnified. But if it were possible for it to be co-extended with large things and to be co-equal, but impossible for it to be shortened in small things and to be contracted, it would not be power.

For if you say that this is possible for power and that is impossible, you thereby cancel its being power, since it is weak in those things it cannot do. But indeed, it will no longer have any superiority of divinity over the things that change; for humans and the lower animals, when they are able to do something, act, and when they are unable, they perish. Therefore, the Son of God has been contained in man all the more because this was not impossible for him; for by his power he suffered while remaining impassible, and died while providing immortality to the mortal.

For a body struck or cut by a body is struck or cut only to the extent that the striking body strikes and the cutting body cuts. For the blow occurs by the resistance of the underlying body to the striking body, with both the agent and the patient being in equal affection. Indeed, if the thing being cut does not resist the cutter with a certain degree of firmness, the cutter will not be able to cut.

For if the underlying body does not resist the motion of the sword but rather yields, the action becomes ineffective, just as also in the case of the more fine-grained bodies of fire or air: in such cases the impulse of the more solid bodies is dissipated without effect. But if a stone or iron or wood or any other material which men use

the sword fails to wound or divide them, because of their yielding and more fine-grained nature. How much more, then, did Wisdom remain unwounded and impassible, in no way injured by anything, even while it was present with the body that was being cut and nailed, being better and purer than every nature after the God who generated it?

Some think that God, measuring Him by the standard of their own disposition, considers the same things as base men either praiseworthy or blameworthy, as if using the opinions of men as a rule and measure, not understanding, because of the ignorance that exists in them, that all creation is indeed deficient in the beauty of God.

For He Himself draws all things into life by His own Word from the whole of all substance and nature. For if He wills the good, being Himself the good, He remains in Himself; the beautiful exists as desirable to Him, being Himself the only beautiful, He looks to Himself, setting no value on the things admired by men. For that must be called truly most beautiful and praiseworthy which God Himself would consider beautiful, even if it be despised and mocked by all, and not what men think.

Therefore, even if through this form He wished to free the souls from soul-destroying passions, putting to shame the multitudes of demons, it was necessary to accept it, not to revile it, seeing that it was given as a liberator and deliverance from the bonds forged for us by disobedience.

For He, the Word, suffered in the flesh, being nailed to the cross, in order to spread out man, who had become numb through error, and to raise him upward to the divine greatness, having equalized him with the wood of life, from which he was previously driven away, because by this form the passions are blunted, a passion of passions.

through suffering becoming also death through dying of death, not overcome by death, nor pained by suffering.

For neither did suffering at all displace him, nor did death corrupt him, but he remained impassible in the passible and immortal in the mortal, having taken possession of all that is air and middle and upper, and having mingled the mortal with immortal divinity, death was utterly vanquished, the flesh being crucified into a figure of incorruption.

Repentance then becomes eradicative of every sin, when it does not admit of delay in the soul's fault that has occurred, nor does it send the passion on into a temporal interval; for in this way the evil will not have a chance to leave a trace in us, since it is torn away at the very moment of its entry, like a plant just taking root.

Our evil is truly the dissimilarity and ignorance with respect to God; and conversely, how great a good is assimilation to him. Indeed, it appears that the true and proper good is the turning toward and faith in the incorruptible and divine, while evil is ignorance and negligence concerning it, since those things that grow in us and from us are our own, being productive of wickedness. The Son of God Christ came down to the visible creation by the commands of the Father, in order to overturn the powers of the tyrannizing demons and to deliver souls from bitter slavery, since nature, bewitched by the first draughts of injustice, was filled with tumult and disorder, no longer able to recall what is beneficial.

Therefore, it was easily drawn toward the idols, when evil had flooded everything and had spread over all generations, according to the alteration produced by disobedience in our fleshly tabernacles, until the Lord Christ, through his manifestation in the world, dimmed the assaults of the pleasures with which the lower powers armed themselves against us to enslave the rational faculty, and showed man free from all evils.

For this reason the Lord Jesus also put on flesh, and became man, and was nailed to the cross in the divine economy, so that through that flesh by which the demons boasted to display themselves as gods, having hooked souls toward death by methods of deceit, they might be seen overturned and not being gods.

for by preventing their vainglory from being further exalted, he became man, so that through that very body by which they had corrupted the rational race, alienating it from the true worship of God, they might be exposed as destroyers, not benefactors of souls, through the ineffable arts of wisdom that received the Word.

