Appendix A: Catalog of Testimonies

If anyone divides the words of Scripture that speak about the two persons, or hypostases, of Christ and apply some of them to Him as a man in such a way that the Word is separated from God, or without the Word of the Father, or takes other statements from Scripture and says they apply only to Him as God, that is the Word from God the Father, let him be accursed.

If anyone dares to say that the man Christ is the Bearer of God, and instead of saying that He is God, truly the Son of God by nature, the “Word made flesh,” who was made a partaker of flesh and blood precisely like us, let him be accursed.

If anyone does not confess that Christ is, at the same time, God and man, because, according to the Scriptures, the Word was made flesh, let him be accursed.

If anyone does not confess that the Word of God suffered in the flesh, was crucified in the flesh, and tasted death in the flesh, becoming the firstborn from the dead, although as God He is life and gives life, let him be accursed. (Denzinger, 255–57, 263)

Following the holy Fathers, we confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. With one voice we confess that He is perfect in deity and perfect in humanity. He is truly God and truly man, consisting of a rational soul and body. He is consubstantial with the Father in regard to His deity and is consubstantial with us according to His humanity. He is like us in every way, except He is without sin. He was begotten before the world out of the Father according to His divinity. The same person was, in the last days, born for us and for our salvation from the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to His humanity. We confess that one and the same Jesus Christ, the Son, the Lord, the only-begotten, is known in two natures, without commingling, without changing, without division and without separation. The difference between the two natures is in no way abolished because of the Personal Union. The unique aspects of each nature are preserved. They are not run together into one person and substance, neither divided or torn into two persons. There is one and the same only-begotten Son, God the Word and the Lord Jesus Christ. ‹We acknowledge one single Lord Christ who is at one and the same time the only-begotten Son, the Word of the Father and also true man.› The prophets of old and the Christ Himself have taught us these things concerning Him, as well as the symbol that the Fathers have handed down to us. (MPG, 86:2507/8C–2509/10A)

‹The Personal Union has taken place in this way.› The distinct aspects of each nature are unimpaired. ‹The two natures remain unmingled and unchanged.› Each nature comes together into one person. Therefore, Divine Majesty assumes human lowliness. Divine Power assumes human weakness. ‹The Eternal Divine Being assumes the› mortality of human nature (abstract for the concrete). For the purpose of paying the debt of our condition, the immortal nature that cannot suffer has been united to the human nature that can suffer. This happened so that the same Mediator could die according to one nature, and could not die according to the other nature ‹in order that our single Mediator, who could not die according to the Divine Nature, might die for us according to the human nature›.

He who is truly God is also truly man, since both the humility of the man and the loftiness of God ‹exist in one person›. Just as God did not change when He took pity ‹on us and assumed the human nature›, so man was not consumed by divine dignity ‹and glory›. For each nature does what is unique to it, in communion with the other. The Word does what belongs to the Word, ‹the Son of God,› and the flesh carries out what belongs to the flesh. One of these natures flashes forth in the miracles, the other sinks beneath injuries. ‹Yes, there is still one single Mediator, God and man.› He is God because in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God, by whom all things were made. He is man because the Word was made flesh, and because He was born of woman. We read that the Son of Man descended from heaven when the Son of God assumed flesh of the Virgin Mary, thus indicating the unity of the Person with two natures.

It is said that the Son of God was crucified and buried. He suffered these things not in His very divinity, by which He is consubstantial with the Father, but in the infirmity of ‹His assumed› human nature. [Denzinger, 293–95]

Behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13–14)

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands. (John 13:3)

All things have been handed over to Me by My Father. (Matthew 11:27)

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. (Matthew 28:18)

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. (Philippians 2:9–10)

And He put all things under His feet. (Ephesians 1:22; [see also Psalm 8:6;] 1 Corinthians 15:27; Hebrews 2:8)

The Word of the Father has of Himself communicated what was His to the received man. He has communicated divine power to the received mortal nature, but has not received for Himself anything out of the mortal nature. (MPG, 22:288A/B; Ferrar, 1:188)

The Word, making this human being worthy of eternal life as he has always been, and putting him in communion in His deity and blessedness. (MPG, 22:289A; Ferrar, 1:190–91)

The Word did not become flesh in order to add to divinity. In order that flesh might rise up, He came forth from Mary, not that the Word might become better. There was a great addition to the human body from communion and union with the Word. (MPG, 42:656C, 26:1065A/B; NPNF, ser. 2, 4:573)

