"For we hold not two Christs, nor two Sons; for in our view there is no first and second, nor one and another, nor one again and again another: but the same one Son is twofold not in rank, but in nature."
Against this Cyril argues, that "Christ is not twofold, but one and the same Lord and Son, being the Word from God the Father, not without flesh;" and concludes with these words,
"You then who say that we ought not to speak of two Christs, nor to acknowledge two Sons, putting on the semblance of dogmatic orthodoxy upon this point, are nevertheless convicted of saying that there are two Christs, and of separating into their specific difference man and God."
In Cyril's view therefore the essence of Nestorianism consists in the endeavour to distinguish the limits of the two natures in Christ: and so to do, he argued, was virtually to make two Sons.
2. Explained in the margin thus: "Plantations of trees laden with fruit which has passed the season, and become flavourless."
3. Mai has two passages on v. 27. not found in the Syriac, the first of which is principally a string of quotations to prove that the Deity is always described as sitting on a cloud: and the second is as follows; "For just as if one say of a man, that he received of his father the property of being rational, it really signifies that the rational is begotten of the rational, so also the Only-begotten God of God proceeded as Judge from Him Who judges all the earth. And though the Father gave all judgment to the Son, He is not Himself left destitute of sovereign authority: for the Only-begotten is inseparable from God as the light is from the sun; for He exists in Him by nature, and all that the Father has is the Son's, and vice versa." He has also a rather fuller exposition of vv. 29-36, consisting evidently of short detached passages collected from various places, and given as such in Cramer. One of them to the effect that by "generation" is meant not the people then living, but those like them in morals, has occurred verbatim before, and was not then acknowledged by the Syriac.
4. By the Thursday of the Mystery is meant Thursday in Passion week.
5. Or rather, "as the serving-boy."
6. That is, not ductile, incapable of being spread out by hammering.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2008. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.