Against Heresies: Book III

IT HAS BEEN CLEARLY SHOWN THAT THE WORD: who existed in the beginning with God and through whom all things were made, who was also always present with humanity, was in these last days, according to the time appointed by the Father, united to His own creation, because He became a man capable of suffering. This refutes the objection of those who say, “If our Lord was born at that time, Christ had no prior existence.” For I have demonstrated that the Son of God did not begin to exist then, as He was with the Father from the beginning; but when He became incarnate and was made man, He began anew the long lineage of human beings and, in a brief and comprehensive way, provided us with salvation, so that what we had lost in Adam—namely, being in the image and likeness of God—we might recover in Christ Jesus.

FOR SINCE IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE FOR THE MAN WHO HAD ONCE BEEN CONQUERED AND DESTROYED THROUGH DISOBEDIENCE TO REFORM HIMSELF AND ACHIEVE THE VICTORY: and since it was also impossible for someone under the power of sin to attain salvation, the Son accomplished both of these tasks. He is the Word of God who descended from the Father, became incarnate, humbled Himself even to the point of death, and completed the plan of our salvation. Paul encourages us to believe without hesitation and says, “Who shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.” Then he continues, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” He explains why the Son of God did these things, saying, “For this reason Christ lived, died, and rose again, so that He might rule over both the living and the dead.” Again, writing to the Corinthians, he states, “But we preach Christ Jesus crucified,” and adds, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?”

WHO: then, has shared with us concerning food? Is it the one they conceive as the Christ above, who extended himself through Horos and gave form to their mother; or is it He who is from the Virgin, Emmanuel, who ate butter and honey, of whom the prophet declared, "He is also a man, and who shall know him?" Paul also preached about Him: "For I delivered to you first of all that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures." It is clear, then, that Paul knew no other Christ besides Him alone, who both suffered, was buried, and rose again, who was also born, and whom he speaks of as man.

For after stating, "But if Christ is preached, that He rose from the dead," he continues, explaining the reason of His incarnation, "For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead." Everywhere, when referring to the passion of our Lord, His human nature, and His subjection to death, he uses the name of Christ, as in the passage: "Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died." And again: "But now, in Christ, you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ." And again: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." And again: "And through your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died;" indicating that the impassible Christ did not descend upon Jesus, but that He Himself, because He was Jesus Christ, suffered for us; He, who lay in the tomb and rose again, who descended and ascended—the Son of God having been made the Son of man, as the very name itself declares.

For in the name of Christ is implied, He that anoints, He that is anointed, and the anointing itself with which He is anointed. It is the Father who anoints, but the Son who is anointed by the Spirit, who is the anointing, as the Word declares by Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me,"—pointing out both the anointing Father, the anointed Son, and the anointing, which is the Spirit.

THE LORD HIMSELF ALSO MAKES IT CLEAR WHO IT WAS THAT SUFFERED: When He asked the disciples, "Who do people say that I, the Son of man, am?" and after Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," He praised him by saying that "flesh and blood had not revealed it to him, but the Father who is in heaven." He made it clear that He, the Son of man, is Christ, the Son of the living God. "From that time on," it is said, "He began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the priests, be rejected, be crucified, and rise again on the third day." He, who was recognized by Peter as Christ and pronounced blessed because the Father had revealed the Son of the living God to him, said that He Himself must suffer many things and be crucified. He then rebuked Peter, who thought of Him as the Christ in the way most people did, rejecting the idea of His suffering. He said to the disciples, "If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses it for My sake will save it." Christ spoke these things openly, as He Himself is the Savior of those who would be delivered over to death for confessing Him and would lose their lives.

IF: however, He was not supposed to suffer but should escape from Jesus, why did He urge His disciples to take up the cross and follow Him—when these people claim He did not take up the cross but abandoned the path of suffering? He did not say this regarding the acknowledgment of the cross above, as some among them dare to interpret, but in reference to the suffering He would undergo Himself and that His disciples would face. He implies this when He says, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." He suggested His disciples must suffer for His sake when He said to the Jews, "Behold, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify." And to the disciples, He often said, "You will stand before governors and kings for My sake; and they will scourge some of you, and kill you, and persecute you from city to city." He knew those who would suffer persecution, and those who would be scourged and killed because of Him. He spoke of no other cross than the suffering He would undergo first, and His disciples afterward. He gave them this exhortation: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell," encouraging them to hold fast to the beliefs they had declared in reference to Him. He promised to acknowledge before His Father those who confess His name before men but declared He would deny those who deny Him and would be ashamed of those ashamed to confess Him.