It was not at all astonishing for Christ to overawe the opposing natures of the demons by the immutable magnitude of his power. But since this very thing would have brought them grief (for they would have preferred to be conquered by the stronger), for this reason he arranged the outcome for the salvation of all through a man, so that, on the one hand, men, with life itself and truth having descended upon them bodily, might check the allurements of sin and ascend to formation and illumination by the Word, and on the other hand, the demons, conquered and despised by the weaker, might cease from their audacity, their Typhonic inflammation being bound.

For this reason especially the cross was introduced, set up as a trophy against injustice and as a terror, so that from then on the human being would no longer be subject to wrath, having wrestled back the defeat from disobedience, conquered the lower powers lawfully, and been shown free from every debt by the gifts of God, since in this way the firstborn Word of God, having fortified the human being with the weapons of righteousness in whom he dwelt, overcame the powers that had enslaved us through the cross-shaped form, as has been said, showing the human being who had been dominated by corruption to be free with outstretched hands.

This is, if one must speak by way of definition, the form of victory's consolidation, the descent of God to the human being, a trophy against the material spirits, deliverance from death, a foundation for the ascent to the true day and a ladder for those hastening to enjoy the light there, a device by which those who are fit for the building of the church are drawn up from below, like a square stone, to be fitted into the divine Word.

From this, the kings here, perceiving that the cross-shaped form is taken up for the dispersion of every evil disposition, devised the so-called *vexilla* in the Roman tongue. Hence the sea, yielding to this form, offers itself as navigable to men. For the whole creation, so to speak, is clothed in this sign for freedom: for the birds flying high also display the cross-shaped form in their outstretched wings.

the shape of wings they hint at, and the man himself, stretching out his hands, appears to be nothing other than this.

Hence the Lord, having formed him with that very thing with which he had been adorned by nature, mingled him with divinity, so that he might henceforth be a sacred instrument of God, free from all discord and lack of rhythm.

For after the human being was harmonized toward piety and the incorruptible limb of truth had been fitted in, through which divinity was received into the wood of life like strings and tones tuned together, it is not possible for him to fall into disproportion and corruption. The Son of God Christ came by the commands of the Father to the visible creation, in order to overthrow the powers of the tyrannizing demons and to rescue souls from bitter slavery, since nature, bewitched by the draughts of injustice, was filled with tumult and disorder, no longer able to recall what was beneficial. Therefore it was easily drawn toward idols, when evil had flooded everything and spread over all generations, according to the alteration produced by disobedience in our fleshly tabernacles, until the Lord Christ, through the manifestation by which he appeared in life, dimmed the assaults of pleasures with which the lower powers armed themselves against us to enslave the rational part, and showed the human being free from all evils. For this reason the Lord Jesus also wore flesh, and became human, and was nailed to the cross, managing the economy so that through the flesh by which the demons boasted to display themselves as gods, having hooked souls toward death by methods of deceit, they might be overthrown and be seen not to be gods.

For preventing their boasting from being raised further, he became human, so that through that body by which the rational race had alienated itself from the true worship of God and had wrought ruin, through that same body, when it had received the Word through ineffable arts of wisdom, the destroyers might be refuted, and not be benefactors of souls. Now there was nothing astonishing in Christ’s overwhelming the opposing natures of the demons by the magnitude of immutable power. But since this also brought them grief (for they would have preferred to be conquered by the stronger), for this reason he managed the outcome for the salvation of all through a human being, so that, on the one hand, when life itself and truth had descended bodily among them, humans might be restrained from running back to formation and illumination, the charms of sin; and on the other hand, the demons, conquered and despised by the weaker, might cease from their audacity, bound in the inflammation like that of Typhon.

