EPISTLE ONE

 1. Your sacred Kindness’s letter was delivered to me in the desert. Though the persecution directed against us was indeed bitter, and a great search m

 2. To the Arians indeed this way of thinking is not strange. Having once denied the Word of God, they naturally say the same evil things against his S

 3. Where then do you find excuse for such audacity, so that you do not fear that which was spoken by the Lord, ‘Whosoever shall blaspheme against the

 4. Tell us, then, is there any passage in the divine Scripture where the Holy Spirit is found simply referred to as ‘spirit’ without the addition of ‘

 5. But do you answer the question which has been put to you whether anywhere in the divine Scripture you have found the Holy Spirit called simply ‘spi

 6. But inquire also about the contents of the Gospels and the writings of the Apostles, and you will hear how there also, inasmuch as there is a great

 7. See how the Holy Spirit is denoted in all divine Scripture ! Did you, then, notice anything of this kind in the prophet? The ‘spirit’ of which the

 8. Read the sacred Scriptures, and you will find ‘spirit’ used of the meaning which is in the divine words, as Paul writes: ‘Who also made us sufficie

 9. ‘But’, say they, ‘since the text makes mention of Christ, to be consistent we must take the spirit it speaks of to be none other than the Holy Spir

 10. Accordingly, if created spirit bears this meaning, we can appropriately take the thunder which is established to be the sure word and unshakable l

 11. What is this mighty folly of theirs? Once again, where in the Scriptures have they found the Spirit referred to as an angel? I am obliged to repea

 12. Moses too knew that the angels are creatures and that the Holy Spirit is united with the Son and the Father. For when God said to him, ‘Depart, go

 13. ‘But granting this,’ they say, ‘why did the Apostle after Christ make mention not of the Holy Spirit but of the elect angels?’ In like manner we m

 14. What will they say if they hear also the Lord saying: ‘There was in a certain place a judge who feared not God and regarded not man’? Because, aft

 15. Such, it seems to me, is the meaning of the divine oracles and it refutes the evil which these irrational men speak against the Spirit. But they,

 16. We ought therefore, as I said before, to be silent on these matters and to disregard these people. But lest our silence should furnish an excuse f

 17. For this reason too, it is madness to call him a creature. If he were a creature, he would not be ranked with the Triad. For the whole Triad is on

 18. Let them presume to tell us, as they have a glib answer to everything, how the heavens were formed, and from what material, and what is their comp

 19. Since, therefore, such an attempt is futile madness, nay, more than madness !, let no one ask such questions any more, or else let him learn only

 20. But if there is such co-ordination and unity within the holy Triad, who can separate either the Son from the Father, or the Spirit from the Son or

 21. But if, in regard to order and nature, the Spirit bears the same relation to the Son as the Son to the Father, will not he who calls the Spirit a

 22. The creatures came from nothing, having a beginning from which they came into being. For, ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’

 23. He, therefore, who is not sanctified by another, nor a partaker of sanctification, but who is himself partaken, and in whom all the creatures are

 24. Further it is through the Spirit that we are all said to be partakers of God. For it says: ‘Know ye not that ye are a temple of God and that the S

 25. The Spirit, therefore, is distinct from the creatures, and is shown rather to be proper to the Son and not alien from God. As for that wise questi

 26. That the Spirit is above the creation, distinct in nature from things originated, and proper to the Godhead, can be seen from the following consid

 27. From what follows, also, we may see how the Holy Spirit is partaken and does not partake. (We must not mind repeating ourselves.) For, ‘It is impo

 28. But, beyond these sayings, let us look at the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning, which the Lord gave,

 29. Since then the Church has this foundation of faith, let these men tell us once again and let them make answer, Is God triad or dyad? If he is dyad

 30. Such absurdities meet you if you say God is dyad. But if he is triad, as indeed he is and if the Triad has been shown to be indivisible and consi

 31. This consideration also shows that the activity of the Triad is one. The Apostle does not mean that the things which are given are given different

 32. The divine Scriptures, then, consistently show that the Holy Spirit is not a creature, but is proper to the Word and to the Godhead of the Father.

