Saint Mark of Ephesus on Original Sin and the Atonement
Source: Τσελεγκίδης Κ. Γ. Ὁ Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Εὐγενικὸς καὶ τὸ λειτουργικὸ τοῦ ἔργο. Θεσσαλονίκη, 2012. Σ. 206–209 (with clarifications from the manuscript Paris. Gr. 1292. Fol. 78v-82r).
Translated from Greek to Russian by Petr Pashkov, and from Russian to English by Kaleb of Atlanta.
The following is a detailed commentary on the discussion about the Sacrifice of Christ from 45 Words of Saint Gregory the Theologian¹. Parenthesis and brackets from the original Russian. No additional commentary will be provided, but discussion of the provided text is invited.
To Dionysius, the most revered among the Hieromonks of Kyrgyzstan, about the Sovereign and Divine Blood
Already the great father, Gregory the Theologian, was perplexed about the Master’s Blood: to whom it was brought and how. However, since [the teacher] liked to be brief [in his speeches], and the festive word itself did not allow him to devote enough time to such research, he resolved [the difficulty] in a few words and rushed on. You, moved by your ordinary love of knowledge and [questions] of others, ask us, as far as possible, to give a complete and detailed solution to this perplexity. So, fulfilling obedience and forgetting about our inseparable weakness and worthlessness in thought and word, we affirm the following.
The apostate devil conquered our nature and took it into his possession; he took it captive through sin and mastered it, so that it remained in his power (partly against our will, and partly voluntarily, caught by pleasure as a bait) - all this from the very time he deceived the first man with harmful advice, cast him out of paradise and from life and subjected him to death. For subsequently, all those who traced their family to him received from him an inheritance, like some kind of paternal lot, that passed on to them sin and death, and therefore were subject to the dominion of the evil demon. And how could they resist him, being far from their Fatherland - they, who had become mortal and subject to countless passions? After all, even while still in their stronghold, they so easily succumbed to deception, [for which] they were subjected to a regrettable expulsion. So, everyone was forced to inherit the suffering and mortality of nature assigned to [the forefather] (παθητὸν καὶ θνητὸν τῆς φύσεως καταψηφισθὲν). They adopted sin not in exactly the same way, but following their own aspirations, and, moreover, imitating their predecessors. And thus, both before death and after death, they were in the power of the evil one: during life they served the air spirits, and after death they were given over to the underground. Pointing to this, the Divine Apostle writes: “death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression” (Rom. 5:14) - but does not say “over those who have not sinned at all,” but “over those who have not sinned like Adam,” because if they did not dare to commit such a crime, they committed some other lawlessness.
It seems to me right to explain what has been said by means of an example. Suppose there is a certain leader of robbers who, by deception and cunning, seduced a certain rich and noble husband and, as a captive, took him to himself, forcing him, along with his wife and children, to be his slaves. [The captive], little by little getting used to slavery, no longer thought about freedom, but even began to find pleasure in this painful life. Thus, he passed slavery on to his entire family. And, although he found himself in slavery not of his own free will, he was kept in it both against his will and of his own free will - as many say, “both voluntarily and involuntarily.” What could be done for someone who found himself in such an unfortunate situation and yet was so unaware of it? One of two things: either one of his relatives had to pay a ransom (λύτρον) for him in order to save him; or the king himself, ruling in that state, taking pity on [the captive], could send soldiers against the vile robber, deprive him of power, to which he had no right, and free him who was in such deplorable slavery.
This is approximately how things stood with human nature before the coming of our Savior. It consisted of such slavery to the evil one. For the rational and judging part of the soul was corrupted by contempt for the Creator and by following the destructive demons; the passionate part, in turn, is a voluntary enslavement to diverse passions. In a word, humanity, having preferred the non-existent instead of God and the Master, could no longer bring from itself any worthy ransom for its liberation, for everyone was equally subordinate to the same passions. And even if someone managed to escape them, he could not ransom all nature from the robber, for, coming from the same sinful root, he was rather a slave like the rest, rather than could serve as a ransom for the rest.
