—the Byzantines, so called after the religion of the king and not, as some uninformed people allege, after a man named Malqana (1), the supposed author of their doctrine—state that the eternal Son, who is the Word, became fully incarnate from Mary just like other human bodies. Into that body was placed a perfect soul, endowed with intellect, perception, and knowledge like the souls of all people. By means of this body and soul—both of the same substance as humankind—He became human, while by the substance of the divinity He remained God, equal to His Father. Thus, by the substance of humanity He is a man like Abraham, Moses, and David, yet He is one person, not multiplied in number. The essence of the divinity that He has always possessed remained with Him, and the human essence that the Son of Mary assumed was likewise affirmed for Him. He is one person—without numerical increase—yet possesses two natures, and each nature has its own complete will: by His divinity He has a will like the Father’s, and by His humanity a will like that of Abraham and David.

They further maintain that Mary gave birth to “the Messiah,” a name that comprises both the divinity and the humanity; and that the one who died is the very one to whom Mary gave birth—the same one who was crucified, nailed, slapped, and bound with ropes (2). The divinity, they say, neither died, nor suffered, nor was buried.

They claim, therefore, that He is perfect God by virtue of His divine essence and perfect man by virtue of His human essence, possessing two wills: a divine will and a human will. In this they reproduce the assertion of the Jacobites that Mary gave birth to God, except that they—so they imagine—exonerate God from death.

Yet when you reflect on their words, you will find that in reality they hold the very doctrine of the Jacobites, though they dispute and contradict one another about it. The Jacobites are simply the more consistent in their unbelief, both in wording and in meaning.