Letter 64: Theodore Studite, Letter 64; Greek heading: Τῇ περὶ τὸν πνευματικὸν υἱὸν Γρηγόριον ἀδελφότητι.

Brothers and fathers, having been entreated by your father, as one who is father both to him and, through him, to you, to speak to you the things that pertain to salvation, I was reasonably persuaded, and I, the lowly one, utter my words, taking my start from here. Our salvation, beloved children, is to believe rightly in the Holy Trinity and to have works attested by the holy commandments of God. For in Christ Jesus, as the Apostle says, neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love; and the word of faith is referred to the dogma of orthodoxy, while the word of love is referred to the contemplation of right conduct. We believe, therefore, in Father and Son and Holy Spirit, which are three persons, one nature, one power, one sovereign kingship over all things, worshipped in a single might and glory as in one nature and will and operation. We believe that the One of the Holy Trinity, the Son and Word of God the Father, having through his utmost goodness emptied himself, took the form of a servant, appearing in the form which is ours; for this is what the Theologian [John the Evangelist] says, "And the Word became flesh," and what the great Apostle [Paul] says, "God was manifested in the flesh." And he is one and the same in two natures, perfect God and perfect man, and in each perfection he relinquishes no proper attribute as unassumed, but rather possesses all the things of the Father divinely and all the things of the mother humanly, as a genuine son. As, therefore, from the Father he is uncircumscribable [not able to be delimited or depicted], so from the mother he is circumscribable [able to be delimited and depicted], that is to say, capable of being portrayed in an image after the manner of his mother. The iconomachs [image-fighters, the iconoclasts], then, against whom these doctrinal declarations are also directed, in not confessing that he is circumscribable, are surely found not even to confess that he is the genuine son of his mother; for where is there genuineness, and not rather complete alienation, if the offspring should not be in all the natural proper attributes after the manner of her who bore him? For just as, with respect to circumscription, he has no community with the Father but with the mother, so neither with respect to uncircumscribability is it the other way around; for the community is with him who begot, not with her who bore. Such is the right dogma of the truth, this is the apostolic faith: to confess Christ circumscribable in the flesh. And indeed the Great Basil [says], "Let Christ, the presider over the contests, also be inscribed upon the tablet," and that one should honor the image that has been inscribed, as Christ is worshipped in it. For in the image, the golden Chrysostom [John Chrysostom] cries out that one beholds an angel; and if the bodiless one is in an image, how much more, then, the embodied Word? And if one beholds, it is plain that one also venerates in the image the angel just as also Christ; for to be counted worthy to behold in a painting is equal to venerating. Since indeed the honor of the image ascends to the prototype, as again the divine Basil would say. Therefore those who insult his image are deniers of Christ, referring through the rejection directed at it the rejection back to him, even though they say they confess Christ; since the demons too confess God, it says, but by their works they deny him. Great, then, brothers, is their impiety, and great is our confession, and in no way falling short of the martyrs of