Письмо XVII. Юлиану, схоластику Александрии, о церковном учении относительно воплощения Господа

The precious letter of my God-protected master, which brought us the good news of the firm and unshakable knowledge that he himself, and with him my master Christopempt, the wisest scholastic, possessed regarding the right, and the pious, and a saving confession of faith in Christ, our true God, who became man for the sake of gathering in Himself the nature of people and stopping its vicious movement towards itself, or rather, rebellion against itself and division, in which there is no peace due to the shaky movement of the will in relation to each thing. Therefore, we all, thanking God for you, most precious ones, continually pray, even though we are sinners ourselves, so that you may forever preserve, motionless and unshakable, the saving confession of faith and believe that God the Father, the Son and [337] Word, without sin, becoming truly a man for the sake of people, one of the people and a man similar to us, did not change His Divine existence and, having become a man, did not diminish His truly human existence, remaining what was, and what is, and what will eternally be by nature - God; but, being God in essence and nature in Himself, according to the dispensation for our sake, he became, without changing, truly a man - of course, by taking on flesh, possessing an intelligent and rational soul. Therefore, He is truly God by nature, and He is also by nature truly man: The same is completely both in truth, since neither of the natures, gathered together for the sake of the hypostatic union in the mystery of His incarnation, or, rather, full incarnation, is in no way denied by the union, but retains after the union its essential logos and definition, or natural peculiarity, in comparison with the other without fusion and transformation. After all, the differences between natures collected into one hypostasis are not eliminated by the union, but it completely eliminates their division into independent parts. This means that since in Christ, even after the union, the parts of which Christ consists are inexorably preserved by nature, how will it be wrong to confess the parts of which Christ is composed, even after the union? as some people believe, not realizing that it is unreliable, and dangerous, and harmful to everyone’s soul, to take up arms against the obvious and deny the obvious truth, and is characteristic only of those who do not expect the resurrection and judgment at all. So who is not clear and obvious about the word of truth - simple, and unsophisticated, and generally without complexity? After all, if God and man, after the union, Christ is really and truly, and not just by name and naming, is considered God and man, then it is clear that whoever thinks and affirms Christ after the union together of God and man, along with these names, confesses the true existence of the natures designated by the names, unless he believes that empty names, [338] completely devoid of reality, apply to Christ. What then is absurd that God’s holy catholic Church has done, asserting that the parts of which Christ consists are preserved in Christ, with the closest union, unfused by nature and inseparable even after the union? What did she think that was alien to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, since she believes that by union neither the Divine nature of the Word was converted into the nature of the flesh, nor the nature of the flesh itself passed into the nature of the Word after the union, and thus teaches the faithful to think and speak? That from the tradition of the fathers she did not affirm even more firmly, teaching to think in this way and confessing Him as one and Lord, and Christ, and Son, and His one, incarnate God-Word, nature, incarnate in the flesh, possessing an intelligent and rational soul, and understanding this expression in accordance with the interpretation of our holy and blessed father Cyril, - believing to express the introduction of the word “incarnate” our essence and without denying the nature of the flesh of the Word because of the union? After all, those parts that, without any diminution, are preserved in Christ even after the union, unfused and unchangeable by nature and inseparable by the closest union, of course, and to confess as such after the union is extremely decent and fair. For true faith is characterized by confessing what we have learned to think. This means that since the parts of which Christ consists are preserved after the union, then it is absolutely correct to think of their existence in Christ after the union. And since it is correct to think that after the union the parts of which Christ consists are preserved, then it is much more correct and together more decent to confess them, and more important for everyone who cares about salvation, if in fact the proof of true faith is its full confession. So much for this. There is no need to say more when addressing you, from whom, by grace, nothing pertaining to the right faith of Christ is hidden. What did you write to me, most precious ones, I told the pious servant of God, the most blessed governor, and conveyed to him your precious message, and he graciously promised to fulfill any of your [339] wishes. And I will not stop reminding him until he completely accomplishes what you want. The Lord and God of all and the Savior Jesus Christ, for our sake voluntarily accepted death, and with His own blood delivered us from the power of darkness (Col. 1:13), and gave us a new commandment - to love one another just as He loves us (John 13:34) - may He Himself take you by the right hand, and may He lead you in every good deed, and may He direct your pious steps, and May He carry you in abundance with the fruits of righteousness to His wonderful dwelling place, where there is a settlement of all those who rejoice (Ps. 86:7). You might be interested in: