Leo well adds hereunto the consideration of his incarnation, in these excellent words: (Serm. ix., De Nativit. :) "Quia in Christo
THE PREFACE. 15
Jesu Filio Dei, non solum ad divinam essentiam, sed etiam ad liuma- nam spectat naturam, quod dictum estperprophetam— 'generationem ejus quis enarrabit?' — (utramque enim substantiam in unami con- venisse personam, nisi fides credat, sermo non explicat ; et ideo materia nunquam deficit laud is ; quia nunquam suflicit copia lauda- toris) — gaudeamus igitur quod ad eloquendum tantum misericordise sacramentum impares sumus ; et cum salutis nostra? altitudinem promere non valeamus, sentiamus nobis bonum esse quod vincinmr. Nemo enim ad cognitionem veritatis magis propinquat, quam qui intelligit, in rebus divinis, etiamsi multum proficiat, semper sibi supe- resse quod quagrat." See also Fulg., lib. ii. ad Thrasimund.
But I speak of the person of Christ as unto the assumption of the substantial adjunct of the human nature, not to be a part whereof his jDerson is composed, but as unto its subsistence therein by virtue of a substantial union. Some of the ancients, I confess, speak freely of the composition of the person of Christ in and by the two natures, the divine and human. That the Son of God after his incarnation had one nature, composed of the Deity and humanity, was the heresy of Apollinarius,Eutyches,the Monothelites, or Monophysites, condemned by all. But that his most simple divine nature, and the human, composed properly of soul and body, did compose his one person, or that it was composed of them, they constantly affirmed. Thv Qsov /jbifflrrjv xccl dv6pu)'7rojv, •/.arcc rag ypctpag evyAsTs&ai (pdf/^sv ix, rs rr^g '/.ad' i]lJ^oig d'j&fuirorriTog nXn'ojg syouffag ■/.ard rov 'Jdiov Xoyov, xai Ix rov '7ri(pi^v6- rog sx &iou -/.ard (pheiv v'loZ, saith Cyril of Alexandria. — "A Sanctis patribus adunatione ex divinitate et humanitate Christus Dominus noster compositus prgedicatur :" Pet. Diacon., lib. de Incamat. et Grat. Christi, ad Fulgentiiim. And the union which they intended by this composition they called hueiv (pvsixriv, because it was of diverse natures, and ivMffiv xard Guvkdiv, a union by composition.
But because there neither was nor can be any composition, pro- perly so called, of the divine and human natures, and because the Son of God was a perfect person before his incarnation — wherein he remained what he was, and was made what he was not — the expres- sion hath been forsaken and avoided ; the union being better ex- pressed by the assumption of a substantial adjunct, or the human nature, into personal subsistence mth the Son of God, as shall be afterwards explained. This the}^ constantly admhe as the most inef- fable effect of divine wisdom and grace. 'O aGapxog GapxoZrai, o y^oyog -TTayJjviTat, o dopah-og Ipdrai, b dva(pr,g ■^riXa<pdrai, 6 dyjovog apyjrai, 0 v'lhg QioZ vhg dv6pu)'7:ou ylvsTat, saith Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat. xii.,) in admiration of this mystery. Hereby God communicates all things unto us from his o^vn glorious fulness, the near approaches whereof we are not able to bear. So is it illustrated by Eusebius : (Demoust.
16 THE rUEFACE.
Evang., lib. iv. cap. 5, &C. :) OZru ds ipurbg -^Xlov fj^la, xal 7] ahrr, TposZoX'/j o'JjOV xoci xara, to auTO xaravyd^si fjbsv aspa, (puri^si 8s oodocX/j^ovg, a(priv d's ^sp/jyulvei, Tialvii ^j yrjv, av^si ds ^ura, x. r. 7.. (cap. VI.) E/ yovv u)c h b-TodiSn Xoyov, xa&iig o'!)pav66iv dvTog kauThv Ta/jb(pc(,7j g TJXiog cvv dvdpu'Troig s-tti yrig 'TToXiTsuoiTo, oudkva TMV s'TTi rr\g yr^g [Jbiivai av ddidipopov, rrdvrujv avXXr]Zbriv s/M-^v^uv o/j^ou xai d-^v^uv dSpocc rrj rou (purog "TrpodQoXrj diatpdapriffo/m^svcijv. The sense of which words, with some that follow in the same place, is unto this purpose : By the beams of the sun, light, and life, and heat, unto the procreation, sustentation, refreshment, and cherishing of all things, are communicated. But if the sun itself should come down unto the earth, nothing could bear its heat and lustre ; our eyes would not be enlightened but darkened by its glory, and all things be swallowed up and consumed by its greatness; whereas, through the beams of it, every thing is enlightened and kindly refreshed. So is it with this eternal beam or brightness of the Father's glory. We cannot bear the immediate approach of the Divine Being ; but through him, as incarnate, are all things communicated unto us, in a way suited unto our reception and comprehension.
So is it admired by Leo : (Serm. iii., De Nativit. :) " Natura humana in Creatoris societatem assumpta est, non ut ille habitator, et ilia esset habitaculum ; sed ut naturse alteri sic misceretur altera, ut quamvis alia sit quse suscipitur, alia vero quae suscepit, in tantam tamen unitatem conveniret utriusque diversitas, ut unus idemque sit filius, qiu se, et secundum qviod veiiis est homo, Patre dicit minorem, et secundum quod verus est Deus Patri se profitetur eeqnalem." — " Human nature is assumed into the society of the Creator, not that he shovild be the inhabitant, and that the habitation," (that is, by an inhabitation in the effects of his power and grace, for otherwise the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily,) " but that one nature should be so mingled" (that is, conjoined) "with the other, that although that be of one kind which assumeth, and that of another which is assumed; yet the diversity of them both should concur in such a unity or union, as that it is one and the same Son — who, as he was a true man, said that he was less than the Father, or the Father was greater than he — so as he was true God, professeth himself equal unto the Father." See also Augustinns De Fide, ad Pet. Diacon., cap. xvii. ; Justitianus Imperator Epist. ad. Hormisdam, Romse Episcop.