Campania

Published by The National Herald, December 26, 2004

Bishop Theophilos of Campania on the Incarnation

Bishop Theophilos of Campania (1749-1795) was one of the brightest figures of the Church in the 18th Century; distinguished for his theological and canonical expertise. He was born in Ioannina and became a Bishop in Campania, the area to the west of Thessaloniki and opposite Chalkidiki. He was probably a student of the famous teacher, Eugenios Voulgaris, and is particularly known for his book Tameion Orthodoxias (Treasury of Orthodoxy), which ran through eight editions from 1780 to 1939.

The text of Bishop Theophilos’ On the Incarnation or the Son of God Becoming Man, translated from the original Greek to English, is published below:

1. THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION. God, Who is all-powerful, could have liberated the human race from the hands of the Devil with a single command. Had He done that, however, then we would have known only His omnipotence, which we already knew. We would not have known his compassion and love, in spite of the fact that we are hostile to Him.

The Incarnation (ensarkosis – literally, "enfleshment") of the Son of God is called such because of His extreme condescension, and because it was out of love that He Who is not separated from the Father descended to the lowest point (i.e., to the flesh), although when we speak about flesh here, we understand the whole man, who is denoted by the partial element of the flesh.

The Incarnation is the supreme dogma of the Christian Faith because it was by this means that we were saved by Grace. The whole Son of God became man personally (literally hypostatically; i.e., existentially). In other words, He was Perfect God and perfect man, with two natures, Godhead and manhood, and One Person (hypostasis), the Divine.

Although we denote it with words, this mystery remains ineffable, according to says Dionysios the Areopagite. And though we put it in our mind, it is also unknowable. God Himself said to Moses, "Go down and solemnly charge the people, lest at any time they draw nigh to God to gaze, and a multitude of them fall (Exodus 19.21)." That is, those who try to investigate God’s nature and mysteries fall into perplexity. This is why Gregory the Theologian says, "Before you grasp Him, run away, and before you put Him in your mind, escape (Theophania, 36.317.32)." Indeed, he goes onto call those who try to investigate the mysteries "babblers, imprudent, uncontrollable and chatterers."

2. WHY DID THE INCARNATION TAKE PLACE AT THAT TIME? No one should examine why the Incarnation took place then, and not earlier or later, because only He knows it. He was incarnated "from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary" because there was never before, nor will there appear again, such a Virgin in the human race as immaculate as the Virgin Mary, sanctified in the flesh and worthy to be united with the Godhead of the Son of God, Who assumed the entire man from her pure and immaculate blood.

As she conceived without sperm, so Christ was born without corruption. In other words, the Holy Mary and Theotokos, who was a Virgin before birth, remained a Virgin even after birth. Thus, Christ came out of her womb in an ineffable manner, just as He entered into her in a manner which involved no passion and can not be explained.

This is exactly what is stressed in Ezekiel’s prophecy: "Son of Man, This Gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened; and no one shall pass through it, for the Lord God of Israel shall enter by it and come out of it, and the Gate shall remain shut (Ezekiel 44.2)."

3. MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION REMAINS INCONCEIVABLE, according to the prophet Jeremiah who says, "And He is a man, and who shall know Him (Jeremiah 17.9)?" The great Paul also declares the same: "And without doubt, the Mystery of our Piety is Great: God appeared in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16)." Through communion with the Godhead, the whole man was deified in Christ. The humanity of Christ enjoyed all the charismas and benefits of the Godhead, since Christ is Perfect God and perfect man after the Union. This is similar to the initial light, which God created and which fell on the sun’s disk, and which enabled the entire disk to become full of dazzling light.

This Mystery of the Incarnation is inconceivable to both angels and human beings. God Himself revealed it to Moses, when He showed him through an opening in his back parts, namely His Incarnation. God did not show Moses His Person (i.e., His Godhead), which no man can ever see, not even an angel. At the Incarnation, then, God did not change what he was, since He is unchangeable; rather, He assumed what He was because He is a lover of man.

One may ask: How did humanity receive the Godhead without being burnt out? But is this not also the case with the Burning Bush, which did not get burnt out? Where God is at work whatever is impossible becomes possible. Burning iron also receives the entire nature of fire, and yet iron remains iron and fire, fire. Humanity burns like fire, and like iron, it undergoes changes, as iron does, and has a cutting edge when it is used.

4. THE GODHEAD DEIFIED HUMAN NATURE, which is now deified together with its soul which, in turn, is endowed with mind, reason, will and energy. As man, Christ was exposed to so-called "natural but blameless" passions. In others words, He felt pain, thirst, weariness, even faintheartedness in a natural way. He did not display any blameworthy passions, however (i.e., those deriving from evil choice). This was the case because He was united with God, Who was the Leader of His rational soul and preserved Christ sinless.

