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| Concerning ignorance and servitude.
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Chapter
XXI.—Concerning ignorance and
servitude.
He assumed, it is to be noted2206
| 2206 Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 36. | , the ignorant and servile nature2207
| 2207 Photius,
Cod. 230; Eulog., bk. x., Ep. 35;
Sophron., Ep. ad Serg.; Leont., De
Sect., Act. 10. | . For it is man’s nature to
be the servant of God, his Creator, and he does not possess knowledge
of the future. If, then, as Gregory the Theologian holds, you are
to separate the realm of sight from the realm of thought, the flesh is
to be spoken of as both servile and ignorant, but on account of the
identity of subsistence and the inseparable union the soul of the Lord
was enriched with the knowledge of the future as also with the other
miraculous powers. For just as the flesh of men is not in its own
nature life-giving, while the flesh of our Lord which was united in
subsistence with God the Word Himself, although it was not exempt from
the mortality of its nature, yet became life-giving through its union
in subsistence with the Word, and we may not say that it was not and is
not for ever life-giving: in like manner His human nature does
not in essence possess the knowledge of the future, but the soul of the
Lord through its union with God the Word Himself and its identity in
subsistence was enriched, as I said, with the knowledge of the future
as well as with the other miraculous powers.
Observe further2208
| 2208 Cf.
Sophron., Ep. ad. Serg., who refers to the Duliani
(᾽Δουλιανοί); the opinions of Felix and Elipandas, condemned at the Synod of
Frankfort; and Thomas Aquinas, III., Quæst.
20, Art. 1. | that we may
not speak of Him as servant. For the words servitude and
mastership are not marks of nature but indicate relationship, to
something, such as that of fatherhood and sonship. For these do
not signify essence but relation.
It is just as we said, then, in connection with
ignorance, that if you separate with subtle thoughts, that is, with
fine imaginings, the created from the uncreated, the flesh is a
servant, unless it has been united with God the Word2209
| 2209 Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 24. | . But how can it be a servant when it
is once united in subsistence? For since Christ is one, He cannot
be His own servant and Lord. For these are not simple
predications but relative. Whose servant, then could He be?
His Father’s? The Son, then, would not have all the
Father’s attributes, if He is the Father’s servant and yet
in no respect His own. Besides, how could the apostle say
concerning us who were adopted by Him, So that you are no longer a
servant but a son2210
, if indeed He is
Himself a servant? The word servant, then, is used merely as a
title, though not in the strict meaning: but for our sakes He
assumed the form of a servant and is called a servant among us.
For although He is without passion, yet for our sake He was the servant
of passion and became the minister of our salvation. Those, then,
who say that He is a servant divide the one Christ into two, just as
Nestorius did. But we declare Him to be Master and Lord of all
creation, the one Christ, at once God and man, and all-knowing.
For in Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, the hidden
treasures2211
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