old. Stand firm, therefore, in no way faltering concerning the things already demonstratively established as true, but for this faith, even unto blood, if the occasion should call, entering upon the contests. From this also dawns the radiant life, sun from sun, since the brother of God [James the Just, the "brother of the Lord"] has demonstrated the one to be the testimony of the other. Love God out of the whole of the three powers, as the commandment enjoins; love also one another as members of Christ; for by this, it says, shall all know that you are my disciples, if you have love among one another. Through faith conduct yourselves toward your superior [the abbot]. Let no one be unconfessed to him; for such a one is a serpent-nourisher. Let no one be lukewarm in faith; for such a one has no share in the fervor of the Holy Spirit. Let no one be a secret-possessor [one who keeps property in secret]; for such a one is a Judas-thief. Let no one be self-willed in opinion; for such a one is a monk-cast-out. Let no one be a maker of free liberties; for such a one is a worker of corruption. Let no one be a furtive-eater; for such a one is slave-like. Let no one give offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed, as the Apostle cries out, but in everything commending himself as a minister of God in much endurance, in afflictions, in distresses, and the rest which he himself enumerated, perfecting the true Christian. And if the subordinate is such, what and how much would be required of the superior, who, being a good model of the things he teaches, ought to be set before them? Great is the contest, but also the reward is infinitely manifold: the kingdom of the heavens, of which may we be counted worthy, both rulers and ruled, living divinely in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the might together with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες, παρακληθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν ὡς πατὴρ κἀκείνου καὶ ὑμῶν δι' ἐκείνου λαλῆσαι ὑμῖν τὰ πρὸς σωτηρίαν, καὶ ἐπείσθην εἰκότως καὶ φθέγγομαι ὁ ταπεινός, ἔνθεν ἑλών. ἡ σωτηρία ἡμῶν, τέκνα ἀγαπητά, πιστεύειν ὀρθῶς εἰς τὴν Ἁγίαν Τριάδα καὶ ἔργα ἔχειν μαρτυρούμενα ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων ἐντολῶν τοῦ θεοῦ. ἐν γὰρ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, καθώς φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος, οὔτε περιτομή τι ἰσχύει οὔτε ἀκροβυστία, ἀλλὰ πίστις δι' ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη· καὶ ὁ μὲν τῆς πίστεως λόγος εἰς τὸ τῆς ὀρθοδοξίας δόγμα, ὁ δὲ τῆς ἀγάπης εἰς τὸ τῆς εὐπραξίας θεώρημα ἀναφέρεται. Πιστεύομεν οὖν εἰς πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, ἅπερ ἐστὶ τρία πρόσωπα, μία φύσις, μία δύναμις, μία ἀρχικὴ τῶν ἁπάντων βασιλεία, ἐν ἑνὶ ὡς φύσει καὶ θελήσει καὶ ἐνεργείᾳ προσκυνουμένη κράτει καὶ κλέει. πιστεύομεν ὡς ὁ εἷς τῆς Ἁγίας Τριάδος, ὁ υἱὸς καὶ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρός, δι' ἄκραν ἀγαθότητα κενώσας ἑαυτόν, μορφὴν δούλου ἔλαβεν ἐν τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς εἴδει ὀφθείς· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν, ὅ φησιν ὁ Θεολόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος σάρξ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὅ φησιν ὁ μέγας ἀπόστολος, θεὸς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί. καὶ ἔστιν εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἐν δυσὶ φύσεσιν, τέλειος θεὸς καὶ τέλειος ἄνθρωπος, καὶ ἐν ἑκατέρῳ τελείῳ οὐχ ὑφείς τι ἰδίωμα ἀπρόσληπτον, ἔχων δὲ μᾶλλον πάντα τὰ τοῦ πατρὸς θεϊκῶς καὶ πάντα τὰ τῆς μητρὸς ἀνθρωπικῶς, ὡς υἱὸς γνήσιος. ὡς οὖν ἐκ πατρὸς