It is clear that the flesh from Mary and that came from our race was transformed into glory in the Transfiguration, having acquired the glory of the Godhead, heavenly honor and perfection and glory which the flesh did not have from the beginning, but received in the union with God the Word. (MPG, 42:332D; Robinson, 26: The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books 2 and 3, 398–99)

How, then, does the flesh of Christ make alive? He replies: Because of the union with the living Word, which is accustomed to communicate the endowments of His nature to His own body. (MPG, 75:962B–963C)

That the nature received from us is a participant in the same honor of Him who received it and that no difference in worship appears, but the divinity which is not seen is worshiped through the nature which is seen—this surpasses every miracle. (MPG, 82:517A)

‹The Divine Nature communicates or› imparts its own excellent qualities to the flesh, while remaining incapable of suffering. It does not share in the sufferings of the flesh. (MPG, 94:1012C, 1058C; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:52)

The flesh has communion with the divine operations of the Word, because the divine operations are carried out through the body. He that works both in a divine and human fashion is one. It is necessary to know that just as His holy mind carries out natural human functions, so also it participates in the divinity of the Word. The Word works, arranges, governs, perceives, knows and determines everything, not simply as the mind of a man, but as being made one in person with God, as being constituted with the mind of God. (MPG, 94:1080B/C; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:68)

After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3)

At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him. But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death. (Hebrews 2:8–9)

But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God. (Luke 22:69)

And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. (Luke 1:32–33)

He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. (John 5:26–27)

Whenever Scripture says that the Word received glory in time, it is speaking about His humanity, not His divinity. (MPG, 83:181A)

Scripture does not mean that the substance of the Word has been exalted. It is talking about His humanity. He is said to be exalted according to the flesh. Since it is His body, it is proper to say that as man He was exalted and received something, with respect to His body, according to His humanity. His body receives those things that the Word always possessed according to His deity and perfection from the Father. As a man, He says that He received the power that as God He always has. He who glorifies others, says, “Glorify me,” in order to show that He had flesh that lacked such things. When the flesh of His humanity receives glorification, He speaks as if He Himself had received it.

Therefore we must always keep in mind when reading the Holy Scriptures that none of those things that He says He received in time, He received as though He did not already have them. For, being God and the Word, naturally He always had those things. But He says that He received them according to His humanity so that, even as He received them in Himself, in the flesh, He might in the future hand them over to us, from the same flesh, to be firmly possessed. (MPG, 26:95C, 98–99, 406B/C, 410A/B; NPNF, ser. 2, 4:330, 415)

When Peter says that Jesus was God, both Lord and Christ, He is not talking about His divinity, but about His humanity. The Word was always Lord. He did not become Lord only after the cross. Rather, His divinity made the humanity both Lord and Christ. (MPG, 26:1022A/B)

Whatever the Scriptures say that the Son has received, this is said in respect to receiving in His body. This body is the firstfruits of the Church. Accordingly, God raised up and exalted first His own body, but afterward members of His body. (MPG, 26:1003B)

When the Lord is celebrated, and receives a name (Philippians 2:9) that is above every name, and when He says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18) and “I live because of the Father” (John 6:57) and “Glorify Me … with the glory that I had with You before the world existed” (John 17:5) these things must be understood of the incarnation, not of His Deity. (MPG, 29:694C, 597C, 701A/B)

You have learned that He can subject all things to Himself according to the operation of Deity. Learn now that He receives, according to His flesh, all things in subjection to Him, as it is written in Ephesians 1. According to the flesh, therefore, all things are delivered to Him as His subjects. (MPL, 19:714B; NPNF, ser. 2, 10:307; MPL, numbers this chapter “15”)

God does give the apostles a participation in His seat, but to Christ, according to His humanity, He gives a common participation in the divine seat. (MPL, 16:691B; NPNF, ser. 2, 10:294)

In Christ our common human nature has, according to the flesh, obtained the prerogative of the heavenly seat. (MPL, 16:713B; NPNF, ser. 1, 14:307; MPL numbers this chapter “4”)

In regard to the flesh ‹the Father has commanded›, “Let all God’s angels worship Him.” (MPG, 63:28; NPNF, ser. 1, 14:375)

He gave all things into His Son’s hand, according to humanity. (MPG, 123:1225A)

“As the Son of God, He has an eternal throne. ‘Thy throne,’ says God, ‘is forever and ever.’ After the cross and passion He was deemed worthy of honor, not as God, but as man, and He received what He had as God.” And a little after: “Therefore, as man, He hears, ‘Sit at My Right hand,’ for as God He has eternal power.” (MPG, 119:289A/B.)

