6

of the Spirit." But they, he says, neither raise the Spirit to divine dignity, nor do they drag it down to the nature of the rest; for it occupies the middle rank, being neither God, nor one of the rest. And who indeed would not indict them for such great audacity? Come then, pay attention; for I will speak in brief. In the first place, He did not say: Thus is man, simply man; but, "So is everyone who is born of the Spirit;" that is, he who has been deemed worthy to be reborn in the divine font, and to become, as 39.620 has been revealed through universal signs, a partaker of the divine nature. And these things are similar to, "Let us make man in our image and likeness;" and to, "That you may become in the image of Him who created us." And just as the most high Father, and His Son, are not dragged down from these holy and transcendent sayings into human nature; so neither is the Holy Spirit, from the aforementioned sayings, and His acts of love for us. Then it seems to them, what is even worse, that the Holy Spirit is neither God, nor one of the rest. It remains to think of it as non-existent. And otherwise: If He is not, as they claim, God, He is subject to the common account of created things. But no such evidence is found in the Scriptures, nor has it been prophesied that He is of a middle nature; but entirely the contrary, that He is the Spirit of God, and He who proceeds from the Father, and the divine Spirit. It remains that He is God, both from the words of Peter and Paul, and from every concept of the Scriptures and the word "proceeds." For being undefined, it most divinely shows the eternal and inseparable nature of His being with respect to Him from whom He ineffably comes forth. And indeed also this: If He is none of the other things, as this of theirs is true, He is God. In addition to this: If nothing created is found in one hypostasis, as was demonstrated in the first book, but the Holy Spirit is one and only of the one, or single, substance; so that they might be understood as deceiving from the very things they wrote, even if they seem clever at saying what they wish, and not a single bit of their arrogance against us be procured; for human boasts are quickly refuted. A wise man has discerned concerning each of them thus: "Be not overly wise, that you may not be astounded." And Stephen too in the Acts reproaches them in this way: "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you." And he said their fathers were Arius, Macedonius, the pernicious dyad. I come now to another chapter. 39.621 B; That He appointed the prophets and apostles to shepherd the rational flock, and to care for it; and with authority He sent them, and made them, as He wished, to speak in the likeness of the Father and the Son, as being the Spirit of God, existing by procession, not by creation, and as the unadulterated Spirit of wisdom and understanding, co-ruling with the Father who is sovereign over all, and the Son. But the nature of a creature is not of this rank. And that these things are true, the books of Moses persuade us, saying, "Who will make all the people prophets, when the Lord gives His Spirit upon them?" and the apostolic Acts, discoursing on such things: "And there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance;" and again from the divine Paul: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak to your fathers through the prophet." And again. having sent for the elders of Ephesus in Miletus, he says: "Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Church of the Lord, which He purchased with His own blood." and again: "And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in

