Where does Saint Gregory say, "Whatever is not assumed is not healed"?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

The famous theological maxim, "For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved," was written by St. Gregory the Theologian (also known as Gregory of Nazianzus).

You can find this statement in his Epistle 101 to Cledonius the Priest (also referred to as his First Letter against Apollinarius).

Context of the Statement

St. Gregory wrote this letter to refute the heresy of Apollinarius, who taught that Christ had a human body and a human soul (the lower, animal soul), but that His human mind (the nous or spirit) was replaced by the Divine Logos.

St. Gregory argued that if Christ did not take a human mind, then the human mind—which is the seat of sin and where the fall began—was never redeemed. From the Coptic Orthodox perspective, this confirms the necessity of the "Full Humanity" in the Miaphysite union. For the Word to truly save us, He had to become a "Whole Man" (body, soul, and spirit) while remaining "Whole God."

Key Theological Points:

• Soteriological Necessity: The purpose of the Incarnation is salvation. If any part of human nature was left out of the union with the Word, that part remains dead.
• The Whole Man: As noted by early Church writers like Origen and later solidified by the Cappadocians, the Savior wished to save the body, the soul, and the spirit. Therefore, He assumed all three.
• Miaphysite Implication: By assuming the "whole man" into His one Hypostasis, the Word made the human nature His own. This supports the Cyrillian and Coptic doctrine that there is only one nature (the Incarnate Nature of the Word) acting and performing the deeds of salvation, rather than two separate natures acting independently.

In the Coptic tradition, we honor St. Gregory the Theologian not only for this defense of the Incarnation but also as the author of one of our three primary Divine Liturgies, the Liturgy of St. Gregory, which is addressed entirely to the Son.