ἀπερίγραπτος, οὕτως ἐκ μητρὸς περιγραπτός, ἤγουν ἐξεικονιζόμενος μητρομοίως. Οἱ οὖν εἰκονομάχοι, περὶ ὧν καὶ τὸ ταῦτα δογματίζειν, μὴ ὁμολογοῦντες αὐτὸν περιγράφεσθαι εὑρίσκονται ἀσφαλῶς μηδὲ ὁμολογεῖν αὐτὸν γνήσιον υἱὸν τῆς μητρός· ποῦ γὰρ τὸ γνήσιον καὶ οὐ πάντῃ μᾶλλον ἀλλότριον, ἂν μὴ κατὰ τὴν γεννήσασαν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς φυσικοῖς ἰδιώμασιν εἶεν ἂν καὶ τὸ γέννημα; ὡς γὰρ κατὰ τὴν περιγραφὴν οὐδεμίαν κοινωνίαν ἔχει πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν μητέρα, οὕτως οὐδὲ κατὰ τὴν ἀγραφίαν τὸ ἔμπαλιν· πρὸς τὸν γεννήσαντα γὰρ ἡ κοινωνία, οὐ πρὸς τὴν τεκοῦσαν. οὕτως τὸ ὀρθὸν δόγμα τῆς ἀληθείας, αὕτη ἡ ἀποστολικὴ πίστις, περιγραπτὸν ὁμολογεῖν τὸν Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκί. καὶ γοῦν ὁ Μέγας Βασίλειος, ἐγγραφέσθω τῷ πίνακι καὶ ὁ τῶν παλαισμάτων ἀγωνοθέτης Χριστός, καὶ τὴν ἐγγεγραμμένην εἰκόνα τιμᾶν, ὡς ἐν αὐτῇ προσκυνουμένου Χριστοῦ. ἐν γὰρ τῇ εἰκόνι βοᾷ ὁ χρυσοῦς Χρυσόστομος ἰδεῖν ἄγγελον· καὶ εἰ ἀσώματον ἐν εἰκόνι, πόσῳ οὖν μᾶλλον τὸν ἐνσώματον λόγον; καὶ εἰ ὁρᾷ, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ προσκυνεῖ ἐν εἰκόνι τὸν ἄγγελον ὥσπερ καὶ τὸν Χριστόν· τὸ γὰρ ἀξιωθῆναι ἰδεῖν ἐν γραφῇ ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ προσκυνεῖν. ἐπείπερ καὶ ἡ τῆς εἰκόνος τιμὴ ἐπὶ τὸ πρωτότυπον ἀναβαίνει, ὡς πάλιν φαίη ὁ θεῖος Βασίλειος. ἀρνηταὶ τοιγαροῦν εἰσι Χριστοῦ οἱ τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ ὑβρισταί, διὰ τῆς ἐπ' αὐτῇ ἀθετήσεως εἰς αὐτὸν τὴν ἀθέτησιν ἀναφέροντες, κἂν λέγωσιν ὁμολογεῖν Χριστόν· ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια ὁμολογοῦσι, φησί, θεόν, τοῖς δὲ ἔργοις ἀρνοῦνται. Μέγα οὖν, ἀδελφοί, τὸ ἀσέβημα αὐτῶν καὶ μεγάλη ἡ ὁμολογία ἡμῶν καὶ οὔ τί που ἀποδέουσα τῶν πάλαι μαρτύρων. στῆτε οὖν κραταιοί, μηδόλως ὀκλάζοντες περὶ τῶν ἤδη ἀποδεικτικῶς ἠληθευμένων, ἀλλὰ ταύτῃ τῇ πίστει μέχρις αἵματος, εἰ καλοίη καιρός, ὑποδυόμενοι τοὺς ἀγῶνας. ἐντεῦθεν ἀνατέλλει καὶ ὁ φαεινὸς βίος, ἐξ ἡλίου ἥλιος, ἐπείπερ θάτερον θατέρου μαρτύριον ὁ ἀδελφόθεος ἀποδέδειχεν εἶναι. ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν θεὸν ἐξ ὁλοκλήρου τῶν τριῶν δυνάμεων, καθὼς ἡ ἐντολὴ κελεύει, ἀγαπᾶτε καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ὡς μέλη Χριστοῦ· ἐν τούτῳ γάρ, φησί, γνώσονται πάντες ὅτι ἐμοὶ μαθηταί ἐστε, ἐὰν ἀγάπην ἔχητε ἐν ἀλλήλοις. διὰ πίστεως ἄγετε τὸν καθηγούμενον ὑμῶν. μηδεὶς ἔστω ἀνεξαγόρευτος αὐτῷ· ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος ὀφιοτρόφος. μηδεὶς χλιαρόπιστος· ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος ἀμέτοχος τῆς τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος ζέσεως. μηδεὶς κρυφιοκτήμων· ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος ἰουδοκλέπτης. μηδεὶς ἰδιόγνωμος· ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος ἐξωμόναχος. μηδεὶς παρρησιοποιός· ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος φθορεργάτης. μηδεὶς κλεψιφάγος· ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος δουλόμοιος. μηδεὶς ἐν μηδενὶ διδοὺς προσκοπήν, ἵνα μὴ μωμηθῇ ἡ διακονία, ὡς βοᾷ ὁ ἀπόστολος, ἀλλ' ἐν παντὶ συνιστῶν ἑαυτὸν ὡς θεοῦ διάκονος ἐν ὑπομονῇ πολλῇ, ἐν θλίψεσιν, ἐν στενοχωρίαις καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς, οἷς αὐτὸς ἀπηριθμήσατο, καταρτίζων τὸν ἀληθινὸν χριστιανόν. εἰ δὲ ὁ ὑπήκοος οὕτως, τί καὶ πόσον ἀπαιτοῖτο ὁ καθηγούμενος, τύπος ἀγαθὸς ὧν διδάσκει ὀφείλων προκεῖσθαι; Μέγας ὁ ἀγών, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ μισθὸς ἀπειροπλάσιος, βασιλεία οὐρανῶν, ἧς ἀξιωθείημεν καὶ ἄρχοντες καὶ ἀρχόμενοι, θείως βιοτεύοντες ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος σὺν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν.