Freedom of Our Moral Nature

 THIS, it need hardly be said, is one of the chief blessings which we have secured to us by the Incarnation. We are by nature the captives and prisoners of our inordinate and unruly passions and desires; we are not our own masters, till our Lord sets us free; and the main question is, how does He set us free, and by what instrumentality?

 1. Here we answer, first, by bringing home to us the broad and living law of liberty and His own pattern which He has provided for us. "Whereas," Athan. says, "of things made the nature is alterable, ... therefore there was here need of One who was unalterable, that men might have the immutability of the righteousness of the Word as an image and type for virtue." Orat. i. § 51. ( Disc . n. 84.)

 Vid. Athan. de Incarn. § 13, 14; vid. also Gent. 41 fin. "Cum justitia nulla esset in terrâ, doctorem misit, quasi vivam legem." Lactant. Instit. iv. 25. "The Only-begotten was made man like us, ... as if lending us His own steadfastness." Cyril. in Joann. lib. v. 2, p. 473; vid. also Thesaur. 20, p. 198; August. de Corr. et Grat. 10-12; Damasc. F.O. iv. 4. And this pattern to us He is, not only through His Incarnation, but as manifested in a measure by His glory, as [ prototokos ], in the visible universe. Vid. a beautiful passage, contr. Gent. 42, etc. Again, "He made them [men] after His own image, imparting to them of the power of His own Word, that, having as it were certain shadows of the Word, and becoming rational, [ logikoi ], they might be enabled to continue in blessedness." Incarn. 3; vid. also Orat. ii. § 78, ( Disc . n. 215,) where he speaks of Wisdom as being infused into the world on its creation, that the world might possess "an impress and semblance of Its Image."

 So again, "He is the truth, and we by imitation become virtuous and Sons; ... that, as He, being the Word, is in His own Father, so we too, taking Him as an exemplar, might live in unanimity," etc. etc. [ Kata mimesin ]. Orat. iii. § 19. ( Disc . n. 252;) Clem. Alex. [ ton eikonon tas men ektrepomenous, tas de mimoumenous ]. Pædag. i. 3, p. 102, ed. Pott. and [ mimesei tou noos ekeinou ]. Naz. Ep. 102, p. 95 (ed. Ben.). Vid. Leo. in various places, infra, p. 190, art. Incarnation ; ut imitatores operum, factores sermonum, etc. Iren. Hær. v. 1; exemplum verum et adjutorium. August. Serm. 101, 6; mediator non solum per adjutorium, verùm etiam per exemplum. August. Trin. xiii. 22, also ix. 21, and Eusebius, though with an heretical meaning, [ kata ten autou mimesin ]. Eccl. Theol. iii. 19.

 2. But of course an opportunity of imitation is not enough: a powerful internal grace is necessary, however great the beauty of the Moral Law and its Author, in order to set free and convert the human heart. "Idly do ye imagine to be able to work in yourselves newness of the principle which thinks ([ phronountos ]) and actuates the flesh, expecting to do so by imitation ... for if men could have wrought for themselves newness of that actuating principle without Christ, and if what is actuated follows what actuates, what need was there of Christ's coming?" Apoll. i. § 20 fin. And again: "The Word of God," he says, "underwent a sort of creation in the Incarnation, in order to effect thereby our new creation. If He was not thus created for us," but was absolutely a creature, which is the Arian doctrine, "it follows that we are not created in Him; and if not created in Him, we have Him not in ourselves, but externally, as, for instance, receiving instruction from Him as from a teacher. And, it being so with us, sin has not lost its reign over the flesh, being inherent and not cast out of it." Orat. ii. § 56. ( Disc . n. 180.) And this is necessary, he goes on to say, "that we might have [ eleutheron to phronema ]."