6

Πνεύματος." Αὐτοὶ δὲ, φησὶν, οὔτε εἰς θεϊκὴν ἀξίαν ἀνάγουσι τὸ Πνεῦμα, οὔτε εἰς τὴν τῶν λοιπῶν φύσιν καθέλκουσιν· τὴν γὰρ μέσην τάξιν ἐπέχει, μήτε Θεὸς ὢν, μήτε ἕν τι τῶν λοιπῶν. Καὶ τίς αὐτοὺς τῷ ὄντι τῆς τοσαύτης τόλμης οὐ γράψεται; ∆εῦρο οὖν προσέχετε τὸν νοῦν· δι' ὀλίγων γὰρ φράσω. Μάλιστα μὲν οὐκ εἶπεν· Οὕτως ἐστὶν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὁ ἁπλῶς ἄνθρωπος· ἀλλ', "Οὕτως ἔσται πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος·" ἀντὶ τοῦ, ὁ καταξιωθεὶς ἀναγεννηθῆναι ἐν τῇ θείᾳ κολυμβήθρᾳ, καὶ γενέσθαι ὡς 39.620 καθολικοῖς ἐκπέφανται χαράγμασιν θείας κοινωνὸς φύσεως Καὶ παραπλήσιά ἐστι ταῦτα τῷ, "Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν·" καὶ τῷ, "Ἵνα γένησθε κατ' εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος ἡμᾶς." Καὶ ὡς οὐ καθέλκεται ὁ ὕψιστος Πατὴρ, καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς αὐτοῦ, ἐκ τῶνδε τῶν ἁγίων καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς φωνῶν εἰς ἀνθρωπείαν φύσιν· οὕτως οὐδὲ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, ἐκ τῶν προλεχθεντῶν ῥητῶν, καὶ τῶν περὶ ἡμᾶς αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπευμάτων Ἔπειτα δοκεῖ αὐτοῖς, τό γε ἔτι χεῖρον, μήτε Θεὸν εἶναι τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, μήτε ἕν τι τῶν λοιπῶν. Ὑπολείπεται τὸ ἀνύπαρκτον αὐτὸ νοεῖν. Καὶ ἄλλως· Εἰ μὴ ἔστιν, ὡς φάσκουσι, Θεὸς, τῷ κοινῷ λόγῳ τῶν κτισμάτων ὑπάγεται Οὐδὲν δὲ τοιοῦτον τεκμήριον ἐν Γραφαῖς εὑρίσκεται, οὐδὲ μέσης φύσεως εἶναι κεχρησμῴδηται· πᾶν δὲ τοὐναντίον, ὅτι Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ὃ παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται, καὶ Πνεῦμα θεῖον. Λείπεται τὸ Θεὸν εἶναι, ἀπό τε τῶν Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου φωνῶν, ἀπό τε πάσης ἐννοίας τῶν Γραφῶν καὶ τῆς "ἐκπορεύεται" λέξεως. Ἀόριστος γὰρ οὖσα, τὸ ἀΐδιον καὶ ἀχώριστον τῆς φύσεως αὐτοῦ τῆς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον, ἐξ οὗ ἀῤῥήτως προέρχεται, θειότατα ἐνδείκνυται. Καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ τοῦτο· Εἰ μηδὲν τῶν ἄλλων ὑπάρχει, ὥσπερ οὖν τοῦτο αὐτῶν ἀληθὲς, Θεός ἐστιν. Πρὸς τούτοις· Εἰ οὐδὲν κτιστὸν ἐν μιᾷ ὑποστάσει εὑρίσκεται, ὡς ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ἀπεδείχθη βιβλίῳ, τὸ δὲ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ἓν καὶ μόνον τῆς ἑνάδος, ἤτοι μονάδος, οὐσίας ἐστίν· ὡς ἂν τοίνυν φενακίζοντες ἐξ αὐτῶν, ὧν ἔγραψαν, νοηθεῖεν, κἂν δοκοῦσιν εἶναι δεινοὶ εἰπεῖν, ὃ βούλοιντο, καὶ μηδὲ ἓν αὐτοῖς τῆς καθ' ἡμῶν ὀφρύος ἐκπορισθείη· καυχήματα γὰρ ἀνθρώπινα ταχὺ ἐξελέγχεται. Σοφὸς περὶ ἑκάστου αὐτῶν ὧδε διείληφεν ἀνήρ· "Μὴ πολλὰ σοφίζου, ἵνα μὴ ἐκπλαγῇς." Καὶ ὁ Στέφανος δὲ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν ὡδί πως ὀνειδίζει αὐτοῖς· "Σκληροτράχηλοι, καὶ ἀπερίτμητοι τῇ καρδίᾳ καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν, ὑμεῖς ἀεὶ τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ ἀντιπίπτετε· ὡς οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν, καὶ ὑμεῖς." Πατέρας δὲ αὐτῶν ἔφη Ἄρειον, Μακεδόνιον, τὴν ὀλέθριον δυάδα. Ἔρχομαι οὖν ἐφ' ἕτερον κεφάλαιον. 39.621 Βʹ· Ὅτι ἔθετο τοὺς προφήτας καὶ ἀποστόλους ποιμαίνειν τὴν λογικὴν ποίμνην, καὶ ἐπιμελεῖσθαι αὐτῆς· καὶ αὐθεντικῶς ἀπέστειλεν, καὶ ἐποίησεν, ὡς ἠβουλήθη, φθέγξασθαι αὐτοὺς καθ' ὁμοιότητα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ἅτε Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ, δι' ἐκπορεύσεως, οὐ διὰ ποιήσεως ὑπάρχον, καὶ ἅτε Πνεῦμα ἄνοθον σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως, συνδεσπόζον τῷ πάντων ἡγουμένῳ Πατρὶ, καὶ Υἱῷ Κτίσματος δὲ φύσις, οὐ ταύτης τῆς τάξεως. Εἶναι δὲ ἀληθῆ ταῦτα, πείθουσιν Μωϋσέως τε βίβλοι, λέγουσαι "Τίς δώσει πάντα τὸν λαὸν προφήτας, ἐν τῷ δοῦναι Κύριον τὸ Πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ ἐπ' αὐτούς;" αἵ τε ἀποστολικαὶ Πράξεις, τοιαῦτα ἅττα διαλεγόμεναι· "Ὤφθησαν αὐτοῖς διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός· ἐκάθισέν τε ἐφ' ἕνα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπλήσθησαν ἅπαντες Πνεύματος ἁγίου, καὶ ἤρξαντο λαλεῖν ἑτέραις γλώσσαις, καθὼς τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐδίδου ἀποφθέγγεσθαι αὐτοῖς·" καὶ πάλιν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεσπεσίου Παύλου· "Καλῶς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐλάλησεν πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ὑμῶν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου." Αὖθίς τε αὖ. μεταπεμψάμενος ἐν Μιλήτῳ τοὺς Ἐφέσου πρεσβυτέρους, φησίν· "Προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ παντὶ τῷ ποιμνίῳ, ἐν ᾧ ὑμᾶς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἔθετο ἐπισκόπους, ποιμαίνειν τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Κυρίου, ἣν περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος." καὶ πάλιν· "∆ιῆλθον δὲ τὴν Φρυγίαν καὶ τὴν Γαλατικὴν χώραν, κωλυθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος λαλῆσαι τὸν λόγον ἐν τῇ