Didymus the Blind, On the Trinity

from no good works, but providing what it is fitting for him to give; knowing all things, and being able to do all things, as has also been said among the Greeks; 39.612 For no one will conceive a mind better than this one, such as I conceive; by a nod alone, and not by handiwork, or by suffering, he always lavishly provides good and abundant gifts to each; and not now yes, and now no; nor at one time more, and at another time less; but continually in the same respects and in the same way, in all accord—for how could it not be?—with both his own Son the Word and his one holy Spirit. For none of the things that exist is rejected by him; seeing that he makes his sun rise on the just and on sinners alike, and to those who worked until the eleventh hour, he provides the same wage that he agreed upon for those who dig and tend the vines from dawn; nor is there anything to be feared by him, that it will wage war against him through want, or through not giving richly; nor is anyone else found differing in lordship, that he should begrudge this one being made equal to those 39.613 belonging to him—a thing not even holy to say, except in terms of wicked suppositions and hypostases; nor did he send forth one with whom he will be angry; For "you spare," he says, "all things, because all things are yours, O Lord, lover of souls; and your incorruptible Spirit is in all things." These things not being so, what is left for you to devise? As when again it is said that the Son, or the holy Spirit, provides divine gifts, it is very clear that it is by the Father's good pleasure; for how could it not be so? Therefore, listen to Paul teaching the Romans; "Because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us;" and, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God;" and again; "He therefore that ministers to you the Spirit, and works miracles among you;" and to the Corinthians in the first letter; "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are no longer under the law;" and to the Galatians; "For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law." Therefore he also said here before; "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit;" that is, by ellipsis and syncopation of speech, the Spirit that bestows the gifts; and so he added; "the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one individually as he wills;" so as to show that it both bestows grace and divides, clearly in one mind with the one whose Spirit it is, and to whom all things are referred, as was written to the Romans; "For from him, and through him, and to him are all things." But attend also to all the other things which the oracles have further said about him. For if you had attended to all these things, and if you had believed in God the Father himself, and in his only-begotten Son, and moreover also in so many saints, whose eyes of the mind were as watchful as those of the Cherubim, whom the more we stand in awe of and honor, the more rightly we receive the contribution and teaching that actually came from them and the faith they displayed; and if from the beginning you had not followed in part the shield-bearers of Arius—whom may we neither name nor learn of, blushing for them—as they have placed upon you the name of bishop, you who were before this a deacon of the orthodox and apostolic Church; you would not have made the comparative examination of the things said about the holy Spirit with the things said about created things, and you have given greater suspicion to those who are impious with you, nor would you have used railing—not to say blasphemy—that overcomes what is moderate; but you would have known that he was present with and co-operated ineffably in the creation of all 39.616 things, as the hypostatic Spirit of God; but God the Father was pleased once for all, as was said above, that through the Son the Word all things should be brought forth from non-existence, with the co-conception—for how could it not be?—of both the Father himself and of his sanctifying Spirit in the act of creation; but in the case of men, or even of angels, there is need of many persons and hands to do anything perfectly and surpassingly. And he who decreed guarantees these things, that it should be mentioned together in the regeneration of our baptism; as being present with