 He speaks, contr. Gent., of man "having the grace of the Giver, and his own virtue from the Father's Word;" of the mind "seeing the Word, and in Him the Word's Father also," § 2; of "the way to God being, not as God Himself, above us and far off, or external to us, but in us," 30, etc. etc.; vid. also Basil. de Sp. S. n. 19. This is far more than mere teaching. "Rational creatures receiving light," says Cyril, "enlighten by imparting principles, which are poured from their own minds into another intellect; and such an illumination may be justly called teaching rather than revelation. But the Word of God enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world, not in the way of a teacher, as for instance Angels do or men, but rather as God, in the way of a Framer, doth He sow in each whom He calls into being the seed of Wisdom, that is, of divine knowledge, and implant a root of understanding," etc. Cyril. in Joan. xix. p. 75. Athan. speaks of this seed sometimes as natural, sometimes as supernatural, and indeed the one order of grace is parallel to the other, and not incompatible with it. Again, he speaks of "a reason combined and connatural with everything that came into being, which some are wont to call seminal, inanimate indeed and unreasoning and unintelligent, but operating only by external art according to the science of Him who sowed it." contr. Gent. 40. Thus there are three supernatural aids given to men of which the Word is the [ arche ], that of instinct, of reason, and the "gratia Christi."

 3. Even this is not all which is given us over and above nature. The greatest and special gift is the actual presence, as well as the power within us of the Incarnate Son as a principle or [ arche ] (vid. art. [ arche ]) of sanctification, or rather of deification. (vid. art. Deif .) On this point Athan. especially dwells in too many passages to quote or name.

 E.g. "The Word of God was made man in order to sanctify the flesh." Orat. ii. § 10. ( Disc . n. 114 fin.) "Ye say, 'He destroyed [the works of the devil] by not sinning;' but this is no destruction of sin. For not in Him did the devil in the beginning work sin, that by His coming into the world and not sinning sin was destroyed; but whereas the devil had wrought sin by an after-sowing in the rational and spiritual nature of man, therefore it became impossible for nature, which was rational and had voluntarily sinned, and fell under the penalty of death, to recover itself into freedom ([ eleutherian ]) ... Therefore came the Son of God by Himself to establish [the flesh] in His own nature from a new beginning ([ arche ]) and a marvellous generation." Apoll. ii. § 6.

 "True, without His incarnation at all, God was able to speak the Word only and undo the curse ... but then the power indeed of Him who gave command had been shown, but man would have fared but as Adam before the fall by receiving grace only from without, not having it united to the body ... Then, had he been again seduced by the serpent, a second need had arisen of God's commanding and undoing the curse; and thus the need had been interminable, and men had remained under guilt just as before, being in slavery to sin," etc. Orat. ii. § 68. ( Disc . n. 200); vid. arts. Incarnation and Sanctification . And so in Incarn. § 7, he says that repentance might have been pertinent, had man merely offended, without corruption following; but that that corruption involved the necessity of the Word's vicarious sufferings and intercessory office.

 "If the works of the Word's Godhead had not taken place through the body, man had not been made god; and again, had not the belongings of the flesh been ascribed to the Word, man had not been thoroughly delivered from them; but though they had ceased for a little while, as I said before, still sin had remained in man and corruption, as was the case with mankind before He came; and for this reason:  Many, for instance, have been made holy and clean from all sin; nay, Jeremias was hallowed, even from the womb, and John, while yet in the womb, leapt for joy at the voice of Mary Mother of God; nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression ; and thus men remained mortal and corruptible as before, liable to the affections proper to their nature. But now the Word having become man and having appropriated the affections of the flesh, no longer do these affections touch the body, because of the Word who has come in it, but they are destroyed by Him, and henceforth men no longer remain sinners and dead according to their proper affections, but, having risen according to the Word's power, they abide ever immortal and incorruptible. Whence also, whereas the flesh is born of Mary Mother of God, He Himself is said to have been born, who furnishes to others a generation of being; in order that, by His transferring our generation into Himself, we may no longer, as mere earth, return to earth, but as being knit into the Word from heaven, may be carried to heaven by Him." Orat. iii. 33. ( Disc . n. 270.)

