Chapter XVI.—In reply to those who say766    This is directed to another argument of the Severians. Cf. Leont., De Sect., 7, Contr. Nest. et Eutych., I.“If man has two natures and two energies, Christ must be held to have three natures and as many energies.”

Each individual man, since he is composed of two natures, soul and body, and since these natures are unchangeable in him, could appropriately be spoken of as two natures: for he preserves even after their union the natural properties of either. For the body is not immortal, but corruptible; neither is the soul mortal, but immortal: and the body is not invisible nor the soul visible to bodily eyes: but the soul is rational and intellectual, and incorporeal, while the body is dense and visible, and irrational. But things that are opposed to one another in essence have not one nature, and, therefore, soul and body cannot have one essence.

And again: if man is a rational and mortal animal, and every definition is explanatory of the underlying natures, and the rational is not the same as the mortal according to the plan of nature, man then certainly cannot have one nature, according to the rule of his own definition.

But if man should at any time be said to have one nature, the word “nature” is here used instead of “species,” as when we say that man does not differ from man in any difference of nature. But since all men are fashioned in the same way, and are composed of soul and body, and each has two distinct natures, they are all brought under one definition. And this is not unreasonable, for the holy Athanasius spake of all created things as having one nature forasmuch as they were all produced, expressing himself thus in his Oration against those who blasphemed the Holy Spirit: “That the Holy Spirit is above all creation, and different from the nature of things produced and peculiar to divinity, we may again perceive. For whatever is seen to be common to many things, and not more in one and less in another, is called essence767    Epist. 2 ad Serap., towards the end; Collect., as above, c. 19.. Since, then, every man is composed of soul and body, accordingly we speak of man as having one nature. But we cannot speak of our Lord’s subsistence as one nature: for each nature preserves, even after the union, its natural properties, nor can we find a class of Christs. For no other Christ was born both of divinity and of humanity to be at once God and man.”

And again: man’s unity in species is not the same thing as the unity of soul and body in essence. For man’s unity in species makes clear the absolute similarity between all men, while the unity of soul and body in essence is an insult to their very existence, and reduces them to nothingness: for either the one must change into the essence of the other, or from different things something different must be produced, and so both would be changed, or if they keep to their own proper limits there must be two natures. For, as regards the nature of essence the corporeal is not the same as the incorporeal. Therefore, although holding that man has one nature, not because the essential quality of his soul and that of his body are the same, but because the individuals included under the species are exactly the same, it is not necessary for us to maintain that Christ also has one nature, for in this case there is no species embracing many subsistences.

Moreover, every compound768    Anast., Collect., ch. 19. is said to be composed of what immediately composes it. For we do not say that a house is composed of earth and water, but of bricks and timber. Otherwise, it would be necessary to speak of man as composed of at least five things, viz., the four elements and soul. And so also, in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ we do not look at the parts of the parts, but at those divisions of which He is immediately composed, viz., divinity and humanity.

And further, if by saying that man has two natures we are obliged to hold that Christ has three, you, too, by saying that man is composed of two natures must hold that Christ is composed of three natures: and it is just the same with the energies. For energy must correspond with nature: and Gregory the Theologian bears witness that man is said to have and has two natures, saying, “God and man are two natures, since, indeed, soul and body also are two natures769    Epist. 1, ad Cledon..” And in his discourse “Concerning Baptism” he says, “Since we consist of two parts, soul and body, the visible and the invisible nature, the purification is likewise twofold, that is, by water and Spirit770    Orat. 4, not far from the beginning..”

Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας: Εἰ δύο φύσεων καὶ ἐνεργειῶν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀνάγκη ἐπὶ Χριστοῦ τρεῖς φύσεις καὶ τοσαύτας λέγειν τὰς ἐνεργείας

Ὁ μὲν καθ' ἕκαστα ἄνθρωπος ἐκ δύο συγκείμενος φύσεων, ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος, καὶ ταύτας ἀμεταβλήτους ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ δύο φύσεις εἰκότως λεχθήσεται: σῴζει γὰρ ἑκατέρων καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν τὴν φυσικὴν ἰδιότητα. Οὔτε γὰρ τὸ σῶμα ἀθάνατον ἀλλὰ φθαρτόν, οὔτε ἡ ψυχὴ θνητὴ ἀλλ' ἀθάνατος, οὔτε τὸ σῶμα ἀόρατον οὔτε ἡ ψυχὴ σωματικοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρατή, ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν λογικὴ καὶ νοερὰ καὶ ἀσώματος, τὸ δὲ παχύ τε καὶ ὁρατὸν καὶ ἄλογον. Οὐ μιᾶς δὲ φύσεως τὰ κατ' οὐσίαν ἀντιδιαιρούμενα: οὐ μιᾶς ἄρα οὐσίας ψυχή τε καὶ σῶμα.

Καὶ πάλιν: Εἰ ζῷον λογικὸν θνητὸν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, πᾶς δὲ ὅρος τῶν ὑποκειμένων φύσεών ἐστι δηλωτικός, οὐ ταὐτὸν δὲ κατὰ φύσεως λόγον τὸ λογικὸν τῷ θνητῷ: οὐκ ἄρα μιᾶς φύσεως εἴη ὁ ἄνθρωπος κατὰ τὸν τοῦ οἰκείου ὁρισμοῦ κανόνα.

