It may indeed be undignified to give any answer at all to the statements that are foolish we seem to be pointed that way by Solomon’s wise advice, “n

 What then is the charge they bring against us? They accuse us of profanity for entertaining lofty conceptions about the Holy Spirit. All that we, in f

 What then, shall be our way of arguing? We shall answer nothing new, nothing of our own invention, though they challenge us to it we shall fall back

 We can confirm our argument by material instances. Fire naturally imparts the sense of heat to those who touch it, with all its component parts one

 If, then, the Holy Spirit is truly, and not in name only, called Divine both by Scripture and by our Fathers, what ground is left for those who oppose

 For the plea will not avail them in their self-defence, that He is delivered by our Lord to His disciples third in order, and that therefore He is est

 Since, then, it has been affirmed, and truly affirmed, that the Spirit is of the Divine Essence, and since in that one word “Divine” every idea of gre

 But if all must shrink from that, as going even beyond the most revolting blasphemy, then a devout mind must accept the nobler names and conceptions o

 If such is the doctrine concerning Him when followed out , let the same inquiry be made concerning the Son and the Father as well. Do you not confess

 If, then, they agree that the Holy Spirit is perfect absolutely, and it has been admitted in addition that true reverence requires perfection in every

 In what sort of manner, then, can you honour the Deity? How can you heighten the Highest? How can you give glory to that which is above all glory? How

 The heavens proclaim the glory of God , and yet they are counted poor heralds of His worth because His Majesty is exalted, not as far as the heavens,

 What means, then, this lowering and this expanding of their soul, on the part of these men who are enthusiastic for the Father’s honour, and grant to

 “Yes,” replies one of them, “but we have been taught by Scripture that the Father is the Creator, and in the same way that it was ‘through the Son ’ t

 What shall we answer to this? That the thoughts of their hearts are so much idle talk, when they imagine that the Spirit was not always with the Fathe

 The view which is consistent with all reverence is as follows. We are not to think of the Father as ever parted from the Son, nor to look for the Son

 If, on the contrary, this Spirit has the impulse to work, but some overwhelming control hinders His design, they must tell us the wherefore of this hi

 This is the view we take, after the unprofessional way usual with us and we reject all these elaborate sophistries of our adversaries, believing and

 But with regard to service and worship, and the other things which they so nicely calculate about, and bring into prominence, we say this that the Ho

 But if there is any of them who rejects this statement, and this idea involved in the very name of Divinity, and says that which, to the destruction o

 These destroyers of the Spirit’s glory, who relegate Him to a subject world, must tell us of what thing that unction is the symbol. It not a symbol of

 Again, let us look at it in this way. Kingship is most assuredly shown in the rule over subjects. Now what is “subject” to this Kingly Being? The Word

 For notice the amount of absurdity involved in the other alternative all things that we can think of in the actual creation have, by virtue of all ha

 Then let us look to this too. In Holy Baptism, what is it that we secure thereby? Is it not a participation in a life no longer subject to death? I th

 So that if these despisers and impugners of their very own life conceive of the gift as a little one, and decree accordingly to slight the Being who i

 If, then, every height of man’s ability falls below the grandeur of the Spirit (for that is what the Word means in the metaphor of “footstool”), what

 On the contrary the Holy Spirit is, to begin with, because of qualities that are essentially holy, that which the Father, essentially Holy, is and su

 If such, then, is the greatness of the Spirit, and whatever is beautiful, whatever is good, coming from God as it does through the Son, is completed b

 But you will say, “When I think of the Father it is the Son (alone) that I have included as well in that term.” But tell me when you have grasped the

 Do they too, then, mean this by their worship? Well, is it anything but absurdity to think that it is wrong to honour the Holy Spirit with that with w

 [Translation lacking]

If, then, the Holy Spirit is truly, and not in name only, called Divine both by Scripture and by our Fathers, what ground is left for those who oppose the glory of the Spirit? He is Divine, and absolutely good, and Omnipotent, and wise, and glorious, and eternal; He is everything of this kind that can be named to raise our thoughts to the grandeur of His being. The singleness of the subject of these properties testifies that He does not possess them in a measure only, as if we could imagine that He was one thing in His very substance, but became another by the presence of the aforesaid qualities. That condition is peculiar10    Reading ἴδιον γὰρ τοῦτο.to those beings who have been given a composite nature; whereas the Holy Spirit is single and simple in every respect equally. This is allowed by all; the man who denies it does not exist. If, then, there is but one simple and single definition of His being, the good which He possesses is not an acquired good; but, whatever He may be besides, He is Himself Goodness, and Wisdom, and Power, and Sanctification, and Righteousness, and Everlastingness, and Imperishability, and every name that is lofty, and elevating above other names. What, then, is the state of mind that leads these men, who do not fear the fearful sentence passed upon the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, to maintain that such a Being does not possess glory? For they clearly put that statement forward; that we ought not to believe that He should be glorified: though I know not for what reason they judge it to be expedient not to confess the true nature of that which is essentially glorious.

Εἰ οὖν ἀληθῶς καὶ οὐ μέχρις ὀνόματος θεῖον τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὑπὸ τῆς γραφῆς καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν προσηγόρευται, τίς ἔτι λόγος ἐστὶ τοῖς ἀντιστατοῦσι τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ πνεύματος; εἰ γὰρ θεῖον, καὶ ἀγαθὸν πάντως καὶ δυνατὸν καὶ σοφὸν ἔνδοξόν τε καὶ ἀΐδιον καὶ πάντα ὅσα τοῦ τοιούτου γένους ἐστὶν ὀνόματα πρὸς τὸ μεγαλοπρεπὲς τὰς ὑπολήψεις ἡμῶν ἐπαίροντα. ταῦτα οὐκ ἐκ μετουσίας ἔχειν ἡ ἁπλότης τοῦ ὑποκειμένου διαμαρτύρεται ὡς ἄλλο μέν τι τῇ ἑαυτοῦ φύσει ὑπονοεῖν εἶναι, ἕτερον δέ τι γενέσθαι τῇ παρουσίᾳ τῶν εἰρημένων: ἴδια γὰρ ταῦτα τῶν σύνθετον εἰληχότων τὴν φύσιν. ἁπλοῦν δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον παρὰ πάντων ἐπίσης συνωμολόγηται καὶ ὁ ἀντιλέγων οὐκ ἔστιν. εἰ οὖν ἁπλοῦς ὁ τῆς φύσεως αὐτοῦ λόγος, οὐκ ἐπίκτητον ἔχει τὸ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλ' αὐτὸ ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστιν, ἀγαθότης ἐστί, σοφία, δύναμις, ἁγιασμός, δικαιοσύνη, ἀϊδιότης, ἀφθαρσία, πάντα τὰ ὑψηλὰ τῶν ὀνομάτων καὶ ὑπεραίροντα: τὸ οὖν τοιοῦτον ἐκ ποίας διανοίας ἄδοξον εἶναι κατασκευάζουσιν οἱ μὴ φοβούμενοι τὸ χαλεπὸν τῆς κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος βλασφημίας κατάκριμα; σαφῶς γὰρ τοῦτο προτείνουσι τὸ μὴ δεῖν αὐτὸ δοξαστὸν εἶναι πιστεύειν, οὐκ οἶδα τὸ τῇ φύσει ἔνδοξον τίνι λογισμῷ μὴ ὁμολογεῖν ὅ ἐστι λυσιτελὲς εἶναι κρίνοντες.