As man, He ascended to ruling power. (MPG, 75:363C)

As man He sought glory that He always had as God. He doesn’t say these things as though He had ever been destitute of His own glory, but because He wanted to bring His own temple [His body] into the glory that He always has as God. (MPG, 75:439/40A, a passage that expresses the idea of this citation, though not in its precise words)

That He received glory, power, and rule over all things must be referred to the conditions [properties] of humanity. (MPG, 76:1359C, a passage that expresses the idea of this citation, though not in its precise words)

Though Christ, as God, is by nature Lord, He receives universal power also as a man. (MPG, 80:880A)

“Sit at My right hand”—this was said according to the human nature. As God, He has eternal dominion. As man, He has received what He had as God. As man, therefore, He hears ‹what is said to Him›, “Sit at My right hand.” For as God, He has eternal dominion. (MPG, 80:1768B)

Christ always received worship and adoration from the angels, for He always was God. Now they are adoring Him also as man. (MPG, 82:686C)

Let the enemies of the truth openly explain when, and according to which nature, the almighty Father raised His Son above all things, and similarly, according to what nature He subjected all things. All things have always been subject to His divine nature, as Creator. If power was added to the divine nature, or His sublime divine nature was exalted, then that means it was inferior to Him who did the exalting. It would mean that the divine nature of Christ actually was in need of something to be added to it and that it depended on another divine nature. Arius welcomes those who hold such views into his fellowship. (MPL, 54:869; NPNF, ser. 2, 12:59)

We understand that “exaltation” and “a name above every name” have to do with the human nature, which was enriched by a great increase in glorification, although there is absolutely one and the same person, divine and human. In the incarnation nothing was taken away from the Word that had to be returned to it by means of a gift from the Father. The “form of a servant” is the human nature’s humility, which now has been exalted to the glory of divine power. So, divine things were never done without man, human things [never] done without God. (MPL, 54:1066; NPNF, ser. 2, 12:94)

Whatever Christ has received in time He has received as man. Things are conferred on man, which he did not have; however, according to the Word, the Son also has all things, in no way different from what the Father has. (MPL, 54:1066–67; NPNF, ser. 2, 12:94)

The divine nature does not need to be elevated to honor, or to be increased by advancing its dignity. The divine nature does not need to merit all power on heaven and earth through obedience. Therefore, according to the fleshly nature, He [Christ] acquired these things. According to the nature of the Word he never lacked them. Did the Creator have to obtain these things as a gift in these last times because He had no power and dominion over his creature? (MPL, 62:141A/D, 142B)

His disciples saw Him on the mount of Transfiguration, where He affirmed that the highest power in heaven and earth had been given to Him, according to His humanity. (MPG, 145:742B)

Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life…. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. (John 6:54–55)

The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:14)

Take, eat; this is My body … Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant (Matthew 26:26–28)

He prophesied that He ‹, that is, Christ the man, the human nature of Christ,› would sit on a holy throne and share it with the Divine Spirit, thus showing that God dwells in Him without separation. (MPG, 83:176B)

The man Christ, who increased in wisdom, age and favor, received dominion over all things. (Epistolae, 1:544)

Christ, in His very body, came to His apostles and said, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” It was the external temple that received this power, not God ‹, that is, not according to His divinity,› which built the external temple of extraordinary beauty. (Epistolae, 1:554)

God was not changed into human flesh or substance, but in Himself glorified the nature that He received, so that the human, weak, mortal flesh and nature received divine glory in order to have all power in heaven and on earth, which it did not have before it was received by the Word. (This work was traditionally assigned to Athanasius in the Middle Ages but was in fact composed by Vigilius of Thapsus; MPL, 62:305B)

In Philippians 2, Paul talks about His body as a temple. His flesh is exalted, not He who is the Most Exalted One. To His flesh He gave the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of the Father.

