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

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 consistent—then its holiness must be one, and its eternity one, and its immutable nature. For as the faith in the Triad, which has been delivered to us, joins us to God; and as he who takes anything away from the Triad, and is baptized in the name of the Father alone, or in the name of the Son alone, or in the Father and the Son without the Holy Spirit, receives nothing, but remains ineffective and uninitiated, both himself and he who is supposed to initiate him (for the rite of initiation is in the Triad); so he who divides the Son from the Father, or who reduces the Spirit to the level of the creatures, has neither the Son nor the Father, but is without God, worse than an unbeliever, and anything rather than a Christian. And justly so. For as baptism, which is given in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is one; and as there is one faith in the Triad (as the Apostle said); so the holy Triad, being identical with itself and united within itself, has in it nothing which belongs to things originate. This is the indivisible unity of the Triad; and faith therein is one. But if, from the new discovery you Tropici have made, it is not so; if you have dreamed dreams of calling the Holy Spirit a creature—then you no longer have one faith and one baptism, but two, one in the Father and the Son, another in an angel who is a creature. There is no security or truth left you. For what communion can there be between that which is originate and that which creates? What unity between the lower creatures and the Word who created them? Knowing this, the blessed Paul does not divide the Triad as you do; but, teaching its unity, when he wrote to the Corinthians concerning things spiritual, he finds the source of all things in one God, the Father, saying: ‘There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God who worketh all things in all.’ The gifts which the Spirit divides to each are bestowed from the Father through the Word. For all things that are of the Father are of the Son also; therefore those things which are given from the Son in the Spirit are gifts of the Father. And when the Spirit is in us, the Word also, who gives the Spirit, is in us, and in the Word is the Father. So it is as it is said: ‘We will come, I and the Father, and make our abode with him.’u For where the light is, there is also the radiance; and where the radiance is, there also is its activity and lambent grace. This again the Apostle teaches, when he wrote to the Corinthians, in the second letter as well, saying: ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.’ For this grace and gift that is given is given in the Triad, from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. As the grace given is from the Father through the Son, so we can have no communion in the gift except in the Holy Spirit. For it is when we partake of him that we have the love of the Father and the grace of the Son and the communion of the Spirit himself.

