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 him from the nature of God and from that which is proper to God. As it is written, let him believe and not say, Why thus and not thus? Lest from reasoning about these things he take counsel and say, Where then is God? And lest finally he hear the words: ‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.’ The traditions of the faith are not to be known by impertinent scrutiny. When the disciples heard the words, ‘Baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’, they did not ask impertinently, why the Son comes second and the Spirit third, or why the whole is a Triad. But as they heard, so they believed. They did not ask, as do you, Is the Spirit then a son? Nor, when the Lord spoke of the Spirit after the Son, did they ask, Is the Father then a grandfather? For they did not hear ‘into the name of the grandfather’, but ‘into the name of the Father’. They came to sound conclusions and preached this faith everywhere. For it was not to be put otherwise than as the Saviour put it, that he himself is the Son, and that the other is the Holy Spirit. Nor was it right to change the order in which they have been ranked together. This holds good of the Father also. As it is not lawful to speak of him in any other way than as Father, so it is impious to ask whether the Son is the Spirit or the Spirit a son. For this cause Sabellius was judged a stranger to the Church, because he dared to apply to the Father the title, Son, and to the Son the name of the Father. After this, will anyone still dare to say, when he hears the words son and spirit, Is the Father then a grandfather? Or, Is the Spirit then a son? Yes, they will dare, the Eunomii and the Eudoxii and the Eusebii ! When once they affect the Arian heresy, they will not keep their tongues from impiety. Who delivered these things to them? Who was their teacher? Certainly no one taught them out of the divine Scriptures. It was out of the abundance of their hearts this folly came.

Τούτων οὕτω δεικνυμένων, μαίνοιτ' ἄν τις ἐρω τῶν, Υἱὸς οὖν ἐστι καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα; Μηδὲ, ἐπειδὴ μὴ γέγραπται οὕτω, διὰ τοῦτο ἐξαιρείτω τις αὐτὸ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φύσεως καὶ ἰδιότητος· ἀλλ' ὡς γέγραπται, πιστευέτω καὶ μὴ λεγέτω· ∆ιὰ τί οὕτως καὶ μὴ οὕτως; ἵνα μὴ τοιαῦτα διαλογιζόμενος, ἄρξηται με λετᾷν καὶ λέγειν· Ποῦ οὖν ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ πῶς ἐστι; καὶ λοιπὸν ἀκούσει· «Εἶπεν ἄφρων ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ· Οὐκ ἔστι Θεός.» Τὰ γὰρ τῇ πίστει παραδιδόμενα ἀπεριέργαστον ἔχει τὴν γνῶσιν. Οἱ γοῦν μαθηταὶ, ἀκούσαντες, «βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος,» οὐ περιειργάσαντο, διὰ τί δεύτερον ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ τρίτον τὸ Πνεῦμα, ἢ διὰ τί ὅλως Τριάς· ἀλλ' ὡς ἤκουσαν, ἐπίστευσαν· καὶ οὐχ ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς ἠρώτησαν· Υἱὸς οὖν ἐστι τὸ Πνεῦμα; Οὐδὲ, εἰπόντος τοῦ Κυρίου μετὰ τὸν Υἱὸν τὸ Πνεῦμα, ἠρώτησαν· Πάπ πος οὖν ὁ Πατήρ; Οὐ γὰρ ἤκουσαν εἰς ὄνομα πάππου, ἀλλ' εἰς ὄνομα Πατρὸς, καὶ ταύτην τὴν πίστιν ἐκήρυξαν πανταχοῦ, λογισάμενοι ὀρθῶς. Οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἄλλως εἰπεῖν, ἢ ὡς εἴρηκεν ὁ Σωτήρ· ἑαυτὸν μὲν Υἱὸν, τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα ἅγιον· οὐδ' ἐναλλάξαι θέμις ἢ ὡς συντέτακται, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Πατρός. Ὡς γὰρ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἄλλως εἰπεῖν περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἢ ὅτι Πατὴρ, οὕτως ἀσεβὲς ἐρωτᾷν, εἰ Υἱός ἐστι τὸ Πνεῦμα, ἢ τὸ Πνεῦμα Υἱός. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο Σαβέλλιος ἀλλότριος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐκρίθη, τολμήσας εἰπεῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς τὸ Υἱὸς, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς ὄνομα. Ἆρ' οὖν ἔτι μετὰ ταῦτα τολμήσει τις ἀκούων Υἱὸν καὶ Πνεῦμα εἰπεῖν· Πάππος οὖν ὁ Πατὴρ, ἢ Υἱὸς οὖν τὸ Πνεῦμα; Ναὶ τολμήσουσιν Εὐνόμιοι, καὶ Εὐδόξιοι, καὶ Εὐσέβιοι. Ἅπαξ γὰρ ὑποκρινόμενοι τὴν Ἀρειανὴν αἵρεσιν, οὐ μὴ παύσουσι τὴν ἑαυτῶν γλῶσσαν ἀπὸ ἀσεβείας. Τίς γὰρ αὐτοῖς παρέδωκε ταῦτα; Τίς ὁ διδάξας; Ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς ἐκ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ περισσεύματος τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν ἐξῆλθεν ἡ τοιαύτη παραφροσύνη.