 "We could not otherwise," says S. Irenæus, "receive incorruption and immortality, but by being united to incorruption and immortality. But how could this be, unless incorruption and immortality had first been made what we are? that corruption might be absorbed by incorruption and mortal by immortality, that we might receive the adoption of Sons." Hær. iii. 19, n. 1. "He took part of flesh and blood, that is, He became man, whereas He was Life by nature, ... that uniting Himself to the corruptible flesh according to the measure of its own nature, ineffably, and inexpressibly, and as He alone knows, He might bring it to His own life, and render it partaker through Himself of God and the Father ... For He bore our nature, re-fashioning it into His own life; ... He is in us through the Spirit, turning our natural corruption into incorruption, and changing death to its contrary." Cyril. in Joan. lib. ix. cir. fin. pp. 883, 4. This is the doctrine of S. Athanasius and S. Cyril, one may say, passim .

 Vid. Naz. Epp. ad Cled. 1 and 2 (101, 102, ed. Ben.); Nyssen. ad Theoph. in Apoll. p. 696. "Generatio Christi origo est populi Christiani," says S. Leo; "for whoso is regenerated in Christ," he continues, "has no longer the propagation from a carnal father, but the germination of a Saviour, who therefore was made Son of man, that we might be sons of God." Serm. 26, 2. "Multum fuit a Christo recepisse formam, sed plus est in Christo habere substantiam. Suscepit nos in suam proprietatem illa natura," etc. etc. Serm. 72, 2; vid. Serm. 22, 2; "ut corpus regenerati fiat caro Crucifixi." Serm. 63, 6. "Hæc est nativitas nova dum homo nascitur in Deo; in quo homine Deus natus est, carne antiqui seminis susceptâ, sine semine antiquo, ut illam novo semine, id est, spiritualiter, reformaret, exclusis antiquitatis sordibus, expiatam." Tertull. de Carn. Christ. 17; vid. Orat. iii. § 34.

 Such is the channel and mode in which spiritual life and freedom is given to us. Our Lord Himself, according to the Holy Fathers, is the [ arche ] of the new creation to each individual Christian. If it be asked of them, What real connection can there possibly be between the sanctification of Christ's manhood and ours? how does it prove that human nature is sanctified because a particular specimen of it was sanctified in Him? S. Chrysostom explains: "He is born of our substance; you will say, 'This does not pertain to all;' yea, to all. He mingles ([ anamignusin ]) Himself with the faithful individually, through the mysteries, and whom He has begotten those He nurses from Himself, not puts them out to other hands," etc. Hom. 82. 5. in Matt. And just before, "It sufficed not for Him to be made man, to be scourged, to be sacrificed; but He unites Himself to us ([ anaphyrei heauton hemin ]), not merely by faith, but really, has He made us His body." Again, "That we are commingled ([ anakerasthomen ]) into that flesh, not merely through love, but really, is brought about by means of that food which He has bestowed upon us." Hom. 46. 3. in Joann. And so S. Cyril writes against Nestorius: "Since we have proved that Christ is the Vine, and we branches as adhering to a communion with Him, not spiritual merely but bodily, why clamours he against us thus bootlessly, saying that, since we adhere to Him, not in a bodily way, but rather by faith and the affection of love according to the Law, therefore He has called, not His own flesh the vine, but rather the Godhead?" in Joann. 10, p. 863, 4. And Nyssen: "As they who have taken poison, destroy its deadly power by some other preparation ... so when we have tasted what destroys our nature, we have need of that instead which restores what was destroyed ... But what is this? nothing else than that Body which has been proved to be mightier than death, and was the beginning, [ katerxato ], of our life. For a little leaven," etc. Orat. Catech. 37. "Decoctâ quasi per ollam carnis nostræ cruditate, sanctificavit in æternum nobis cibum carnem suam." Paulin. Ep. 23. 7. Of course in such statements nothing simply material is implied. But without some explanation really literal, language such as S. Athanasius's in the text seems a mere matter of words. Vid. infr. p. 225.