When Scripture talks about the glorification of Christ, it is talking about the flesh, which has received glory. Whatever Scripture says that the Son has received, it is saying this according to His humanity, not His divinity. So, when the Apostles say that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ, we must understand that this fullness dwells in the flesh of Christ. (MPG, 26:987–90)

“Sit on My right hand,” has been said to the Lord’s body.

Therefore, it is the body to which He says, “Sit on My right hand.” (MPG, 83:180B)

The holy catholic Church condemns anyone who says that the human flesh of our Lord is not to be worshiped and adored as the flesh of the Lord and God. (MPG, 76:350C, 1211)

Whatever Scripture says that the Son has received, it understands as having been received according to His body. His body is the firstfruits of the Church; therefore, the Lord first raised and exalted His body, and afterward also the members of His body. (MPG, 26:1003B)

Since the Word received human flesh, the flesh was united to the glory of the Word and possesses the glory of the Word. Thus, the man Jesus remained in the glory of God the Father. (MPL, 10:326–27; NPNF, ser. 2, 9:167)

He who, according to His divinity, always had power over all things with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now also according to His humanity has received power over all things. This man who suffered not long ago rules over heaven and earth and in fact does here and there whatever He wants to do. (MPG, 86:486–88)

Acts 2:33 says that Christ was exalted to the right hand of God. Who was exalted? The lowly one or the highest one? What is lowly, except the human nature? Who else besides the divine is the highest? God, being the Highest, does not need to be exalted. The apostle says that the human nature was exalted by becoming Lord and Christ. Therefore, when the apostle says that God exalted Him, this does not mean that the Lord was, before the world, existing in some lower estate. What it means is that what was lowly, His human nature, was exalted to the right hand of God. … The right hand of God the Creator, the Lord, the one by whom all things were made and without whom nothing that exists was made, has itself, through the union, raised up to its own height the man who was united with it. (MPG, 83:193, 195; see also Epistolae, 1:549)

‹In Acts 2, when Peter says,› “God has made the same Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ,” he is using the words ‹“the same”› to refer almost entirely to the human nature, seen by all. … When he says, “God has made Him both Lord and Christ,” he is saying that power and dominion over all things was entrusted ‹to His humanity› by the Father. (MPG, 29:577A/B)

‹When Peter adds,› “this same Jesus whom you crucified” ‹it is obvious that he is talking about the incarnation of the Lord, that is, His flesh,› so that the incarnate flesh might not be left behind by the uncreated Word that cannot suffer, but might be united above to the uncreated Word. This is why God made that which was conceived by Mary and united to deity, both Lord and Christ. (MPG, 42:268B/C; Robinson, 360)

Angels do not adore only the divinity of Christ, but also His footstool. … The prophet says that the earth the Lord took upon Himself when He assumed flesh is to be adored. Therefore, we understand “footstool” to mean the earth, that is, the flesh of Christ, which we today also adore in the Sacraments, and which the apostles adored in the Lord Jesus. (MPL, 16:827A, 828B–829A; NPNF, ser. 2, 10:145–46; MPL numbers this chapter “11”)

If Christ is not, by nature, God, but a creature, He is not to be worshiped or adored as God. They may reply and say, “But why do you adore His flesh if you admit that it is a creature? Why are you as devoted to His flesh as you are to His divinity?” (MPL, 39:2200)

It says, “Worship His footstool” (Psalm 99:5). His footstool is the earth. Christ took upon Himself earth of earth, because flesh is of the earth. He received His flesh from the flesh of Mary. Because He walked here in this same flesh, He gave us this very flesh to eat for salvation. No one who eats this flesh does not first worship it. Therefore, this is why the footstool of the Lord is worshiped. We not only not sin by worshiping it, we sin if we do not worship it. (MPL, 37:1264; NPNF, ser. 1, 8:485)

It is great and wonderful and awe-inspiring that our flesh is seated above and worshiped by angels and archangels, by seraphim and cherubim. When I reflect on this, I am entranced ‹and seem to be outside of myself›. (MPG, 63:47; NPNF, ser. 1, 14:388)

This body, even when it is lying in a manger, is worshiped by the Magi. They took a long trip, and when they arrived, they worshiped with a lot of fear and trembling. (MPG, 61:202; NPNF, ser. 1, 12:143)

Let us learn to know to which nature the Father said, “Share My seat.” It is the same nature to which had been said, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Since the human nature, which is united with the Word and only shortly before been condemned, is now seated in heaven, it is appropriate for Him to have said, “All power is given to Me in heaven.” For the human nature, only recently having served, is now, in Christ, ruling over all things. (MPG, 123:484D; Theophylact, 257–58)

He has given all things into the Son’s hand, according to His humanity. (MPG, 123:1225A)

The Word introduced Himself into that which He was not, in order that man’s nature might also become what it was not, being made resplendent with the grandeur of divine majesty, raised beyond nature, not that it has put the unchanging God beneath its nature. (MPG, 75:1383A; Library, 44:198)

If anyone does not confess that the flesh of the Lord makes alive, because it was made the Word’s own flesh, who makes everything alive, let him be anathema. (MPG, 76:311)

The body of the Lord was deemed worthy to be seated at the right hand of God. It is worshiped by every creature and is called the body of the Lord of Nature, ‹the body of God›. (MPG, 83:168C)

The human nature of Christ has received from God the honor of having dominion over the universe. (MPG, 80:920B)

It is a promotion of that which is received ‹, the human nature,› not of God, when it is said that God has exalted Him and has given Him a name above every name, the name of Jesus, at which every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (MPL, 54:807; NPNF, ser. 2, 12:49)

“Christ’s divine will was eternal and omnipotent. His human will began in time and underwent its own natural and expected emotions. It was not omnipotent according to its own nature, but, because it truly and by nature became the will of God, it is also omnipotent.” This means, as explained by a commentator: “The divine will has, by its own nature, the power to do all things that it wants to do, but Christ’s human will does not have power to do everything it could do, by its nature, but it is united to God the Word”. (MPG, 94:1076–77; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:66)

The flesh of Christ is in fellowship with the operating divinity of the Word. Divine actions are accomplished by means of the body because He who is working through the divinity and humanity is one. It is necessary to know that His holy mind works according to its natural functions and therefore shares in understanding, knowing, and managing all things ‹in the entire universe,› not as the mere mind of a man, but as personally united with God; it is the mind of God. (MPG, 94:1080B/C; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:68)

The human nature does not, in and of itself, have knowledge of the future; but the Lord’s soul, because of its personal identity and union with the Word Himself, apart from other divine criteria, was also rich in knowledge about the future. … We say that this Master and Lord of all creation, the one Christ, who is at the same time God and man, knows all things. For in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (MPG, 94:1085A/C; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:69)

When Christ was seen by His disciples on the mount in Galilee, He asserted that the highest power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him by the Father, that is, according to His human nature. (MPG, 145:742B)

And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed. (John 17:5)

For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. (Colossians 2:9)

The Word made flesh prayed that that which was from time ‹, that is, has a beginning in time,› might receive the glory of that brightness, which is without time. (MPL, 10:85B; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. I]:66)

Being exalted by the right hand of God, etc. (t. 2, p. 333 [al. 330]): “This (right hand of God), through the union, raised to its own height the Man united to it. (MPG, 83:196; Epistolae, 1:549)

God, the Word, is never changed by the communion that He has with the body and soul, neither does He partake of their imperfection; rather, He transmits to them the power of His divinity and remains the same that He was even before the union.

How is Deity in the flesh? Just as fire is in iron, not by turning into iron, but by imparting itself into the iron. For fire does not run out to the iron, but remaining in its place, imparts its own specific power, which is not diminished when it is imparted. It fills the entire mass and becomes partaker of it.

(Pseudo-Basil, MPG, 31:1460C)

Strengthening an earthly body with divinity, He united it into one power, brought it into one Divinity, being one Lord and one Christ, not two Christs nor two Gods, and so forth. (MPG, 43:168C/D)

You are not entirely unwise when you deny that the flesh is able to make something alive. For if you are talking about the flesh alone, no, it cannot make anything alive at all. It is in need of something to make it alive. But when you are finished examining very carefully the mystery of the incarnation, having learned to know the life that dwells in the flesh, you will believe that although the flesh is not able to do anything by itself, it has nevertheless become life-giving, because it has been united to the life-giving Word. It has been joined to the Word and so now it has been made capable of giving life. The flesh of Christ did not drag the Word of God down to its corruptible nature; rather, the flesh was elevated to the power of the better nature. Therefore, although the nature of the flesh, insofar as it is flesh, cannot make anything alive; nevertheless, it is able to do this because it has received the entire operation of the Word. The flesh of Paul or Peter or others cannot do this, but that of Life itself in which the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, can do this. Therefore, the flesh of all others can do nothing, only the flesh of Christ can make alive, because in it dwells the only-begotten Son of God. (MPG, 73:602C; Library, 43:435)

