Leontius of Byzantium: Against the forgeries of the Apollinarists (2013). Translation.
Leontius of Byzantium .
Against the forgeries of the Apollinarists [4]
[Translated by Bryson Sewell]
Some of those who suffer from the illness of the [ideas] of Apollinarius, [5] or those of Eutyches, or those from Dioscorus, in a desire to strengthen their own heresy, ascribed [6] some of Apollinarius' books [7] to Gregory the wonder-worker [8] or Athanasius or Julius, [9] desiring to deceive the more simple, which they have achieved. For, they have been able to win over [10] many of those who belonged to the catholic [11] church because of the credibility of the individuals; [12] and, among many who belong to the true faith, you would find The Faith of Apollinarius, in Part , ascribed to Gregory, and some of his own letters ascribed to Julius, and some other works of his concerning the incarnation or publications [13] ascribed to Athanasius, such as the appended exposition which is in accord with the creed [14] of the 318. [15] Not only are there these works, but also others of this sort. But [the facts] will become clear to you, and to everyone who loves the truth, from the works of Apollinarius himself, which will be given in quotation, and from [those of] his disciples, among them Valentinus, who [writes] as follows: [16]
A chapter of the defense of Valentinus the Apollinarian .
"Against [17] those who say that we affirm that the body is of the same substance as God." [18]
From the master Apollinarius' letter to Serapion.
"I received your affectionate letter, [19] master, and, with regard to the matter about which the letter-bearer was inquiring, we have assisted him as much as we were able.
We eagerly received back my master's [20] letter which had been sent to Corinth [21] and condemned the great folly of those who said [22] that the flesh is of the same substance as God."
And again from the same letter .
"For, the flesh is divine, [23] not by nature, but by its union with the Word, [24] so that it remains in the union, just as He himself [25] says, "It is the Spirit that gives life to the flesh;" [26] for, of course, a body can not become incorporeal, as others foolishly say."
[ M. 1950 ]
From the letter to Dionysius, the beginning of which is, "To me, etc."
"To me, piety is [the] foundation of friendship, [27] and [there is] no excuse for enmity between those who guard piety. Let no one seek anything novel from me now, nor let him demand that truth be silenced, as if thereby he was creating peace. It is clear from what we have always written that no one can accuse [28] us of those things which are said against some [people], since we do not say either that the flesh of our savior is from heaven, or that his [29] flesh is of the same substance as God, inasmuch as it is flesh and not divine, and that it is divine inasmuch as it is united to the divine in one person. [30] "
And from another letter to him, the beginning of which is, "I am astounded."
"I am astounded at learning about some who confess, on the one hand, that the Lord is God in flesh but who, on the other hand, fall into the division [31] that was wickedly introduced by the followers of Paul. [32] "
And again from the same letter.
"It is agreed that the body is from the virgin, the divine nature [33] from heaven. Τhe body was formed in [the] womb, the divine nature is uncreated, eternal, [and] remains one in its constitution; the body is body, the divinity, divinity. If it is the custom in Scripture to acknowledge [Him] as completely divine, and as completely human, [34] let us, too, follow the divine words, and not divide what is indivisible."
And from the letter to Terentius.
"And John, on the one hand, accuses the one who divides [35] Jesus, but these men outright divide [him] by confessing the union with the body; for nothing is joined to itself, nor is [that which is of] the same same-substance [joined] to the same-substance, as these men did not shrink from saying. For this is neither a composition nor a union. For nothing is joined to itself, but that which is joined together is one thing joined to another. And, on the other hand, if the Word is of the same substance as [36] the body, and, on the other hand, the body is of the same substance [37] as the Word, then each of these, of course, is invisible, according to this verse: 'No one saw God, neither is he able to see [God]. [38] ' For he was not made known in this way, nor was he touched, since he is invisible. Nor is John truthful when he says, 'We have seen and our hands touched [him]. [39] '"
And again from the same letter.
"If someone says either that the Son is two persons, [40] or that the flesh is of the same substance as God and as our flesh, or that it has descended out of heaven, and that it wasn't assumed by the One who [came down] out of heaven, [41] saying that the divinity is liable to change, [42] let this person be anathema."
From '[ the ] Syllogisms ' .
"If the Word is of the same substance as the body, nothing was joined with itself by itself, but it was joined with the body and [is] not, therefore, of the same substance as it. If the body is of the same substance as the Word, then it was not seen and touched: for both of these are invisible and intangible, if indeed they are of the same substance. For John says, 'We saw and we touched. [43] ' The spirit of the Lord and the body are not, therefore, of the same substance. But the invisible and [the] intangible were joined to the visible and the tangible to form a [ M. 1952 ]unity, and so in this way it has become visible and tangible. He who says that the body is of the same substance as God blasphemes, [since he says that the] incorporeal has a body; for the Son, being of the same substance as the Father, has his own distinctive character [44] even [45] when He is united to the flesh. And it is not because he is of the same substance as God that he was separated [46] from his own body, but in order that the body should not be thought to be of the same substance [as the Son]."