Εἰ δὲ λέγοιτό ποτε μιᾶς φύσεως ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀντὶ τοῦ εἴδους τὸ τῆς φύσεως παραλαμβάνεται ὄνομα λεγόντων ἡμῶν, ὅτι οὐ διαλλάττει ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπου κατά τινα φύσεως διαφοράν, ἀλλὰ τὴν αὐτὴν σύστασιν ἔχοντες πάντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ ἐκ ψυχῆς συντεθειμένοι καὶ σώματος καὶ δύο ἕκαστος φύσεις τελοῦντες ὑφ' ἕνα πάντες ὁρισμὸν ἀνάγονται. Καὶ οὐ παράλογον τοῦτο, ὁπότε καὶ πάντων τῶν κτιστῶν ὡς γενητῶν μίαν φύσιν ὁ ἱερὸς Ἀθανάσιος ἔφησεν ἐν τῷ κατὰ τῶν βλασφημούντων τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον οὑτωσὶ λέγων: «Ὅτι δὲ ἄνω τῆς κτίσεώς ἐστι τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον καὶ ἄλλο μὲν παρὰ τὴν τῶν γενητῶν φύσιν, ἴδιον δὲ τῆς θεότητος, ἔξεστι πάλιν συνιδεῖν». «Πᾶν γάρ, ὃ κοινῶς καὶ ἐν πολλοῖς θεωρεῖται, οὐ τινὶ μὲν πλέον, τινὶ δὲ ἔλαττον ὑπάρχον, οὐσία ὀνομάζεται». Ἐπεὶ οὖν πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ἐκ ψυχῆς ἐστι συντεθειμένος καὶ σώματος, κατὰ τοῦτο μία φύσις τῶν ἀνθρώπων λέγεται. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ὑποστάσεως τοῦ κυρίου οὐ λέγειν δυνάμεθα μίαν φύσιν: αἵ τε γὰρ φύσεις σῴζουσι καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν ἑκάστη τὴν φυσικὴν ἰδιότητα, καὶ εἶδος Χριστῶν οὐκ ἔστι εὑρεῖν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐγένετο ἄλλος Χριστὸς ἐκ θεότητός τε καὶ ἀνθρωπότητος, θεός τε καὶ ἄνθρωπος ὁ αὐτός.

Καὶ πάλιν: Οὐ ταὐτόν ἐστι τὸ κατ' εἶδος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἓν καὶ τὸ κατ' οὐσίαν ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἕν. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ κατ' εἶδος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἓν τὴν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀπαραλλαξίαν ἐνδείκνυται: τὸ δὲ κατ' οὐσίαν ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἓν αὐτὸ τὸ εἶναι αὐτῶν λυμαίνεται εἰς ἀνυπαρξίαν αὐτὰ παντελῆ ἄγον: ἢ γὰρ τὸ ἓν εἰς τὴν τοῦ ἑτέρου μεταποιηθήσεται οὐσίαν ἢ ἐξ ἑτέρων ἕτερον γενήσεται καὶ ἀμφότερα τραπήσονται ἢ ἐπὶ τῶν ἰδίων ὅρων μένοντα δύο φύσεις ἔσονται. Οὐ γὰρ ταὐτὸν κατ' οὐσίας λόγον τὸ σῶμα τῷ ἀσωμάτῳ. Οὐκ ἀνάγκη τοίνυν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μίαν φύσιν λέγοντας (οὐ διὰ τὸ ταὐτὸν τῆς οὐσιώδους ποιότητος ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ ἀπαράλλακτον τῶν ὑπὸ τὸ εἶδος ἀναγομένων ἀτόμων) μίαν καὶ ἐπὶ Χριστοῦ φύσιν λέγειν, ἔνθα εἶδος περιεκτικὸν πολλῶν ὑποστάσεων οὐκ ἔστιν.

Ἔτι δὲ πᾶσα σύνθεσις ἐκ τῶν προσεχῶς συντεθέντων συντεθεῖσθαι λέγεται: οὐ γὰρ λέγομεν τὸν οἶκον ἐκ γῆς καὶ ὕδατος συντεθεῖσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐκ πλίνθου καὶ ξύλων. Ἐπεὶ ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον λέγειν ἐκ πέντε συγκεῖσθαι φύσεων, ἔκ τε τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων καὶ ψυχῆς. Οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ οὐ τὰ μέρη τῶν μερῶν σκοποῦμεν, ἀλλὰ τὰ προσεχῶς συντεθέντα, θεότητά τε καὶ ἀνθρωπότητα.

Ἔτι δὲ εἰ δύο φύσεις τὸν ἄνθρωπον λέγοντες τρεῖς φύσεις ἐπὶ Χριστοῦ λέγειν ἀναγκασθησόμεθα, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐκ δύο φύσεων τὸν ἄνθρωπον λέγοντες ἐκ τριῶν τὸν Χριστὸν δογματίζετε φύσεων: ὁμοίως καὶ περὶ ἐνεργειῶν: κατάλληλον γὰρ ἀνάγκη τῇ φύσει τὴν ἐνέργειαν εἶναι. Ὅτι δὲ δύο φύσεων ὁ ἄνθρωπος λέγεταί τε καὶ ἔστι, μάρτυς ὁ θεολόγος Γρηγόριος: «Φύσεις μὲν γὰρ δύο» φάσκων «θεὸς καὶ ἄνθρωπος: ἐπεὶ καὶ ψυχὴ καὶ σῶμα». Καὶ ἐν τῷ περὶ βαπτίσματος δὲ λόγῳ τοιάδε φησί: «Διττῶν δὲ ὄντων ἡμῶν ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος, καὶ τῆς μὲν ὁρατῆς τῆς δὲ ἀοράτου φύσεως, διττὴ καὶ ἡ κάθαρσις δι' ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος».