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

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 differently and separately by each Person, but that what is given is given in the Triad, and that all are from the one God. Him therefore who is no creature but is one with the Son as the Son is one with the Father, who is glorified with the Father and the Son, who is confessed as God with the Word, who is active in the works which the Father works through the Son—is not the man who calls him a creature guilty of a direct impiety against the Son himself? For there is nothing that is not originated and actuated through the Word in the Spirit. Thus it is sung in the Psalms: ‘By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their might by the Spirit of his mouth.’ And in the one hundred and forty-seventh Psalm: ‘He shall send out his Word and shall melt them; he shall breathe his Spirit and the waters shall flow.’ We were justified, as the Apostle says: ‘in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.’ For the Spirit is indivisible from the Word. So when Christ says, ‘We will come, the Father and I’, the Spirit comes with them and shall dwell in us not otherwise than as the Son; as Paul writes to the Ephesians: ‘That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man, that Christ may dwell. . .’ But if the Son is in us, the Father also is in us; as the Son says: ‘I am in the Father, and the Father in me.’ Therefore, when the Word is in the prophets, they prophesy in the Holy Spirit. When Scripture says ‘The Word of the Lord came’ to this particular prophet, it shows that he prophesied in the Holy Spirit. In Zechariah it is written: ‘But receive my words and my commandments which I charge by my Spirit to my servants the prophets’; and, when the prophet rebuked the people a little farther on, he said: ‘They made their hearts disobedient, lest they should hear my law and the words which the Lord of hosts has sent by his Spirit by the hands of the prophets of old.’ Peter in Acts said: ‘Brethren, it was needful that the Scripture should be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spake before.’ And the Apostles cried aloud together, ‘O Lord, thou that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that in them is, who by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David thy servant, didst say . . And Paul, when he was in Rome, spoke boldly to the Jews who came to him: ‘Well spake the Holy Spirit by Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers.’ And in writing to Timothy: ‘The Spirit saith expressly that in later times some shall fall away from the sound faith, giving heed to spirits of seduction.’ Thus when the Spirit is said to be in anyone, it means that the Word is in him, bestowing the Spirit. When the prophecy was being fulfilled, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh’, Paul said: ‘According to the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ unto me.’ And to the Corinthians he wrote, ‘If ye seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in me’. . . .*° But if he who spoke in him was Christ, then clearly the Spirit that spoke in him was Christ’s. For when Christ was speaking in him, he said once again in Acts: ‘Now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Spirit testifieth to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.’ Hence, if the saints say, ‘Thus saith the Lord’, they speak not otherwise than in the Holy Spirit. And if they speak in the Holy Spirit, they speak the things of the Spirit in Christ. When Agabus says in Acts, ‘Thus saith the Holy Spirit’, it is not otherwise than by the Word coming to him that the Spirit too bestows upon him the power to speak and to testify to the things that were waiting for Paul at Jerusalem. So when the Spirit once again testified to Paul, Christ, as aforesaid, was speaking in him, so that the testimony which came from the Spirit belonged to the Word. So too when the Word visited the holy Virgin Mary, the Spirit came to her with him, and the Word in the Spirit moulded the body and conformed it to himself; desiring to join and present all creation to the Father through himself, and in it ‘to reconcile all things ... having made peace . . . whether things in the heavens or things upon the earth’.

Μία ἄρα καὶ ἐκ τούτων ἡ τῆς Τριάδος ἐνέργεια δείκνυται. Οὐ γὰρ ὡς παρ' ἑκάστου διάφορα καὶ διῃρημένα τὰ διδόμενα σημαίνει ὁ Ἀπόστολος· ἀλλ' ὅτι τὰ διδόμενα ἐν Τριάδι δίδοται, καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐξ ἑνὸς Θεοῦ ἐστι. Τὸ τοίνυν μὴ ὂν κτίσμα, ἀλλ' ἡνω μένον τῷ Υἱῷ, ὡς ὁ Υἱὸς ἥνωται τῷ Πατρὶ, τὸ συνδοξαζόμενον Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ, καὶ θεολογούμενον μετὰ τοῦ Λόγου, ἐνεργοῦν τε ἅπερ ὁ Πατὴρ διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐργάζεται, πῶς ὁ λέγων κτίσμα οὐκ ἄντικρυς εἰς αὐ τὸν τὸν Υἱὸν ἀσεβεῖ; Οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὃ μὴ διὰ τοῦ Λόγου ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι γίνεται καὶ ἐνεργεῖται. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς ᾄδεται· «Τῷ Λόγῳ Κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν, καὶ τῷ Πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτῶν·» καὶ ἐν τῷ ἑκατοστῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ ἑβδόμῳ ψαλμῷ· «Ἀποστελεῖ τὸν Λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ τήξει αὐτά· πνεύσει τὸ Πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ῥυήσεται ὕδατα.» Καὶ ἐδικαιώθημεν δὲ, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, «ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν.» Ἀδιαίρετον γάρ ἐστι τοῦ Λόγου τὸ Πνεῦμα. Ἀμέλει λέγοντος τοῦ Κυρίου, «Ἐλευσόμεθα ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ,» συνεισέρχεται τὸ Πνεῦμα οὐκ ἄλλως ἢ ὡς ὁ Υἱὸς ἐν ἡμῖν οἰκήσων, γράφοντος Ἐφεσίοις τοῦ Παύλου· «Ἵνα δῴη ὑμῖν κατὰ τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, δυνάμει κραταιωθῆναι διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, κατοικῆσαι τὸν Χριστόν.» Τοῦ δὲ Υἱοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ὄντος, ἔτι καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ, λέγοντος τοῦ Υἱοῦ· «Ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ Πα τρὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί.» ∆ιὸ καὶ, γινομένου τοῦ Λόγου ἐν τοῖς προφήταις, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ προφητεύουσι. Τῆς γοῦν Γραφῆς λεγούσης, «Καὶ ἐγένετο Λόγος Κυρίου» πρὸς τόνδε τὸν προφήτην, δείκνυται προφητεύων ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ. Ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ Ζαχαρίᾳ γέγραπται· «Πλὴν τοὺς λόγους μου καὶ τὰ νόμιμά μου δέχεσθε, ὅσα ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαι ἐν Πνεύματί μου τοῖς δούλοις μου τοῖς προφήταις·» ὅτε καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα αἰτιώμενος τὸν λαὸν ἔλεγε· «Καὶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτῶν ἔταξαν ἀπειθῆ, τοῦ μὴ εἰσακούειν τοὺς νόμους μου καὶ τοὺς λόγους, οὓς ἐξαπέστειλε Κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἐν Πνεύματι αὐτοῦ ἐν χερσὶ τῶν προφητῶν αὐτοῦ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν·» ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν ἔλεγεν· «Ἄνδρες ἀδελφοὶ, ἔδει πληρωθῆναι τὴν Γραφὴν, ἣν προεῖπε τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον.» Καὶ κοινῇ δὲ οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἐβόων οὕτως· «∆έσποτα, ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρα νὸν, καὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὁ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν διὰ Πνεύματος ἁγίου στόματος ∆αβὶδ τοῦ παιδός σου εἰπών.» Καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, ἐν μὲν τῇ Ῥώμῃ γενόμενος, ἐπαῤῥησιά ζετο τοῖς ἐλθοῦσι πρὸς αὐτὸν Ἰουδαίοις· «Καλῶς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐλάλησε διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ὑμῶν.» Τιμοθέῳ δὲ ἔγραφε· «Τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα ῥητῶς λέγει, ὅτι ἐν ὑστέροις καιροῖς ἀποστήσονταί τινες τῆς ὑγιαινούσης πίστεως, προσέχοντες πνεύμασι πλάνης.» ∆ιὸ καὶ ὅταν λέγηται ἔν τισι τὸ Πνεῦμα γενέσθαι, νοεῖται ὁ Λόγος ἐν αὐτῷ διδοὺς τὸ Πνεῦμα. Τῆς γοῦν προφητείας πληρουμένης, «Ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα,» ὁ Παῦλος ἔλεγε· «Κατὰ τὴν ἐπιχορηγίαν τοῦ Πνεύματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἐμέ·» καὶ πρὸς Κορινθίους δὲ ἔγραφεν· «Ἢ δοκιμὴν ζητεῖτε τοῦ ἐν ἐμοὶ λαλοῦντος Χριστοῦ;» Εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς ἦν ὁ λαλῶν ἐν αὐτῷ, δῆλον, ὅτι Χριστοῦ ἦν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ λαλοῦν ἐν αὐτῷ· καὶ γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λαλοῦντος ἐν αὐτῷ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν ἔλεγε πάλιν· «Καὶ νῦν ἰδοὺ δεδεμένος ἐγὼ τῷ Πνεύματι, πορεύομαι εἰς Ἱε ρουσαλὴμ, τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ συναντήσοντά μοι μὴ εἰδώς· πλὴν ὅτι τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον κατὰ πόλιν δια μαρτύρεταί μοι λέγον, ὅτι δεσμὰ καὶ θλίψεις μέ νουσί με.» Ὅθεν, ἐὰν οἱ ἅγιοι λέγωσι· Τάδε λέγει Κύριος, οὐκ ἄλλως ἢ ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ λα λοῦσι· καὶ ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι λαλοῦντες, ἐν Χριστῷ ταῦτα λέγουσιν· ἐὰν δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἄγαβος ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι λέγῃ· «Τάδε λέγει τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον·» οὐκ ἄλλως ἢ τοῦ Λόγου γενομένου πρὸς αὐτὸν, τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐχορήγει λαλεῖν ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ διαμαρτύρασθαι τὰ μένοντα τὸν Παῦλον εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ. Ἀμέλει, τοῦ Πνεύματος πάλιν διαμαρτυρουμένου τῷ Παύλῳ, ὁ αὐτὸς Χριστὸς ἐλάλει ἐν αὐτῷ, ὡς εἶναι τοῦ Λόγου τὴν ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος γινομένην διαμαρτυρίαν. Οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν Παρθένον Μαρίαν ἐπιδημοῦντος τοῦ Λόγου, συνεισήρχετο τὸ Πνεῦμα, καὶ Λόγος ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι ἔπλαττε καὶ ἥρμοζεν ἑαυτῷ τὸ σῶμα, συνάψαι θέλων καὶ προσενεγκεῖν δι' ἑαυτοῦ τὴν κτίσιν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ ἀποκαταλλάξαι τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ, «εἰρηνοποιήσας τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.»