For this reason especially the cross was introduced, set as a trophy against injustice and a terror, so that from then on humanity would no longer be subject to wrath, having wrestled back the defeat of disobedience, conquered the lower powers lawfully, and been shown free of every debt by the gifts of God, since in this way the firstborn Word of God, having fortified humanity with the weapons of righteousness in which he dwelt, overcame the powers that had enslaved us through the cross-shaped form, as has been said. He showed humanity, which had been dominated by corruption, free with outstretched hands. For this form is, if one must define it, the stronghold of victory, the descent of God to humanity, a trophy against the material spirits, deliverance from death, the basis for ascent to the true day, a ladder for those hastening to enjoy the light there, a device by which those who are fit for the building of the church are drawn up from below, like a square stone, to be fitted into the divine Word. Hence the kings here, perceiving that the cross-shaped form is adopted for the dispersal of every evil disposition, devised the so-called *vexilla* in the Roman tongue. Hence the sea yields to this form and offers itself as navigable to humans. For the whole creation, so to speak, has been clothed in this sign for freedom: even the birds flying high trace the cross-shaped form in their spread.

For this reason especially the cross was introduced, set as a trophy against injustice and a terror, so that from then on humanity would no longer be subject to wrath, having wrestled back the defeat of disobedience, and having chosen salvation, they will cease from their frenzy, bound by the memory of the cross, which stands as a definitive marker, more enduring than squared stones.

they intimate the shape of wings, and the man himself, stretching out his hands, appears to be nothing other than this. Therefore, by this very thing with which he was adorned from his construction, the Lord, having formed him, mingled him with divinity, so that he might henceforth be a sacred instrument of God, free from all discord and rhythmlessness. For it is no longer possible, after the man has been harmonized toward piety and the incorruptible member of truth has been fitted, through which the divinity has been received by the wood of life as if by strings and tones fitted together, to fall into disproportion and corruption. For this was his power; for it is the nature of power to contract in small things and be shortened, and to expand in large things and be magnified. But if it is possible for it to extend with large things and be equalized, yet impossible for it to be shortened in small things and contract, then it was not power.

For if you say that this is possible in power, but that is impossible, you are striking out that very power, making it weak in respect to what it cannot do. Nor, indeed, will it any longer have any preeminence of divinity in relation to the things that change; for men and the lowly animals that creep, in whatever they are able to do, they act, and in whatever they are not able, they fail. Therefore, it is all the more for this reason that the Son of God has been accommodated in man, because this was not impossible for him; for in power he also suffered while remaining impassible, and died while providing immortality to the mortal.

For a body that is struck or cut by another body is struck or cut only to the extent that the striking thing strikes and the cutting thing cuts. For the blow occurs by the counter-resistance of the underlying substance to the striker, with both the agent and the patient being in equal affection. Indeed, if the thing being cut does not counter-resist the cutter with a slight degree of resistance, the cutter will not be able to cut.

For if the underlying body does not resist the motion of the sword but rather yields, the action becomes ineffective, just as also in the case of the more fine-grained bodies of fire or air; for in such cases the impulse of the more solid bodies is dissipated and inoperative. But if a stone, iron, wood, or other material that men use strikes fire or air,

of themselves they slay one another, they are unable to wound or divide, because it happens to be of a yielding and more fine-grained nature, so how much more would Wisdom remain unwounded and impassible, being harmed by nothing, even while it was present in a body that was being cut and nailed, being better and purer than every nature after the God who generated it? ... For this was a power in him; for it is of power to be contracted in small things and shortened, and to be spread out in large things and enlarged. But if it is possible for it to be extended with large things and to be equalized, but impossible for it to be shortened in small things and contracted, it would not be power. For if you say that it is possible for it to be this, but impossible for it to be that, you delete its being power, since it is weak concerning what it cannot do. Moreover, it will no longer have any superiority of divinity over things that change; for even humans and the crawling animals, in those things which they are able to do they act, but in those which they are unable they fail. Therefore, the Son of God has rather been accommodated in man because this was not impossible for him; because by power he suffered while remaining impassible, and died while providing immortality to the mortal. For a body struck or cut by a body is struck or cut to the extent that the striker strikes and the cutter cuts; for the blow occurs by the resistance of the underlying body to the striker, with both the agent and the patient being in equal affection.

indeed, if that which is cut does not offer some resistance to the cutter by virtue of a slight firmness, the cutter will be unable to cut. For if the underlying body does not withstand the stroke of the sword but rather yields, the action becomes ineffective, just as also happens with the more fine-grained bodies, such as fire or air; in such cases the impulse of the more solid bodies is dissipated and becomes inoperative. But if fire or air were struck by a stone, or iron, or wood, or anything else that men use—

they slay one another, they are unable to wound or divide it, because it happens to be of a yielding and more subtle nature. So how much more did Wisdom remain unwounded and impassible, in no way injured by anything, even when it was present with the body that was being cut and nailed, being superior and purer than every nature after the God who generated it? Some think that God, measuring him by the standard of their own disposition, considers the same things either praiseworthy or blameworthy as do base men, as if he used the opinions of men as a rule and measure, not understanding, because of the ignorance that exists in them, that all creation is indeed deficient of the beauty of God.

