Since, then, it has been affirmed, and truly affirmed, that the Spirit is of the Divine Essence, and since in that one word “Divine” every idea of greatness, as we have said, is involved, it follows that he who grants that Divinity has potentially granted14    The edition of Cardinal Mai has ὁ ἐκεῖνο δοὺς τῇ δυνάμει, συνωμολόγησε, κ. τ. λ. But the sense requires the comma to be placed after δοὺς. all the rest;—the gloriousness, the omnipotence, everything indicative of superiority. It is indeed a monstrous thing to refuse to confess this in the case of the Spirit; monstrous, because of the incongruity, as applied to Him, of the terms which in the list of opposites correspond to the above terms. I mean, if one does not grant gloriousness, one must grant the absence of gloriousness; if one sets aside His power, one must acquiesce in its opposite. So also with regard to honour, and goodness, and any other superiority, if they are not accepted, their opposites must be conceded.

Ἐπεὶ οὖν εἴρηται τῆς θείας φύσεως εἶναι τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ καλῶς εἴρηται, πᾶσα δὲ μεγαλοπρεπὴς ἔννοια τῷ ὀνόματι τούτῳ καθὼς εἴρηται συνεμφαίνεται, ὁ ἐκεῖνο δοὺς τῇ δυνάμει συνωμολόγησε τὰ λειπόμενα, τὸ καὶ ἔνδοξον εἶναι καὶ δυνατὸν καὶ εἴ τι πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον φέρει τὴν σημασίαν. οὐδὲ γὰρ φύσιν ἔχει μὴ ὁμολογεῖσθαι ταῦτα ἐπὶ τοῦ πνεύματος διὰ τὸ ἀπεμφαῖνον τῶν ἀντιδιαστελλομένων τοῖς τοιούτοις ὀνόμασιν: ὁ γὰρ ἔνδοξον μὴ διδοὺς ἄδοξον δώσει: καὶ ὁ τὸ δυνατὸν ἀθετῶν ἐπ' αὐτοῦ τῷ ἐναντίῳ συνθήσεται: ὡσαύτως καὶ περὶ τοῦ τιμίου καὶ ἀγαθοῦ: καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὰ κρείττονα εἰ μὴ παραδέχοιτο, τὰ ἐναντία πάντως ὁμολογήσει.