Now there are others who blaspheme, saying that Mary did not conceive Christ and that if she had conceived, then her womb would have distended and retracted.
Let them hear this from us, that if she did not conceive him, then the prophet spoke in vain, ‘Behold the virgin will be able to give birth to a son and his name will be called Emmanuel.’ Moreover, ‘The birth of Jesus Christ happened in this way,’ and ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, whose name will be called Jesus.’
If she did not conceive him, then he was not born. If he was not born, then he did not become a human being. If he did not become a human being, then he was not crucified. And if he was not crucified, then he did not rise on the third day, nor ascend to his holy dwelling places where he was at first before the Father sent him to be born of a woman, the holy Virgin Mary.
But now some say that the bread and the cup are not the body and blood of Christ, but are merely a type. I have grown weary saying this. Woe is me! I have become disturbed on account of this ungodliness!
If the Lord himself says, ‘Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood will live forever,’4 and moreover, ‘This is my body and this is my blood,’ how great will be the woe to these people when they say that it is not his body and his blood, and how great will be the woe to those who accept their words!
Who is the one who will despise the bread and the cup? Will Jesus not despise that one even more? For that person has despised the Holy Spirit, whom God sends upon them (the bread and the cup) so that they may become the body and blood of Christ.
Who will say, ‘It is not so,’ and not despise the holy place, the altar of those who fall down and prostrate themselves to them? Thus have I known this: for it is not of concern to them, just as if they were merely eating bread and drinking wine.
Truly, those who say that it is not his body and his blood—especially those from among us, not only the pagans—are more wicked than dogs and swine. Do we say that what we partake of is bread? Is it not a mystery according to the Scriptures?
The one who does not believe in what we say is not only more wicked than the beasts, but he is also more wicked than the unclean demons. If you do not accept the apostle when he speaks and you reject the Gospel in this matter, who is the one who will receive you? Who is the one who will not reject you?
By: St Shenouda the Archimandrite
From: Against the Origenists