I cannot agree that it is true to say that the Deity experienced the violence done to His body in the same way that we know the flesh was glorified by the majesty of the Deity. (MPL, 42:1165)

The Word that became man did not confer a partial grace on the received [human] nature; rather, it pleased God that the whole fullness of Deity dwelt in it. (MPG, 83:530–31)

If the received nature has been joined with the Divinity that received it, it participates and associates with the same glory and honor of the Divinity. (MPG, 80:1023C)

The human nature itself, after the resurrection, attained divine glory. (MPG, 82:683B)

The divine nature imparts to the flesh its own excellences, while it remains impassible and does not participate in the passions of the flesh. (MPG, 94:1012C, 1058C; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:52)

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. (John 14:6)

He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. … because He is the Son of Man. (John 5:26–27)

There is one condition and quality pertaining to the creature and another to the Creator. Our nature, received by the Son of God, has exceeded its measure and by grace has been transferred into the condition of the One receiving it. (MPG, 75:535, 538)

Christ added the reason why He said that life and the power of judgment had been given Him by the Father. He said that it is because He is the Son of Man so that we would understand that all things were given to Him as man. However, the only-begotten Son is not a partaker of life, but is life by nature. (MPG, 73:383A/B; Library, 43:272)

The body of Christ makes alive because it is the body of Life itself, retaining the power of the Word, now incarnate. It is full of the power of Him by whom all things exist and continue to live. (MPG, 73:519D–522A; Library, 43:376)

Because the Savior’s flesh was joined to the Word of God, who is by nature Life, it was made life-giving. (MPG, 73:566D; Library, 43:410)

I filled My body with life. I received mortal flesh, but since I am by nature Life, I dwell in the flesh. I completely transformed it according to My life. (MPG, 73:586C; Library, 43:424)

The flesh, by its very nature, cannot on its own make anything alive. But in Christ it is not alone. It is united to the Son of God, who is in very essence Life. Therefore, when Christ says that His flesh gives life, He is not ascribing the power to make alive in the same way as He Himself, or His own Spirit, is able to make alive. For the Spirit makes alive by Himself. The flesh rises to this power by the personal union. We cannot understand with our minds or express with our tongue how this happens. We receive in silence and firm faith. (MPG, 73:603C/D; Library, 43:437)

The flesh of life, having been made the flesh of the Only-Begotten, has been brought to the power of life. (MPG, 74:343A/B)

Christ’s flesh is not holy in and of itself. It is transformed by union with the Word into the power of the Word. It is the cause of salvation and sanctification to those who partake of it. Therefore, we say that that divinity works effectively through the flesh, not because of the flesh, but because of the Word. (MPG, 74:519A)

Christ is glorified by the Father, not because He is God, but because He was man. It was not a result of His own nature that He was divinely effective. He received it by the union and ineffable concurrence that God the Word is understood to have with humanity. (MPG, 75:1026A)

He introduced His life into the received human body by virtue of the union. (MPG, 76:1190A/B)

The Word is life-giving because of the inexpressible birth from the living Father. Yet, we should recognize where the effectiveness of divine glory is ascribed also to His own flesh. Also: We confess that the earthly flesh is incapable of giving life, so far as its own nature is concerned. (MPG, 76:1190A/B)

His human nature was not something living apart, by itself; neither did He ever speak with the Divinity separated from the human nature, existing apart from it, as though they were two different persons, but always with the human nature united with the divine nature (there being one consecration), and even now the human nature knows the most perfect things because it is united in God and joined to the one Deity. (MPG, 42:305C/D; Robinson, 383)

I certainly do adore the Lord’s flesh, yes, the perfect humanity in Christ, because it has been received by the divinity and united to Deity. I confess that there are not two different persons, but that one and same Son of God is God and man. In a word, if you separate man from God, I never believe or serve Him. (MPL, 39:220)

If anyone is disdainful about worshiping humanity, not a bare humanity by itself, but united to divinity, that is, the one Son of God, who is true God and true man, he will die eternally. (MPL, 39:220)

The flesh of Christ, by itself, does not cleanse believers, but through the Word, by which it has been received. (MPL, 41:301; CSEL, 40:486, 11; NPNF, ser. 1, 2:195)

