Orth. -And what does Apollinarius lack to make his teaching accurate about the incarnation?
Eran. -Not to separate the mind from the soul, but to confess that, with the body, was assumed a reasonable soul.
Orth. -Then shall we dispute with him on this point?
Eran. -Certainly.
Orth. -But under this head what did we assert to be confessed, and what altogether denied, by Marcion, Valentinus, Manes and their adherents?
Eran. -That they admitted their belief in the Godhead of Christ, but do not accept the doctrine of His manhood.
Orth. -We shall therefore do our best to persuade them to accept also the doctrine of the manhood, and not to call the divine incarnation a mere appearance.
Eran. -It will be well so to do.
Orth. -We will therefore tell them that it is right to style the Christ not only God, but also man.
Eran. -By all means.
Orth. -And how is it possible for us to induce others to style the Christ `man' while we excuse ourselves from doing so? They will not yield to our persuasion, but on the contrary will convict us of agreeing with them.
Eran. -And how can we, confessing as we do that the divine Word took flesh and a reasonable soul, agree with them?
Orth. -If we confess the fact, why then shun the word?
Eran. -It is right to name the Christ from His nobler qualities.
Orth. -Keep this rule then. Do not speak of Him as crucified, nor yet as risen from the dead, and so on.
Eran. -But these are the names of the sufferings of salvation. Denial of the sufferings implies denial of the salvation.
Orth. -And the name Man is the name of a nature. Not to pronounce the name is to deny the nature: denial of the nature is denial of the sufferings, and denial of the sufferings does away with the salvation.
Eran. -I hold it profitable to acknowledge the assumed nature; but to style the Saviour of the world man is to belittle the glory of the Lord.
Orth. -Do you then deem yourself wiser than Peter and Paul; aye, and than the Saviour Himself? For the Lord said to the Jews "Why do ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I heard of my Father?" And He frequently called Himself Son of Man.
And the meritorious Peter, in his sermon to the Jewish people, says,-"Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you." And the blessed Paul, when bringing the message of salvation to the chiefs of the Areopagus, among many other things said this,-
"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." He then who excuses himself from using the name appointed and preached by the Lord and his Apostles deems himself wiser than even these great instructors, aye, even than the very well-spring of the wisest.
Eran. -They gave this instruction to the unbelievers. Now the greater part of the world has professed the faith.
Orth. -But we have still among us Jews and pagans and of heretics systems innumerable, and to each of these we must give fit and appropriate teaching. But, supposing we were all of one mind, tell me now, what harm is there in calling the Christ both God and man? Do we not behold in Him perfect Godhead, and manhood likewise lacking in nothing?
Eran. -This we have owned again and again.
Orth. -Why then deny what we have again and again owned?