 33. Dwelling as I do in a desert place, yet, because of their effrontery who have turned away from the truth, I have not heeded those who will be glad

 EPISTLE TWO—THREE

 2. This opinion of the Arians is indeed mortal and corruptible. But the argument of truth, which even they ought to ponder, runs like this: If God is

 3. When these points are thus proved, he is impious who says that the Son is a creature. For he will be compelled also to give the name of creature to

 4. Again, all things originate were not and have come into being. For, ‘He made the earth as nothing’ and, ‘Who calleth the things that are not as th

 5. Since these things are true and are written in Scripture, who does not recognize that, inasmuch as the Son has no likeness to the creatures but has

 6. In this way too we can refute the impiety of those who say that the Word of God is a creature. Our faith is in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as the

 7. But as they plead the passage in Proverbs, ‘The Lord created me, a beginning of his ways, for his works’, adding, ‘See, “He created” He is a creatu

 8. This character [of our faith] is from the Apostles through the Fathers. It remains that he who reads Scripture should examine and judge when it spe

 9. Then too there is that other saying, which is indeed well said, but by them ill understood—I mean: ‘Of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not ev

 Letter III. 1. Perhaps you will wonder why, when I was charged to abridge and briefly to explain the letter I had written concerning the Holy Spirit,

 2. These considerations are sufficient to dissuade anyone, be he never so contentious, from continuing to call the Spirit of God a creature, who is in

 3. Again, the Holy Spirit is called, and is, unction and seal. For John writes: ‘And as for you, the unction which ye received of him abideth in you,

 4. This the Apostle knows when he says: ‘All these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally, even as he will’ and a little

 5. As it is thus written, it is clear that the Spirit is not a creature, but takes part in the act of creation. The Father creates all things through

 6. Assuredly, when he prayed for the Corinthians, he prayed in the Triad, saying: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the comm

 7. In these terms the Catholic faith is expressed. But as for those who speak evil of the Spirit and call him a creature, if what we have said does no

 Epistle Four

 2. Who, when he hears these things, will still regard them as Christians, and not rather as pagans? For such things the pagans say against us in conve

 3. Once again, in the following way also, it is just for you to be questioned from the questions you ask. If the prophets speak in the Spirit of God,

 4. Thus the Spirit is not a creature but proper to the essence of the Word and proper to God in whom he is said to be. Once more, we must not shrink f

 5. These things being thus proved, he must be mad who asks, Is the Spirit also a son? But neither let any man, because this is not written, separate h

 6. For if you ask, Is the Spirit then a son?, since by our showing he is not a creature so must you ask, Is the Son then a father?, for you have

 7. These things are sufficient to refute your foolish speech. Mock no more at the Godhead. For it is the part of those who mock to ask the questions w

9. ‘But’, say they, ‘since the text makes mention of Christ, to be consistent we must take the spirit it speaks of to be none other than the Holy Spirit.’ So you observed that the Holy Spirit is named together with Christ! But when did you find him distinguished in nature and separated from the Son, that, while you say that Christ is not a creature, you say that the Holy Spirit is a creature? It is absurd to name together things which are by nature unlike. For what community or what likeness is there between creature and Creator? At this rate you will number and join together with the Son, as well as with the Spirit, the creatures originated through his agency. It would therefore be satisfactory, as we have said, to understand what is written of the spirit of the winds. But since you plead the fact that Christ is mentioned in the text, we shall have to look at the passage carefully, lest haply we find a more suitable interpretation of this spirit which is said to be created. What is meant by ‘declare unto men his Christ’ but that he himself becomes man? It is equivalent to the saying, ‘Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel’, and the other references to his coming. But if it is .the incarnate presence of the Word that is declared, what spirit must we understand to be created, but the spirit of man which is recreated and renewed? For this God promised by Ezekiel, saying: ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my Spirit within you.’ When has this been fulfilled, save when the Lord came and renewed all things by grace? See how in this text too the distinction between spirits is made clear. Our spirit is renewed; but the Holy Spirit is not simply spirit, but God says it is his Spirit, whereby ours is renewed. As the Psalmist says in the one hundred and third Psalm: ‘Thou shalt take away their spirit, and they shall die and return to their dust. Thou shalt put forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.’ But if it is by the Spirit of God that we are renewed, then the spirit here said to be created is not the Holy Spirit but our spirit. And if, because all things come into being through the Word, you think correctly that the Son is not a creature: then is it not blasphemy for you to say that the Spirit is a creature, in whom the Father, through the Word, perfects and renews all things? And if, because of the simple statement that spirit is created, they have imagined that this means the Holy Spirit, let them know that the Holy Spirit is not created, but that it is our spirit which is renewed in him. Of this spirit David also prayed in the Psalm: ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.’ Here he is said to create it, but aforetime, as Zechariah says, he formed it: ‘Stretching forth the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and forming the spirit of man within him.’ For when that which he formed aforetime had fallen he remade it, coming himself in the creature, when the Word became flesh; so that, in the words of the Apostle, ‘He might create in himself of the twain one new man, who after God had been created in righteousness and holiness of truth’. For it was not as if another man had been created, other than he who from the beginning was made in God’s image. But he was counselling them to receive the mind that was remade and renewed in Christ; as is once more made clear through Ezekiel, when he says: ‘Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God.’

