On the Incarnation of the Word 15
15 He came then to attract man's sense-bound attention to Himself as man, and so to lead him on to know Him as God
For men’s mind having finally fallen to things of sense, the Word disguised Himself by appearing in a body, that He might, as Man, transfer men to Himself, and centre their senses on Himself, and, men seeing Him thenceforth as Man, persuade them by the works He did that He is not Man only, but also God, and the Word and Wisdom of the true God. 2. This, too, is what Paul means to point out when he says: “That ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length, and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.” 3. For by the Word revealing Himself everywhere, both above and beneath, and in the depth and in the breadth—above, in the creation; beneath, in becoming man; in the depth, in Hades; and in the breadth, in the world—all things have been filled with the knowledge of God. 4. Now for this cause, also, He did not immediately upon His coming accomplish His sacrifice on behalf of all, by offering His body to death and raising it again, for by this means He would have made Himself invisible. But He made Himself visible enough by what He did, abiding in it, and doing such works, and shewing such signs, as made Him known no longer as Man, but as God the Word. 5. For by His becoming Man, the Saviour was to accomplish both works of love; first, in putting away death from us and renewing us again; secondly, being unseen and invisible, in manifesting and making Himself known by His works to be the Word of the Father, and the Ruler and King of the universe.
Ὣς γὰρ ἀγαθὸς διδάσκαλος κηδόμενος τῶν ἑαυτοῦ μαθητῶν, τοὺς μὴ δυναμένους ἐκ τῶν μειζό ὠφεληθῆναι, πάντως διὰ τῶν εὐτελεστέρων καταβαίνων αὐτοὺς παιδεύει· οὕτως καὶ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Παῦλός φησι· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔγνω ὁ κόσμος διὰ τῆς σοφίας τὸν Θεόν, εὐδόκησεν ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τῆς μωρίας τοῦ κηρύγματος σῶσαι τοὺς πιστεύοντας.
Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἀποστραφέντες τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν θεωρίαν, καὶ ὡς ἐν βυθῷ βυθισθέντες κάτω? τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες, ἐν γενέσει καὶ τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς τὸν Θεὸν ἀνεζήτουν, ἀνθρώποις θνητοὺς καὶ δαίμονας ἑαυτοῖς θεοὺς ἀνατυπούμενοι· τούτου ἕνεκα ὁ φιλάνθρωπος καὶ κοινὸς πάντων Σωτὴρ, ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, λαμβάνει ἑαυτῷ σῶμα, καὶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀναστρέφεται, καὶ τὰς αἰσθήσεις πάντων ἀνθρώπων προσλαμβάνει, ἵνα οἱ ἐν σωματικοῖς νοοῦντες εἶναι τὸν Θεὸν, ἀφ’ ὧν ὁ Κύριος ἐργάζεται διὰ τῶν τοῦ σώματος ἔργων, ἀπ’ αὐτῶν νοήσωσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ τὸν Πατέρα λογίσωνται.
Ἄνθρωποι δὲ ὄντες καὶ ἀνθρώπινα πάντα νοοῦντες, οἷς ἐὰν ἐπέβαλον τὰς ἑαυτῶν αἰσθήσεις, ἐν τούτοις προσλαμβανομένους ἑαυτοὺς ἑώρων, καὶ πανταχόθεν διδασκομένους τὴν ἀλήθειαν.
Εἴτε γὰρ εἰς τὴν κτίσιν ἐπτόηντο, ἀλλ’ ἑώρων αὐτὴν ὁμολογοῦσαν τὸν Χριστὸν Κύριον· εἴτε εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἦν αὐτῶν ἡ διάνοια προληφθεῖσα, ὥστε τούτους θεοὺς νομίζειν, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῶν ἔργων τοῦ Σωτῆρος, συγκρινόντων τε ἐκείνων, ἐφαίνετο ἐν ἀνθρώποις μόνος ὁ Σωτὴρ Θεοῦ Υἱός· οὐκ ὄντων παρ’ ἐκείνοις τοιούτων ὁποῖα παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου γέγονεν.
Εἰ δὲ καὶ εἰς δαίμονας ἦσαν προληφθέντες, ἀλλὰ ὁρῶντες αὐτοὺς διωκομένους ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου, ἐγίνωσκον μόνον εἶναι τοῦτον τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον, καὶ οὐκ εἶναι θεοὺς τοὺς δαίμονας.
Εἰ δὲ καὶ εἰς νεκροὺς ἤδη τούτων ἦν ὁ νοῦς κατασχεθείς ὥστε θρησκεύειν ἥρωας, καὶ τοὺς παρὰ ποιηταῖς λεγομένους θεούς· ἀλλ’ ὁρῶντες τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἀνάστασιν, ὡμολόγουν ἐκείνους εἶναι ψευδεῖς, καὶ μόνον τὸν Κύριον ἀληθινὸν τὸν τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγον, τὸν καὶ τοῦ θανάτου κυριεύοντα.
Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ γεγέννηται, καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἐφάνη, καὶ ἀπέθανε, καὶ ἀνέστη, ἀμβλύνας καὶ ἐπισκιάσας τὰ τῶν πώποτε γενομένων ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἔργων, ἵνα ὅπου δ’ ἂν ὦσι προληφθέντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ἐκεῖθεν αὐτοὺς ἀναγάγῃ, καὶ διδάξῃ τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἑαυτοῦ Πατέρα, καθάπερ καὶ αὐτός φησιν, ἦλθον σῶσαι καὶ εὑρεῖν τὸ ἀπολωλός·