Τοιαῦτα μὲν οὖν ὑμῖν ἄτοπα ἐκ τοῦ δυάδα λέγειν ἀπαντᾷ. Εἰ δὲ Τριάς ἐστιν, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἔστι, δέδεικται δὲ ἀδιαίρετος οὖσα καὶ οὐκ ἀνόμοιος· ἀνάγκη μίαν ταύτης εἶναι τὴν ἁγιότητα, καὶ μίαν ταύτης τὴν ἀϊδιότητα, καὶ τὴν τῆς ἀτρεψίας φύσιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ ὡς αὐτὴν παραδεδομένη πίστις μία ἐστὶ, καὶ αὕτη συνάπτει τῷ Θεῷ, ὁ δὲ ὑπεξαιρούμενός τι τῆς Τριάδος, καὶ ἐν μόνῳ τῷ τοῦ Πατρὸς ὀνόματι βαπτιζόμενος, ἢ ἐν μόνῳ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ἢ χωρίς γε τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐν Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ, οὐδὲν λαμβάνει, ἀλλὰ κενὸς καὶ ἀτελὴς αὐτός τε καὶ ὁ δοκῶν διδόναι διαμένει· ἐν τῇ Τριάδι γὰρ ἡ τελείωσίς ἐστιν· οὕτως ὁ διαιρῶν τὸν Υἱὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἢ τὸ Πνεῦμα κατάγων εἰς τὰ κτίσματα, οὔτε τὸν Υἱὸν ἔχει οὔτε τὸν Πατέρα, ἀλλ' ἔστιν ἄθεος καὶ ἀπίστου χείρων, καὶ πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ Χριστιανός· καὶ δικαίως γε. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἕν ἐστι τὸ βάπτισμα ἐν Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι διδόμενον, καὶ μία πίστις ἐστὶν εἰς αὐτὴν, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· οὕτως ἡ ἁγία Τριὰς, ἡ αὐτὴ οὖσα ἑαυτῇ, καὶ ἡνωμένη πρὸς ἑαυτὴν, οὐδὲν ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῇ τῶν γενη τῶν· καὶ αὕτη τῆς Τριάδος ἡ ἀδιαίρετος ἑνότης, καὶ μία ἡ εἰς ταύτην πίστις ἐστίν. Εἰ δὲ κατὰ τὴν ὑμῶν τῶν Τροπικῶν ἐπεξεύρεσιν οὐχ οὕτως ἐστὶν, ἀλλ' ἐνυπνιάσθητε κτίσμα λέγειν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· οὐκέτι μία πίστις ἐστὶν ὑμῶν, οὐδὲ ἓν βάπτισμα, ἀλλὰ δύο· ἓν μὲν εἰς Πατέρα καὶ Υἱόν· ἕτε ρον δὲ εἰς ἄγγελον κτίσμα ὄντα· καὶ οὐδὲν λοιπὸν ὑμῶν ἀσφαλὲς οὐδὲ ἀληθές. Ποία γὰρ κοινωνία γενητῷ καὶ δημιουργῷ; Ἢ ποία ἑνότης τοῖς κάτω κτίσμασι καὶ τῷ ταῦτα δημιουργήσαντι Λόγῳ; Τοῦτο εἰδὼς ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος, οὐ διαιρεῖ τὴν Τριάδα, ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἑνότητα ταύτης δι δάσκων ἔγραψε Κορινθίοις περὶ τῶν πνευματικῶν, καὶ τὰ πάντα εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν τὸν Πατέρα ἀνακεφαλαιοῖ λέγων· «∆ιαιρέσεις δὲ χαρισμάτων εἰσὶ, τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ Πνεῦμα· καὶ διαιρέσεις διακονιῶν εἰσιν, ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς Κύριος· καὶ διαιρέσεις ἐνεργημάτων εἰσὶν, ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς Θεὸς ὁ ἐνεργῶν τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν.» Ἃ γὰρ τὸ Πνεῦμα ἑκάστῳ διαιρεῖ, ταῦτα παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς διὰ τοῦ Λόγου χορηγεῖται. Πάντα γὰρ τὰ τοῦ Πα τρὸς, τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐστι· διὸ καὶ τὰ παρὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐν Πνεύματι διδόμενα τοῦ Πατρός ἐστι χαρίσματα. Καὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος δὲ ὄντος ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ὁ τοῦτο διδούς ἐστιν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐν τῷ Λόγῳ ἐστὶν ὁ Πατήρ· καὶ οὕτως ἐστὶ τὸ, «Ἐλευσόμεθα ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ μονὴν παρ' αὐτῷ ποιήσομεν,» καθάπερ εἴρηται. Ἔνθα γὰρ τὸ φῶς, ἐκεῖ καὶ τὸ ἀπαύγασμα· καὶ ἔνθα τὸ ἀπαύγασμα, ἐκεῖ καὶ ἡ τούτου ἐνέργεια καὶ αὐγοειδὴς χάρις. Καὶ τοῦτο πάλιν δι δάσκων ὁ Παῦλος ἔγραφεν αὖθις Κορινθίοις καὶ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ Ἐπιστολῇ λέγων· «Ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἡ κοινωνία τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν.» Ἡ γὰρ διδομένη χάρις καὶ δωρεὰ ἐν Τριάδι δίδοται παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς δι' Υἱοῦ ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός ἐστι δι' Υἱοῦ ἡ δι δομένη χάρις, οὕτως οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο κοινωνία τῆς δόσεως ἐν ἡμῖν, εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ. Τούτου γὰρ μετέχοντες, ἔχομεν τοῦ Πατρὸς τὴν ἀγάπην, καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὴν χάριν, καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Πνεύματος τὴν κοινωνίαν.