Despite this, some have become so bold that they even pour contempt on the martyrs and criticize those who are killed for confessing the Lord, enduring everything the Lord predicted, striving to follow in His footsteps and becoming martyrs of the suffering One; we also enroll these with the martyrs themselves. When their blood is sought and they attain glory, all who have discredited their martyrdom will be confounded by Christ. From the fact that He cried on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," Christ’s long-suffering, patience, compassion, and goodness are shown, as He both suffered and excused those who mistreated Him. For the Word of God, who told us, "Love your enemies, and pray for those who hate you," did this on the cross; loving humanity so much that He prayed for those killing Him. If anyone assumes there are two [Christs] and judges them, it will be found that the one who suffered, being compassionate amidst His wounds and wrongs, is truly the better, more patient, and good one than the one who fled and experienced neither harm nor insult.

THIS ALSO ADDRESSES THOSE WHO CLAIM THAT HE SUFFERED ONLY IN APPEARANCE: If He did not truly suffer, then there is no credit to Him, since there was no suffering at all; and when we actually begin to suffer, He will seem to have misled us, urging us to endure suffering and to turn the other cheek, if He did not really suffer the same Himself before us. As He misled them by appearing to be what He was not, He also misleads us by urging us to endure what He did not endure Himself. In that case, we would surpass the Master, because we suffer and endure what our Master never experienced. But as our Lord is truly Master, so the Son of God is genuinely good and patient, with the Word of God the Father having become the Son of man. For He fought and conquered; for He was man contending for the fathers, and through obedience entirely undoing disobedience. He bound the strong man, freed the weak, and granted His creation salvation by destroying sin. For He is a most holy and merciful Lord, and loves the human race.

THEREFORE: as I have already mentioned, He made humanity, in its nature, unite with and become one with God. For if a human had not overcome the enemy of humanity, the enemy would not have been truly defeated. And again, if it had not been God who freely gave salvation, we could never have securely possessed it. And if humanity had not been joined to God, it could not have become a partaker of incorruptibility. It was necessary for the Mediator between God and people, through His bond to both, to bring both to friendship and harmony, presenting humanity to God while revealing God to humanity.

How could we partake in the adoption as children unless we had received from Him, through the Son, that fellowship related to Himself, unless His Word, having become flesh, had entered into communion with us? Therefore, He experienced every stage of life, restoring communion with God to all. Those who claim He only appeared human without being truly born in the flesh or truly becoming human are still under the old condemnation, supporting sin; because, according to them, death has not been conquered, which "reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the way of Adam's transgression." But when the law came, given by Moses, testifying that sin is a sinner, it truly took away death's kingdom, showing it was not a king, but a thief; and it revealed it as a murderer.

It laid, however, a heavy burden upon humanity, which had sin within, showing that it was subject to death. Since the law was spiritual, it simply highlighted sin but did not destroy it. Sin had no dominion over the spirit, but over humanity. It was necessary for Him who was to destroy sin and redeem humanity from the power of death to become the same as humanity, being human; who had been drawn into bondage by sin, but was held by death, so that sin would be destroyed by humanity, and humanity would exit death.

For as by the disobedience of one man who was initially formed from virgin earth, many were made sinners and lost life; similarly, it was necessary that by the obedience of one man, who was originally born from a virgin, many should be justified and receive salvation.

Thus, the Word of God became human, as Moses also says: "God, true are His works." But if He had not become flesh and only appeared as if He were flesh, His work was not true.

But what He appeared to be, that He also was: God recapitulated in Himself the ancient creation of humanity, that He might destroy sin, strip death of its power, and bring life to humanity; and therefore His works are true.