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

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, persevering in their antagonism to the truth, as you write, speak again, no longer out of the Scriptures—they find nothing there—but proclaiming out of the abundance of their own heart: ‘If he is not a creature nor one of the angels, but proceeds from the Father, then he is himself also a son, and he and the Word are two brothers. And if he is a brother, how is the Word only begotten? How is it then that they are not equal, but the one is named after the Father, and the other after the Son? How, if he is from the Father, is he not also sa^d to be begotten or called son, but just Holy Spirit? But if the Spirit is of the Son, then the Father is the Spirit's grandfather.’ Thus the wretches make mock, like busy-bodies desiring to ‘search the deep things of God’ which ‘no one knows but the Spirit of God’, against whom they speak evil. We ought therefore to answer them no more, but, in accordance with the Apostle’s precept, after the warning they have had from what has been said already, to shun them as heretics; or else to ask them questions on a level with those they ask, and to demand an answer from them such as they demand from us.u Let them tell us then: whether the Father is from a Father; whether another has been begotten with him, so that they are brothers from the one father; what are the names of these; who is the father and the grandfather of this father; and who are their ancestors. But they will say there are none. How then, let them tell us, is he a Father who is not himself begotten of a father? Or how could he have a Son who was not first begotten a son? I know the interrogation is impious. But when they make mock of such things, it is right to make mock of them, that even from such absurd and impious interrogation they may be able to perceive their own folly. For it is not so. God forbid! Nor is it fitting to ask such questions about the Godhead. For God is not as man, that we should dare to ask human questions about him.

Τῶν μὲν οὖν θείων λογίων τοιοῦτος ὁ νοῦς ἐμοὶ φαίνεται, διελέγχων τὴν τῶν ἀλόγων κατὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος δυσφημίαν· αὐτοὶ δὲ τὴν φιλονεικίαν ἔμμονον ἔχοντες πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ὡς γράφεις, οὐκέτι μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν Γραφῶν (οὐχ εὑρίσκουσι γὰρ), ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ περισσεύματος τῆς καρδίας τῆς ἰδίας ἐρευγόμενοι, πάλιν φάσκουσιν· Εἰ μὴ κτίσμα ἐστὶ, μηδὲ τῶν ἀγ γέλων εἷς ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται· οὐκοῦν Υἱός ἐστι καὶ αὐτὸ, καὶ δύο ἀδελφοί εἰσιν αὐτό τε καὶ ὁ Λόγος. Καὶ εἰ ἀδελφός ἐστι, πῶς μονο γενὴς ὁ Λόγος, ἢ πῶς οὐκ ἴσοι, ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν μετὰ τὸν Πατέρα, τὸ δὲ μετὰ τὸν Υἱὸν ὀνομάζεται; Πῶς δὲ, εἰ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός ἐστιν, οὐ λέγεται καὶ αὐτὸ γε γεννῆσθαι, ἢ ὅτι Υἱός ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς Πνεῦμα ἅγιον; Εἰ δὲ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐστι τὸ Πνεῦμα, οὐκοῦν πάππος ἐστὶν ὁ Πατὴρ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Τοιαῦτα παίζουσιν οἱ ἄτιμοι, περιεργαζόμενοι καὶ θέλοντες ἐρευνᾷν τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἃ μηδεὶς οἶδεν, εἰ μὴ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ δυσφημούμενον ὑπ' αὐτῶν. Ἔδει μὲν οὖν μηκέτι τούτοις ἀποκρίνασθαι, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἀποστολικὴν παραγγελίαν, μετὰ τὴν ἐκ τῶν προ ειρημένων νουθεσίαν ὡς αἱρετικοὺς αὐτοὺς παραι τεῖσθαι, ἢ ἄξια ὧν ἐρωτῶσιν ἐρωτᾷν αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀπαιτεῖν παρ' αὐτῶν ἀπόκρισιν, οἵαν αὐτοὶ παρ' ἡμῶν ἀπαιτοῦσιν. Εἰπάτωσαν τοίνυν· εἰ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐκ πατρός ἐστι, καὶ εἰ ἄλλος σὺν αὐτῷ γεγέννηται, καί εἰσιν ἀδελφοὶ ἐξ ἑνὸς, καὶ τί ὄνομα αὐτοῖς, καὶ τίς ὁ καὶ τούτων Πατὴρ καὶ πάππος, κἀκείνων οἱ πρόγονοι; Ἀλλ' οὐκ εἶναι φήσουσι. Πῶς οὖν Πατὴρ, λεγέτωσαν, αὐτὸς μὴ γενόμενος ἐκ Πατρός; Ἢ πῶς ἠδυνήθη Υἱὸν ἔχειν, μὴ πρότερον αὐτὸς Υἱὸς γεννηθείς; Οἶδα, ὅτι ἀσεβὴς ἡ ἐρώτησις· ἀλλὰ τοιαῦτα παίζοντας αὐτοὺς παίζειν δίκαιον, ἵνα κἂν ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀτοπίας καὶ ἀσεβοῦς ἐρωτήσεως αἰσθάνεσθαι τῆς ἰδίας ἀφροσύνης δύνωνται. Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ταῦτα· μὴ γένοιτο! οὐδ' οὕτως ἐρωτᾷν περὶ τῆς θεότητος πρέπει. Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὁ Θεὸς, ἵνα καὶ ἀνθρώπινα περὶ αὐτοῦ τις τολμήσῃ ἐρωτᾷν.