God, the only one who could bring freedom to nature, was enraged (ἐξώργιστο) with it, since it voluntarily followed the evil one. He, Himself being the administrator of justice, decided that it was not appropriate to forcefully deliver from slavery someone who did not really desire [freedom]. Nevertheless, having compassion on the [human] race, the Only-Begotten Son of God, being an abyss of goodness and mercy, Himself takes upon Himself the ineffable work of the Economy by the good pleasure of the Father and with the assistance of the Holy Ghost. He perceives our nature in a supernatural way - for with God there is nothing impossible, nothing inappropriate, and nothing indecent, since where God is, nothing is bad - and at once He accomplishes everything.
With all His life, He teaches the nature to fight the evil one, if he, after granting [us] freedom, attacks again. He heals the thinking part [of the soul] with a clear knowledge of the Existing God and Master; for He says: “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) and “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” (John 6:29). After all, it was this part that needed to be corrected first, since it was the first to be corrupted; a witness to this is the apostle, who says: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient” (Rom. 1:28). Then He cleanses the passionate part of the soul by giving saving commandments, and, finally, He heals the very bodies of those who suffer with the highest miracles.
He also delivers humanity from the dominion of the tyrant. He pays the ransom to him with His Blood, and sacrifices it to the Father, for He, who was enraged, as was said, needed to be reconciled, and the tyrant, who had never before seen a worthy ransom, needed to be satisfied. So [the Savior] becomes both. And according to Divine justice, as human, Precious Blood, although it is given to the tyrant who holds [our] nature captive, in no way does he, a runaway slave and apostate, succeed in taking it away, since it is the Blood of God. That is why it is sacrificed to the Father. If we recall the example we gave: let’s assume that someone close to him took a measure of gold, wanting to ransom a prisoner for money, and had already sent it to the tyrant, and he rushed to pick up the ransom, and was almost holding the gold in his hands. Suddenly the king, rushing to the rescue of his household and servant, saved him from captivity, and destroyed the power of the tyrant. Let the king also be left with the prepared ransom - this will be an indication of his courage. So let [the Blood of Christ] be offered to the Father, as if it were some kind of gift to someone who was angry with the captive because he had completely plunged himself into the trap of a robber.
This was the work of the House of Our Savior Jesus Christ, minus the fact that here it was not one who offered a ransom, then another was the King who defeated the tyrant, but One and the same God the Word. He, as a man, took on human nature and paid a ransom for [our] entire race, shedding Precious Blood and suffering a free death - the only truly equivalent payment for all nature (ὅλης φύσεως); as God and the King destroys the robber who attacked [and took us] captive, so that he, having tasted His flesh, is forced to cast out those whom he had devoured before; the Venerable Blood is sacrificed to the Father for the reconciliation of [our] nature.
Thus, the Only Begotten Word of God becomes everything for us: and the Repayer of the debts of our nature - as a human being congenial with us; and our Defender, the Conqueror of the terrible tyrant and the Victorious - as King and God; and our Mediator and Reconciler before God the Father. He is both Priest and Sacrifice; both Nourisher and Food; both Physician and Medicine; He is all that is most beautiful and beneficial.
So, let us [briefly] repeat what has already been said and finish our reasoning. The Precious Blood was given according to economy, as if though a ransom to the one who held [the person] captive, and until the moment of giving it was a ransom. But although it was proper to bring it as [ransom], the tyrant did not manage to take it away - and it was impossible that he could take it away. So, it is offered as a sacrifice to the Father, since man needed to be sanctified by the human [nature] of God, as the Divine Voice says.
If this [reasoning] seems sufficient to you, venerable master, pass it on to those who wish, whether they are from among those striving for knowledge or simply well-disposed towards us. If nothing relevant is said here, then let [this work] be forgotten and hidden in the darkest corner, so that this empty chatter cannot harm those who accidentally stumble upon it.
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- Gregory the Theologian, St. Word 45: On Holy Pascha, 22 // Creations. M., 2007. T. 1. P. 570