If anyone does not confess that the Lord’s flesh is life-giving, for the reason that it was appropriated to the Word that gives life to all things, let him be anathema. (Denzinger, 262)

He has given all things into His Son’s hand, according to humanity. But if also according to divinity, what do we mean by this? The Father has given all things to the Son by reason of nature, not of grace. (MPG, 123:1225A)

If you want to understand the statement, “All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth,” as something God said about the Word, then understand that this means that everyone, both the willing and unwilling, acknowledge Me as God. But when this is said of the human nature, then understand it this way: I, previously the condemned nature, am now truly God according to the unconfused union with the Son of God, and I have received power over all things. (MPG, 123:484–85; Theophylact, 258)

He did divine things not according to the capabilities of the flesh, but because the Word, united to His flesh, displayed its own capabilities. For glowing iron does not burn because of some natural power it has, but only because it is united with fire. Therefore, in itself the flesh is mortal, but because of its personal union to the Word, it is able to give life. (MPG, 94:1069B/C; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:66)

Christ’s divine will was both eternal and omnipotent, etc. But His human will not only began in time, but also endured natural human qualities. It was not omnipotent, but because it truly has, by nature, become the will also of God the Word, it is also omnipotent. (MPG, 94:1076–77; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:66)

The divine will has, by its own nature, the power to do all things that it wants to do, but Christ’s human will does not have power to do everything by nature, but only because it is united to God the Word.

The human nature does not possess essential knowledge of the future; but the soul of the Lord, because of its union with the Word and the personal identity with it, was rich in the knowledge of the future, in addition to other divine attributes. (And at the end of the chapter:) We say that the one Christ, Master, and Lord of all creation, at the same time God and man, knows also all things. For in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (MPG, 94:1085A/C; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:69)

Although the soul of the Lord by nature did not know the future, because it was personally united to the Word it had knowledge of all things, not by grace, but because of the personal union. (Shortly afterward:) Since the natures in our Lord Jesus Christ are distinct, the natural wills, that is, the powers of will, are also distinct. (MPG, 94:948A/B; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt 2]:69)

Whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood. (Romans 3:25)

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood. (Romans 5:9)

And through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:20)

Why should the Lord’s body not be worshiped when the Word, by stretching out His bodily hand, healed the person who was sick with a fever, and by speaking with a human voice raised Lazarus, and by extending His hands on the cross overthrew the prince of the air? (MPG, 26:1082B; NPNF, ser. 2, 4:577)

God the Word, who was united to a man, does not perform miracles apart from the human nature. It has pleased him to work divine miracles through it, and in it, and with it. (And shortly afterward:) According to His good pleasure He made the humanity perfect above its own nature and did not prevent it from being a rational living being ‹, a creature, a true human nature›. (MPG, 28:1280–81)

The soul, having obtained union with the Word, descended into hell; but, using its divine power and efficacy, it said to the ones in bondage, “Go forth!”(MPG, 76:1166A)

Christ, as God, gives life through His own flesh. (MPG, 76:1282B)

For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father. (Matthew 16:27)

[He] will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11)

According to His good pleasure He made the humanity perfect above its own nature and did not prevent it from being a rational living being ‹, a creature, a true human nature›. (MPG, 28:1280–81)

I, previously the condemned nature, being God, according to the unconfused union with the Son of God, have received power over all things. (MPG, 123:485A; Theophylact, 258)

He has shown that His entire body is full of the life-giving energy of the Spirit, not because it has lost the nature of flesh and has been turned into Spirit, but because it is united with Spirit, it has acquired the entire power to make alive. (MPG, 73:603B; Library, 43:437)

By way of illustration, think of how fire adheres to a burning coal of wood, so also God the Word, united to humanity, has transformed the received nature into its glory and efficacy. God has been united to humanity in a way that we cannot fully understand, but has conferred on it even the operation of His [divine] nature. (MPG, 75:1379; Library, 44:194)

The body of the Lord arose, glorified with divine glory and therefore incapable of decay and suffering. It arose immortal and is worshiped by human powers; nevertheless, it is still a body, having the former circumscription. (MPG, 83:163A)

If the nature of iron is not changed when it is mingled with fire to such an extent that the iron is able to do things that pertain to the fire, neither therefore is the union of God with a body a change of the body, although it gives the body the ability to do divine things. (MPG, 83:215B)

The Lord’s flesh was enriched with divine operations because of its complete personal union with the Word, but in no way did it experience any loss of those things that belong naturally to it. (MPG, 94:1069B; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:66)

Although the Lord’s soul by nature did not know the future, nevertheless, because it was personally united to God the Word, it had knowledge of all things, not by grace, but because of the personal union.

Since the natures in Christ are distinct, the natural wills, that is, the powers of will, are also distinct. (MPG, 94:948A/B; NPNF, ser. 2, 9[pt. 2]:37)

For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. (Colossians 2:9)

In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3)

Christ is not in others as He is in the Father, not because He is not in them, but because they are not capable of receiving the Divine as He has.

A defiled body does not receive rays of divinity. (MPG, 6:1237–39)

The Sun of Righteousness is, in substance, present equally to all things, since He is God. We, however, are weak and our eyes are dim because of the filth of sin. We are incapable of receiving the light. His own temple, His own pure eye, is capable of receiving the splendor of all the light, since it has been formed by the Holy Spirit and is altogether separated from sin. (MPG, 6:1240)

The entire soul of Christ receives the entire Word. It is received into His light and splendor. (MPG, 11:211C; ANF, 4:282)

The soul of Christ, united to the Word of God, is made fully capable of receiving the Son of God. (MPG, 11:405D; ANF, 4:378)

Although God is entirely present to all creatures and dwells especially in believers, they do not entirely receive Him. According to differences in their ability to receive Him, some possess and receive more of Him, and others less. But when it comes to Christ, our Head, the Apostle says, “In Him dwells all the fullness of Deity bodily” (Colossians 2:9). (MPL, 33:837, 383, 847; CSEL, 52:113, 115–16; Library, 30:252)

He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. (Ephesians 4:10)

Long ago He filled all things with His bare divinity. In order to fill all things with His flesh He became incarnate, both descending and ascending. (MPG, 118:1217/1220)

He fills all things with His dominion and working in the flesh, since even before He had filled all things with His divinity. These things oppose Paul of Samosata and Nestorius. (MPG, 124:1083D)

The Church catholic lives and advances in this faith, that in Christ Jesus we do not believe in the humanity without the true divinity, nor in the divinity without the true humanity. (MPL, 54:777; NPNF, ser. 2, 12[pt. 1]:42–43)

The catholic faith teaches and requires that we know that in our Redeemer two natures have united and that while their unique properties remain, a union of both substances has taken place since the time that the Word became flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. Therefore, we are not to think of God without thinking that He is man. Nor are we to think of the man, without thinking that He is God.

Each nature, by distinct operations, declares its genuineness. But neither separates itself from connection with the other. Here nothing belonging to the one is lacking to the other. But God assumed the entire man, and so united Himself to man and man to Himself, that each nature is in the other. Neither passed into the other with the loss of its own attributes. (MPL, 54:319B; NPNF, ser. 2, 12[pt. 1]:165)

Christ’s garments were divided into four parts, but His mantle alone remained undivided. This is a sign of a mystery. The four corners of the earth have been brought to salvation. They share the garment of the Word, that is, His flesh, among themselves in such a way that it is not divided. For the Only-Begotten, passing into each, so to be shared by each, sanctifies their soul and body by His flesh. He is all in all indivisibly and entirely. Because He is one, He is everywhere, but in no way divided. (MPG, 74:659B/C)

The holy body of Christ is indivisible even while it is “divided” and distributed to the four corners of the earth. It is distributed among them individually and sanctifies the soul of each one with the body. The Only-Begotten is by His own flesh in all, entirely and indivisibly because He is everywhere. He has in no way been divided, even as Paul exclaims [Ephesians 4:12]. (MPG, 124:278A/B)

Since He is offered up in many places, are there many Christs? Not at all. The one Christ is everywhere, being completely here and completely there, one body. For as He who is offered in many places is one body, and not many bodies, so is He also one sacrifice. He is that High Priest of ours who has offered the sacrifice that cleanses us. We also now offer that which, having been offered then, was not consumed. This is done in remembrance of that which was done then. “This do,” says He, “in remembrance of Me.” For we do not make another sacrifice, as the high priest, but always the same. We rather bring about a remembrance of the sacrifice. (Note: This quote is against the propitiatory sacrifice of the papist Mass.) (MPG, 63:131; NPNF, ser. 1, 14:449)