ἐξ ἔργων ἀγαθοῦ οὐδενὸς, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ὃ αὐτῷ δοῦναι πρέπον ἐστὶ παρέχων· πάντα εἰδὼς, καὶ πάντα δυνάμενος, ὡς καὶ παρ' Ἕλλησιν εἴρηται· 39.612 Οὐ γάρ τις νόον ἄλλον ἀμείνονα τοῦδε νοήσει, Οἷον ἐγὼ νοέω· ἐπινεύσει μόνῃ, καὶ οὐ χειρουργίᾳ, ἢ κακοπαθείᾳ, ἑκάστοις τὰς ἀγαθὰς καὶ ἀφθόνους δόσεις δαψιλῶς ἀεὶ χορηγεῖ· καὶ οὐ νῦν μὲν, νῦν δ' οὔ· οὐδὲ ποτὲ μὲν μᾶλλον, ἄλλοτε δὲ ἧττον· ἀλλὰ διηνεκῶς κατὰ ταυτὰ καὶ ὡς αὔτως ἐν ἁπάσῃ συμπνοίᾳ πῶς γὰρ οὔ; τοῦ τε ἰδίου Υἱοῦ Λόγου καὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἁγίου αὐτοῦ Πνεύματος. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τῶν ὄντων οὐδεὶς αὐτῷ ἀπόβλητός ἐστιν· ὅπου γε ἀνατέλλει τὸν ἥλιον ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὺς ὁμοίως, καὶ τοῖς εἰς τὴν ἑνδεκάτην ὥραν ἐργασαμένοις, τὸν αὐτὸν μισθὸν, ὃν τοῖς ἀπὸ ὄρθρου σκάπτουσι καὶ ἀμπελουργοῦσι συνεφώνησε, χορηγεῖ· οὐδὲ ἐπίφοβος αὐτῷ ἐστιν, ἵνα διὰ τῆς ἐνδείας, ἢ τοῦ μὴ πλουσίως δοῦναι πολεμήσει αὐτῷ· οὐδὲ ἄλλος τις κατὰ δεσποτείαν διαφέρων εὑρίσκεται, ἵνα βασκάνῃ τούτῳ τὸ ἐξισωθῆναι τοῖς 39.613 αὐτῷ προσήκουσιν ὃ μηδ' εἰπεῖν εὐαγὲς, εἰ μὴ ὑποθέσεων καὶ ὑποστάσεων μοχθηρῶν· οὐδὲ ἀνῆκεν ᾧ ὀργισθήσεται· "Φείδῃ" γὰρ, φησὶ, "πάντων, ὅτι πάντα σά ἐστι, ∆έσποτα φιλόψυχε· καὶ τὸ ἄφθαρτόν σου Πνεῦμα ἐστὶν ἐν πᾶσιν." Τούτων δὲ μὴ ὄντων, τί σοι ὑπολείπεται σοφίζεσθαι; Ὡς πάλιν ὅταν λέγηται ὁ Υἱὸς, ἢ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, παρέχειν θεϊκὰ δωρήματα, εὔδηλον, ὡς εὐδοκία πατρική· πῶς γὰρ οὐχ οὕτως; Τοιγαροῦν ἀκρόασαι Παῦλον Ῥωμαίους διδάξαντος· "Ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκέχυται ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν διὰ Πνεύματος ἁγίου τοῦ δοθέντος ἡμῖν·" καὶ, "Ὅσοι Πνεύματι Θεοῦ ἄγονται, οὗτοι υἱοὶ Θεοῦ εἰσιν·" καὶ πάλιν· "Ὁ οὖν ἐπιχορηγῶν ὑμῖν τὸ Πνεῦμα, καὶ ἐνεργῶν δυνάμεις ἐν ὑμῖν·" καὶ Κορινθίοις τὸ πρῶτον· "Εἰ δὲ Πνεύματι ἄγεσθε, οὐκ ἔτι ἐστὶ ὑπὸ νόμον·" καὶ Γαλάταις· "Ὁ γὰρ καρπὸς τοῦ Πνεύματός ἐστιν ἀγάπη, χαρὰ, εἰρήνη, μακροθυμία, χρηστότης, ἀγαθωσύνη, πίστις, πραότης, ἐγκράτεια. Κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἔστι νόμος." ∆ιὸ κἀνταῦθα προεῖπε· "∆ιαιρέσεις δὲ χαρισμάτων εἰσὶ, τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ Πνεῦμα·" τοῦτ' ἔστι κατὰ ἔλλειψιν λόγου καὶ συγκοπὴν, τὸ χαριζόμενον Πνεῦμα· καὶ οὕτως ἐπήγαγεν· "Τὸ ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ Πνεῦμα, διαιροῦν ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ καθὼς βούλεται·" ὥστε ἀποδεῖξαι, ὅτι αὐτὸ, καὶ χαρίζεται, καὶ διαιρεῖ, ὁμοφρόνως δῆλον ὅτι τῷ ἑνὶ, οὗ Πνεῦμά ἐστι, καὶ εἰς ὃν πάντα ἀνάγεται, ὡς Ῥωμαίοις ἐγράφη· "Ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα." Πρόσεχε δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσιν, ἃ προσείρηκε τὰ λόγια περὶ αὐτοῦ. Εἰ δ' ἂν γὰρ πᾶσι προσεῖχες, καὶ εἰ ἐπίστευες αὐτῷ τῷ Θεῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ τῷ μονογενεῖ αὐτοῦ Υἱῷ, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῖς τοσούτοις ἁγίοις, ὧν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ τῆς διανοίας οὕτως ἐγρηγόρουν, ὡς οἱ Χερουβικοὶ, οὓς ἡμεῖς, ὅσῳ πλέον αἰσχυνόμεθα καὶ τιμῶμεν, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον τὴν ἔργω γενομένην τε παρ' αὐτῶν συμβολὴν καὶ διδαχὴν καὶ τὴν ἐπιδεχθεῖσαν πίστιν ὀρθῶς δεχόμεθα· εἰ δ' ἂν δὲ καὶ μὴ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἠκολούθησας ἐν μέρει τοῖς Ἀρείου ὑπασπισταῖς, οὓς μηδὲ λέγειν ἡμᾶς εἴη, μηδὲ μανθάνειν, ἐρυθριῶν αὐτοὺς, ὡς περιτεθεικότας σοι ὄνομα ἐπισκόπου, διακόνῳ πρὸ τούτου τῆς ὀρθοδόξου καὶ ἀποστολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας τυγχάνοντι· οὐκ ἂν μὲν τὴν παρεξέτασιν τῶν περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος εἰρημένων πρὸς τὰ περὶ τῶν κτισμάτων λεχθέντα ἐποιήσω, καὶ τὴν ὑπόνοιαν τοῖς συνασεβοῦσί σοι πλείονα ἔδωκας, οὐδὲ ἐχρήσω ἂν λοιδορίᾳ, ἵνα μὴ εἴπω βλασφημίᾳ, νικώσῃ τὸ μέτριον· εἰδέναι δὲ εἶχες ἂν, ὅτι συμπαρῆν καὶ συνήργει ἀῤῥήτως πάν 39.616 των δημιουργουμένων, ἅτε Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐνυπόστατον· εὐδόκησε δὲ ἅπαξ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ, καθὰ ἀνωτέρω εἴρηται, διὰ τοῦ Υἱοὺ Λόγου πάντα ἐκ μὴ ὄντων παροισθῆναι, συνεπινοουμένου πῶς γὰρ οὔ; αὐτοῦ τε τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ ἁγιαστικοῦ Πνεύματος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ δημιουργῆσαι· ἐπὶ ἀνθρώπων δὲ, ἢ καὶ ἀγγέλων, χρεία πολλῶν προσώπων καὶ χειρῶν εἰς τὸ τελείως καὶ περιγεγονότως ὁτιοῦν πρᾶξαι. ∆ιεγγυᾶται δὲ ταῦτα ὁ θεσπίσας συμμνημονεύεσθαι αὐτὸ ἐν τῇ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἀναγεννήσει ἡμῶν· ὡς συμπαρὸν