Some of the Fathers say that the infant was already perfect inside the His mother’s womb. Others say that he grew gradually like all infants. This is a matter of opinion, and not a heresy, which has an effect on the Mystery. The point is that, just as Adam was made from the soil, so Christ was made from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit gave birth to the soul of Christ, while His flesh was made from the blood of the Virgin.

5. THE MANNER OF THE INCARNATION. Saint Maximos the Confessor says that the Angels knew about the impending Incarnation of the Son of God for the salvation of human beings. What escaped their perceptions, however, were the unthinkable Conception and the manner of the Incarnation; how He could be entirely in the Father and entirely inside all things which He fulfilled, and also entirely inside the belly of the Virgin.

Nevertheless, Christ’s becoming man differs from that of all other human beings. He is substantially a perfect man, yet He differs because He is seedless, and because He falls under a different law from that which pertains to the nature of composite beings. The Word of God was conjoined with the flesh by means of assuming it in an ineffable manner.
Thus, only when Christ was born was the message heard, "Peace on Earth and goodwill among men (Luke 2.14)." God had granted His peace many times, and had called many human beings his Sons. But there was only one Person in Whom He was "well-pleased," and only one Peace which was perfect and saving for all human beings, along with His perfect good-pleasure.

6. THE NAME "JESUS" AND THE GREEK ALPHABET. The Name Jesus, which is "the Name above every other name (Philippians 2.9)," means Savior for the Jews and Healer (iomenos) for the Greeks. And indeed, Christ is the Healer of our souls, and of the bodies of those who believe in Him. The curious point here, however, is that this great and divine Name was indicated beforehand through the Greek Alphabet, which consists of 24 letters.

As is known, the first eight letters of this Alphabet from A to Q specify eight monads. The following eight letters from I to P specify eight decades, and the following eight letters from R to W specify eight hundreds. If we add the letters in the Alphabet up, we form the number 888. The same also applies if we add the numbers which are specified by the letters of the Name JESUS [in Greek]: (10) + (8 )+ (200) + (70) + (400) + (200) = 888. This is exactly what the following verse stresses: "For if eight monads are to be added to eight decades, and these to eight hundreds, they will denote to the human unbelievers the Name of their Savior (Oracula Sibyllina 1.329 and Anthologiae Graecae Appendix – Problemata et aenigmata 26.21.4).

7. WITNESS OF THE GENTILES CONCERNING THE GODMAN. Witnesses to Christ being God and Man are also found among many Gentiles:

A) JOSEPHUS. The Jewish historian, Josephus, says this about Christ: "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works – a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him from the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and other wonderful mysteries concerning him; and the tribe of the Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day (Antiquitates Judaicae, 18.64.2). In other words, Josephus wonders whether Jesus was only a man, since He did so many incredible things and taught in such a way that He made many Jews and Greeks believe in Him. Also, when the leaders of the Jews delivered Him to Pilate to be crucified, His disciples did not reject him, for He was resurrected on the third day and appeared to them according to the predictions of the prophets, who had spoken about this and many more mysteries concerning His person. Indeed, His followers took His name and came to be called Christians, and their race has not ceased to exist to this day.

B) THE ROMAN EMPEROR, AUGUSTUS. Eusebios, friend of Pamphilos (Metropolitan of Caesarea in Palestine), reports that the Roman Caesar Augustus went to the Oracle of Delphi and offered sacrifice there as a Greek in order to ask Pythia who would reign after him. Pythia gave Augustus the following oracle: "A Hebrew child, who will reign over the blessed gods, orders me to leave this altar and return to Hades again. Depart, therefore, silent from my altars (Oracula 105.t, or Suda, Lexicon Alpha 4413.16f)." When Augustus Caesar heard these things, he returned to Rome and erected an altar on which he inscribed: "An Altar to the firstborn God" (Johannes Malalas, Chronographia 232.4, or Suda, Lexicon, alpha 4413.17). It is truly amazing to think that the demon was compelled by divine power to witness to the Gentiles the divine birth of Christ the Godman.

C) PORPHYRY. The opponent of the Christians, Porphyry, says the following: "But now (the Gentiles) marvel how disease has befallen the city for so many years, and that there has been no intervention either from Asclepius (the god of health) or from any other gods. That is because the honor offered to Jesus did not leave room for any common help from the gods (Porphyrius, Contra Christianos 80.3, or Eusebius, Preparatio Evangelica V.1.10)." Their oracles ceased, and so did their divinations from their false gods, the demons. What else did the thoughtless and blind gentiles wish to see in order to understand that the mighty power of the Lord and God Jesus Christ? Even the sages of the Greeks had proclaimed Christ even before his incarnation.