Ἀλλ' ἐπείπερ Χριστοῦ, φησὶ, μνημονεύει τὸ Λόγιον, ἀκολούθως καὶ τὸ λεγόμενον πνεῦμα οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον χρὴ νοεῖν. Εἶτα τὸ μὲν συνονομάζεσθαι τῷ Χριστῷ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐθεωρήσατε· τὸ δὲ διαιρεῖν αὐτὸ τῇ φύσει, καὶ ἀπο ξενίζειν ἀπὸ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ποῦ κατενοήσατε, ὅτι τὸν μὲν Χριστὸν λέγετε μὴ εἶναι κτίσμα, τὸ δὲ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα κτίσμα λέγετε; Καὶ ἄτοπόν ἐστι τὰ ἀνόμοια τῇ φύσει συνονομάζειν, καὶ συνδοξάζειν. Ποία γὰρ κοινωνία, ἢ ποία ὁμοιότης τῷ κτίσματι πρὸς τὸν κτίστην; Ἐπεὶ ὥρα ὑμᾶς καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ συναριθμεῖν καὶ συνάπτειν τὰ δι' αὐτοῦ γενόμενα κτίσματα. Ἤρκει μὲν οὖν περὶ πνεύματος ἀνέμων νοεῖν τὸ γε γραμμένον, ὥσπερ εἴρηται· ἐπειδὴ δὲ προφασίζεσθε τὴν ἐν τῷ ῥητῷ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μνήμην, ἀναγκαῖον ἰδεῖν ἀκριβῶς τὸ λεγόμενον, μὴ ἄρα καὶ περὶ τοῦ λε γομένου κτίζεσθαι πνεύματος οἰκειοτέραν εὕρωμεν τὴν διάνοιαν. Τί τοίνυν ἐστὶ τὸ ἀπαγγέλλειν εἰς ἀν θρώπους τὸν Χριστὸν αὐτοῦ, ἢ τὸ γίνεσθαι αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἴσον εἶναι τοῦτο τῷ φάναι· «Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει, καὶ τέξεται υἱόν· καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ·» καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ὅσα περὶ τῆς ἐπιδημίας αὐτοῦ γέγραπται; τῆς δὲ ἐνσάρκου παρουσίας ἀπαγγελλομένης περὶ τοῦ Λόγου, ποῖον χρὴ πνεῦμα κτιζόμενον νοεῖν, εἰ μὴ τὸ ἀνακτιζόμενον τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀνακαινιζόμενον πνεῦμα; Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ διὰ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἐπεγγείλατο ὁ Θεὸς λέγων· «Καὶ δώσω ὑμῖν καρδίαν καινὴν, καὶ πνεῦμα καινὸν δώσω ὑμῖν· καὶ ἀφελῶ τὴν καρδίαν τὴν λιθίνην ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν· καὶ δώσω ὑμῖν καρ δίαν σαρκίνην· καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμά μου δώσω ἐν ὑμῖν.» Πότε δὴ τοῦτο πεπλήρωται, εἰ μὴ ὅτε παραγενόμενος ὁ Κύριος ἀνεκαίνισε τὰ πάντα τῇ χάριτι; Ἰδοὺ γὰρ καὶ ἐν τῷ ῥητῷ τούτῳ ἡ διαφορὰ τῶν πνευμά των δείκνυται· καὶ τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα τὸ ἡμῶν ἀνακαι νιζόμενόν ἐστι· τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον οὐχ ἁπλῶς πνεῦμα, ἀλλ' ἑαυτοῦ φησιν αὐτὸ εἶναι ὁ Θεὸς, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὰ ἡμῶν ἀνακαινίζεται· ὡς καὶ ὁ ψάλλων ἐν τῷ ἑκατοστῷ καὶ τρίτῳ ψαλμῷ λέγει· «Ἀντανελεῖς τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐκλείψουσι, καὶ εἰς τὸν χοῦν αὐτῶν ἐπιστρέψουσιν. Ἐξαποστελεῖς τὸ Πνεῦμά σου, καὶ κτισθήσονται, καὶ ἀνακαινιεῖς τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς.» Εἰ δὲ ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνακαινιζόμεθα· οὐκ ἄρα τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιόν ἐστι τὸ νῦν λεγόμενον πνεῦμα κτίζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἡμέτερον. Καὶ εἴπερ, διὰ τὸ πάντα γενέσθαι διὰ τοῦ Λόγου, φρονεῖτε καλῶς μὴ εἶναι κτίσμα τὸν Υἱόν· πῶς οὐ βλάσφημόν ἐστι λέγειν ὑμᾶς κτίσμα τὸ Πνεῦμα, ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα ὁ Πατὴρ διὰ τοῦ Λόγου τελειοῖ καὶ ἀνακαινίζει; Καὶ εἰ, διὰ τὸ γεγράφθαι ἁπλῶς πνεῦμα κτίζεσθαι, ἀν επλάσαντο ἑαυτοῖς εἶναι τοῦτο τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· πεισθῆναι λοιπὸν ὀφείλουσιν, ὅτι μὴ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιόν ἐστι τὸ κτιζόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἡμέτερόν ἐστι τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ ἀνακαινιζόμενον· περὶ οὗ καὶ ὁ ∆α βὶδ ηὔχετο ψάλλων· «Καρδίαν καθαρὰν κτίσον ἐν ἐμοὶ, ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ πνεῦμα εὐθὲς ἐγκαίνισον ἐν τοῖς ἐγκάτοις μου.» Ὧδε μὲν γὰρ λέγεται κτίζειν· πρότερον δὲ ἔπλασεν, ὁ Ζαχαρίας φησίν· «Ἐκτείνων τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ θεμελιῶν τὴν γῆν, καὶ πλάσσων πνεῦμα ἀνθρώπου ἐν αὐτῷ·» ὃ γὰρ πρότερον ἔπλασε, τοῦτο πεπτωκὸς ἀνέκτισε, γενόμενος αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ κτίσματι, ὅτε ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο, «ἵνα,» ὡς ὁ Ἀπόστολος εἶπε, «τοὺς δύο κτίσῃ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον, τὸν κατὰ Θεὸν κτισθέντα ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ὁσιότητι τῆς ἀληθείας.» Οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἑτέρου δη μιουργηθέντος παρὰ τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς κατ' εἰκόνα γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον ἔλεγεν· ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐν Χριστῷ κτισθέντα καὶ ἀνακαινισθέντα νοῦν συνεβούλευεν ἀναλαβεῖν· ὅπερ καὶ διὰ Ἰεζεκιὴλ πάλιν δηλοῦται, λέγοντος αὐτοῦ· «Ποιήσατε ἑαυτοῖς καρδίαν καινὴν καὶ πνεῦμα καινόν· καὶ ἵνα τί ἀποθνήσκετε, οἶκος Ἰσραήλ; ∆ιότι οὐ θέλω τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἀποθνήσκον τος, λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος.»