Of God and Man

Ἀλλ’ ἰδοὺ, φασὶν, ὁ Ἀπόστολος φανερῶς αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον ὡμολόγησεν. Τιμοθέῳ γὰρ ἐπιστέλλων οὕτω φησίν ' Ἄνθρωπος Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς.' Τοῦτο δε λέγοντες, τῶν ἀκεραιοτέρων δοκοῦσιν ταράττειν τὸν νοῦν· εἰ γάρ τις συνετῶς τῷ ἀποστολικῷ ἐπιβάλλει ῥητῷ, ἐκ τούτου μάλιστα τοῦ ὀητοῦ τῆς ἀσεβείας αὐτῶν καταψηφίσεται. Ἀλλὰ μὴ οὕτως ακρωτηριάζωμεν τὴν λέξιν, ἀλλ’ ὀλίγον τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἐπιμνησθέντες, ὀρθὴν τῆς οἰκονομίας ἐντεῦθεν τὴν ὁμολογίαν νοῆσαι δυνησόμεθα. Τί οὔν φησιν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος; ' Εἴς Θεος,' φησὶν περὶ τοῦ Πατρός· καὶ εἴη· περὶ τοῦ Υιοῦ· 'Εἴς καὶ Μεσίτης Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων. Εἰ γὰρ, φησὶν, καὶ γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ’ οὐ διὰ τοῦτο δύο αὐτὸν ὑποπτεύειν ὀφείλομεν· ὥσπερ γὰρ Θεὸς ἥν πρὸ τῆς ἐπιδημίας ὁ Λόγος, οὕτω καὶ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, καὶ μεσιτεύσας καὶ τῇ ἀνθρώπου φύσει εἶς πάλιν ἐστιν· διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο Μεσίτην αὐτὸν εἶπηκε Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ὡς ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων ἔχεται πάντως. Ἐστι τοὶνυν Μεσίτης τοῦ Θεοῦ, διὰ τὸ τῆς αὐτῆς οὐσίας ὑπάρχειν τῷ Πατρί· ἔστι δὲ πάλιν καὶ ἀνθρώπων Μεσίτης, διά τὸ  καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπείας πετεσχηκέναι φύσεως τελείως χωρὶς ἀμαρτίας. Ἄνθρωπον οὖν αὐτὸν ὅταν λέγει Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, μὴ διὰ τοῦτο σκανδαλιζέσθωσαν, ἀλλ’ ἐννοείτωσαν αὐτὸν καὶ Κύριον καὶ Θεὸν ὀνομαζόμενον μετὰ τοῦ καὶ Χριστὸν πάλιν λέγειν καὶ Ἰησοῦν· ἀκουέτωσαν γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου τοῦτο φανερῶς οὕτω κηρύττοντος· Προσδεχόμενοι, φημὶ, τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα, καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὄς ἔδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. Κατα Μὴ Βουλομενων Ὁμολογειν Θεοτοκον Την Ἁγιαν Παρθενον, Ἅγιος Κυριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας

But behold, they say, The Apostle openly confessed him a man. For writing to Timothy, he says, ' The man Jesus Christ' . And by saying this they trouble the minds of the less astute; yet if someone carefully attends to the word, from that very word he will condemn them for impiety. But the matter is not carefully studied, for a little before that which has been quoted, let us remember, a correct form is employed which we are able to understand. What then does says the blessed Paul say? 'One God,' he says of the Father, and then of the Son he says: 'One Mediator of God and man.' For if he said, And he was made man, not by this should we be obliged to adopt him as two, for he was God before his coming and being made man, by the human nature, he mediates and remains one; for Mediator of God and Man, he says, and he is of both. He is then the mediator of God through the possession of the substance of the Father, and again he is the Mediator for men by the possession of perfect human nature without sin. So when he calls Jesus Christ man, one should not be scandalised but one should consider that he is named Lord and God who is also named Jesus Christ. Let them hear the same Apostle openly preaching, 'Expecting, I say, blessed hope, and the manifestation of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, he who has given himself for us.' Against those Unwilling to Confess the Holy Virgin as Theotokos, Saint Cyril of Alexandria