For he himself draws all things into life by his own reason from the whole of every substance and nature. For if he wills the good, being himself the good, he remains in himself; the beautiful exists as an object of love for him, and being himself the only beautiful, he looks to himself, setting no value on the things admired by men. For that must be called truly most beautiful and praiseworthy which God himself would consider beautiful, even if it is despised and mocked by all, and not what men think.

Hence, even if through this form he wished to free souls from the passions that consume the spirit, shaming the multitudes of demons, it was necessary to accept it, not to revile it, seeing it as a liberator and a deliverance from the bonds forged for us by disobedience.

For the Word suffered in the flesh, being nailed to the cross, in order to stretch out man, who had become numb with error, and to equal him to the divine magnitude above by the wood of life, from which he was previously banished, because in this form the passions are blunted, a passion of passions.

Through suffering, he became death, and through dying, death of death, not being overcome by death, nor pained by suffering.

Neither did suffering cause him to depart from himself, nor did death corrupt him, but he remained impassible in the passible and immortal in the mortal, having occupied all the air and the middle and the upper regions, and having mingled the mortal with immortal divinity. Death was utterly defeated, the flesh being raised up into an impression of incorruptibility. Some think that God, measuring him by the standard of their own disposition, judges the same things as either praiseworthy or blameworthy as do the base, using the opinions of men as a rule and measure, not understanding, because of the ignorance in them, that all creation is indeed deficient of the beauty of God. For he himself draws all things to life by his own reason from the whole of every substance and nature. For if he wills the good, being himself the good, he remains in himself; the beautiful is desirable to him, being himself the only beautiful, he looks to himself, setting no value on the things admired by men. For that is to be called truly most beautiful and praiseworthy which God himself would consider beautiful, even if it is despised and mocked by all, but not what men think. Therefore, even if through this form he wished to free souls from wrathful passions, shaming the multitudes of demons, it ought to have been accepted, not reviled, seeing that it was given as a liberator and deliverer from the bonds prepared for us by disobedience.

For he suffered in the flesh, being nailed to the cross, the Word, in order to stretch out the man benumbed by error, raising him up to the divine height by the wood of life, from which he was previously driven away, because in this form the passions are blunted, passion suffering passions.

He became death through suffering, and death through dying, not conquered by death, nor pained by passion. For neither did passion at all displace him, nor did death destroy him, but he remained impassible in the passible and immortal in the mortal, having taken possession of everything that is air, middle, and upper, and having mingled the mortal with immortal divinity, and death was utterly vanquished when the flesh was crucified into an impression of incorruption. Repentance then becomes erasive of every sin, when it admits no delay concerning the error of the soul that has occurred, nor does it refer the passion to a temporal interval; for thus evil will not be able to leave a trace in us, being torn away like a newly planted plant as soon as it sets foot. Repentance then becomes erasive of every sin, when it admits no delay concerning the error of the soul that has occurred, nor does it refer the passion to a temporal interval; for thus evil will not be able to leave a trace in us, being torn away like a newly planted plant as soon as it sets foot. Truly our evil is dissimilarity to and ignorance of God; and conversely, how great a good is assimilation to him? Indeed, the true proper good appears to be the turning toward and faith in the incorruptible and divine, while evil is ignorance of and indifference toward it, since the things that grow in us and from us are ours, being productive of wickedness.

Our own evil is truly unlikeness to God and ignorance; and the good, on the other hand, is how great a thing likeness to him. For it appears that the genuine good is conversion and faith concerning the incorruptible and divine, while evil is ignorance and negligence concerning it, since the things that grow in us and from us are our own, being productive of wickedness.