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

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 conversation among themselves. Who will be willing to answer this folly of theirs? For my part, in my search for an appropriate answer to them, after much thought I find none except that which of old was given to the Pharisees. For as the Saviour, when the Pharisees maliciously questioned him, questioned them in return, that they might perceive their evilmindedness; so likewise, when they ask such questions, let them tell us, nay rather, let them answer us, being questioned as they question. If, when they speak, they do not understand their inventions, perhaps, when they listen, they may realize their folly. If the Holy Spirit is not a creature, as has been shown in our previous writings, but is in God and is given from God: then he is a son, and there are two brothers, he and the Word. And if the Spirit is of the Son, and the Spirit receives all things from the Son, as the Son himself said and inasmuch as it was he who gave him to the disciples by breathing upon them (for you too acknowledge these things): then the Father is a grandfather and the Spirit is his grandson. It is just that you should be questioned from the same Scriptures with the same questions to which you in your questioning ask answer from us. If you deny those things which are written, then you can no longer be called Christians, and it is just for us who are Christians to be questioned by you. But if you read the same Scriptures as we read, then must you likewise be questioned about the same by us. Tell us, therefore, and do not hesitate, whether the Spirit is a son and the Father a grandfather. But if, as did the Pharisees of old, you too reason and say among yourselves, If we say that he is a son, we shall hear the question, Where is it written? If we say, he is not a son, we fear lest they say to us, How then is it written: ‘We received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God’? But if, when you debate these things among yourselves, you too say, We do not know: then must he of whom you ask these questions be silent also, in obedience to him who says: ‘Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.’ Silence is the answer most appropriate to you, that you may realize your own ignorance.

Τίς, τούτων ἀκούων, ἔτι Χριστιανοὺς, καὶ οὐ μᾶλλον Ἕλληνας αὐτοὺς νομίσει; Τοιαῦτα γὰρ Ἕλληνες καθ' ἡμῶν ὁμιλοῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς. Τίς ἀποκρίνασθαι θελήσει πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην ἀφροσύνην αὐτῶν; Ἐγὼ γοῦν, πολλὰ λογισάμενος, καὶ ζητῶν ἁρμόζουσαν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀπόκρισιν, οὐδεμίαν εὗρον ἢ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς Φαρισαίους τότε γενομένην. Ὡς γὰρ ἐκείνους, κακοήθως ἐρωτήσαντας, ἀντηρώτησεν ὁ Σωτὴρ, ἵν' αἴσθων ται τῆς ἰδίας κακονοίας, οὕτως, ἐπειδὴ καὶ οὗτοι τοιαῦτα ἐρωτῶσιν, εἰπάτωσαν ἡμῖν αὐτοὶ, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀποκρινάσθωσαν ἐρωτώμενοι ὡς ἐρωτῶσιν. Ἐπει δὴ γὰρ, λέγοντες, τὰς παρ' αὐτῶν ἐφευρέσεις οὐ νοοῦσι τάχα, κἂν ἀκούοντες, ἐπιγνῶσι τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀφροσύνην. Εἰ μὴ κτίσμα ἐστὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν δέδεικται, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ Θεῷ ἐστι, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ δίδοται· οὐκοῦν υἱός ἐστι καὶ αὐτὸ, καὶ δύο ἀδελφοὶ, αὐτό τε καὶ ὁ Υἱός· καὶ εἰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐστι τὸ Πνεῦμα, καὶ παρὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ πάντα δέχεται τὸ Πνεῦμα, ὡς αὐτὸς εἴρηκε, καὶ «ἐμφυσήσας δέδωκεν αὐ τὸ τοῖς μαθηταῖς» (ὁμολογεῖτε γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ ὑμεῖς), οὐκοῦν πάππος ἐστὶν ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ ἔκγονον αὐτοῦ ἐστι τὸ Πνεῦμα. Ἅπερ γὰρ ἐρωτῶντες ἀπαιτεῖτε παρ' ἡμῶν, τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐρωτᾶσθαι δίκαιον. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀρνεῖσθε τὰ γεγραμμένα, οὐκ ἔτι μὲν ὑμεῖς Χριστιανοὶ λεχθείητε ἄν· δίκαιον δὲ ἡμᾶς τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ἐρωτᾶσθαι παρ' ὑμῶν· εἰ δὲ τὰ αὐτὰ ἡμῖν ἀναγινώσκετε, ἀνάγκη καὶ ὑμᾶς περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν οὕτως ἐρωτᾶσθαι παρ' ἡμῶν. Εἴπατε τοίνυν, καὶ μὴ μέλλετε, εἰ Υἱός ἐστι τὸ Πνεῦμα, καὶ πάππος ὁ Πατήρ. Ἂν δὲ διαλογιζόμενοι, ὡς οἱ τότε Φαρισαῖοι πεποιήκασιν, εἴπητε καὶ ὑμεῖς πρὸς ἑαυτούς· Ἐὰν εἴπωμεν, ὅτι Υἱός ἐστιν, ἀκουσόμεθα· Ποῦ γέγραπται; ἐὰν δὲ εἴπωμεν· Οὐκ ἔστιν Υἱὸς, φοβούμεθα μὴ εἴπωσιν ἡμῖν· Πῶς οὖν γέγραπται «Ἡμεῖς οὐ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ κόσμου ἐλάβομεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ»; Τοιαῦτα δὲ διαμαχόμενοι πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς, ἐὰν εἴπητε καὶ ὑμεῖς, Οὐκ οἴ δαμεν, ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸν ἐρωτώμενον τοιαῦτα παρ' ὑμῶν σιωπᾷν, πειθόμενον τῷ λέγοντι· «Μὴ ἀποκρίνου ἄφρονι πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου ἀφροσύνην, ἵνα μὴ ὅμοιος γένῃ αὐτῷ· ἀλλ' ἀποκρίνου ἄφρονι κατὰ τὴν ἀφροσύνην αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ φαίνηται σοφὸς παρ' ἑαυτῷ.» Ἀπόκρισις δὲ ὑμῖν ἁρμόζουσα μάλιστα ἡ σιωπή· ἵνα τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἄγνοιαν ἐπιγνῶτε.