D) ORPHEUS. Orpheus says, "Voice, I attest you, of the Father, which He uttered first. When He established the world by His Own will (Pseudo-Justinus Martyr, Cohortatio ad Gentiles, 16B.3-5 and 16.C.5-7)." And the next verse says, "and when you look at the divine word, attach yourself to him (Ibid. 15.D.4 and 16.D.3. Also, De Monarchia, 105.A.1 and Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus 7.74.4.5 and Stromata 5.14.123.1.2)." Just as the birth of Christ was seedless, so also the divine generation was without birthpangs. It is a mistake to speak of the Holy Virgin’s birthpangs; that is, that the feast on the day after Christmas is connected with greeting the mother who recovers from birthpangs.

8. GOD BECAME MAN IN ORDER TO CONQUER THE DEVEIL AS MAN. Since he was born in an ineffable manner and received the homage of the Magi; since that unusual star appeared in the sky and was fed with human milk; and since He grew up and went to the desert and fasted for forty days, the Devil thought that He was only a man and could fall if tempted with hunger, and so he started tempting sorely Him. But Christ rebutted the enemy, putting forth the light of Scripture, not using the power and authority of His Godhead, but following the natural sequence of humanity. It was as a man then, and not as God, that Christ conquered the Devil, because the Devil had conquered the first man at the beginning not as God, but as man. It was necessary, then, that the Devil should be conquered by man. This is why the divine Dionysios the Areopagite and Gregory the Theologian say "Christ conquered the Devil not by power, but by right judgment and righteousness (De ecclesiasticae Hierarchia, 91.16-17). Luke the Evangelist says that Christ sustained all temptations because He scored victories over the three capital ones, gluttony, vainglory and avarice, which give birth to all others. Thus, He put the Devil to shame.

9. THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF THE GODMAN AND ITS CONTEXT WITHIN THE RESURRECTION. When Christ returned from the desert and gathered together His disciples, He preached to the world for three years and produced many miracles, having first completed the thirtieth year of His age. After all these things, His disciple Judas betrayed Him by treachery, and Christ accepted it because He wanted to redeem us human beings, who had been sold to the Devil through sin. He deliberately handed Himself over to those who pursued Him because He wanted to complete the Divine Economy and redeem humanity. He was crucified, died and buried, and the third day, He rose and appeared to His disciples and to the women. Then forty days later, He blessed His disciples, and having taught them about peace, He ascended into Heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father, having fulfilled all things and having deified man.

Before the Resurrection of Christ took place, three human beings appear in the Old Testament who were raised from the dead. The first one is the son of the widow from Zarephath (Sarepta) who was raised by Elijah (Luke 4.26). The second was the son of the Somanite woman who was raised by Elisha (II Chronicles 4:32). And the third is the case of the soldier who was buried near the tomb of Elisha and was raised from the dead (II Chronicles 13.21). In the New Testament, there are four cases of human beings who were raised from the dead by Christ: the daughter of the leader of the synagogue (Luke 8.49), the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7.11), Lazarus who had been buried for four days (John 11.43), and those who arose at the Resurrection of Christ (Matthew 27.52). All of these died again, however. But Christ, Who is the eighth case of a man that rose from the dead, is the Only One Who does not die again because death has no dominion over Him. We too will rise again, on that Eighth Day, which has no end, without dying again.

10. EPILOGUE FROM THE WORDS OF DIONYSIOS THE AREOPAGITE. We shall let Dionysios the Areopagite conclude this chapter. First of all, we shall recall what he says about the darkness, which occurred when Christ was crucified. There is, he says, the witness of the Greek astronomer Phlegon who said: "In the second year of the 202nd Olympiad, a major eclipse of the Sun occurred, the likes of which had not been seen before, so that the stars appeared in the sky" (Johannes Malalas, Chronographia, 240.18-21). This is one additional witness of the Greeks, which is connected with the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is in this way, then, that we should believe in and worship Jesus Christ, as God Who became man, because the Son and Word of God remains inseparable from His humanity.

As God He is other than the flesh, but as flesh, He is also other than the Word. And since the Word of the Father, Who is from God, Himself became man as well, this is not the case of "another and another," because of the indescribable union and summit. Thus, the Son is called "One and Only," both before the summit of the Incarnation and after His union with the flesh. It is exactly for this reason He said to the man who had been previously blind and was healed by Him: "Do you believe in the Son of man (John 9.35)?" And he answered, "And who is He Lord, that I might believe in Him (John 9.36)?" And then Christ said to Him, "You have seen Him, and He Who is speaking with you, He is the One (John 9.38)." He speaks as man, He appears as man, and He is believed to be the Godman, God’s Son Himself.

Truly, how incomprehensible and lofty the Mystery of the Incarnation of Christ is. Yet, it is an absolute confirmation and revelation of God’s infinite love for humanity.

The Rev. Dr. Dragas is Professor of Patrology at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. References to the texts cited by the author were not included in the original edition, but were provided by the translator.



Volume 6 Number 52 - Tuesday, December 28th, 2004	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY