It may indeed be undignified to give any answer at all to the statements that are foolish we seem to be pointed that way by Solomon’s wise advice, “n

 What then is the charge they bring against us? They accuse us of profanity for entertaining lofty conceptions about the Holy Spirit. All that we, in f

 What then, shall be our way of arguing? We shall answer nothing new, nothing of our own invention, though they challenge us to it we shall fall back

 We can confirm our argument by material instances. Fire naturally imparts the sense of heat to those who touch it, with all its component parts one

 If, then, the Holy Spirit is truly, and not in name only, called Divine both by Scripture and by our Fathers, what ground is left for those who oppose

 For the plea will not avail them in their self-defence, that He is delivered by our Lord to His disciples third in order, and that therefore He is est

 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 gre

 But if all must shrink from that, as going even beyond the most revolting blasphemy, then a devout mind must accept the nobler names and conceptions o

 If such is the doctrine concerning Him when followed out , let the same inquiry be made concerning the Son and the Father as well. Do you not confess

 If, then, they agree that the Holy Spirit is perfect absolutely, and it has been admitted in addition that true reverence requires perfection in every

 In what sort of manner, then, can you honour the Deity? How can you heighten the Highest? How can you give glory to that which is above all glory? How

 The heavens proclaim the glory of God , and yet they are counted poor heralds of His worth because His Majesty is exalted, not as far as the heavens,

 What means, then, this lowering and this expanding of their soul, on the part of these men who are enthusiastic for the Father’s honour, and grant to

 “Yes,” replies one of them, “but we have been taught by Scripture that the Father is the Creator, and in the same way that it was ‘through the Son ’ t

 What shall we answer to this? That the thoughts of their hearts are so much idle talk, when they imagine that the Spirit was not always with the Fathe

 The view which is consistent with all reverence is as follows. We are not to think of the Father as ever parted from the Son, nor to look for the Son

 If, on the contrary, this Spirit has the impulse to work, but some overwhelming control hinders His design, they must tell us the wherefore of this hi

 This is the view we take, after the unprofessional way usual with us and we reject all these elaborate sophistries of our adversaries, believing and

 But with regard to service and worship, and the other things which they so nicely calculate about, and bring into prominence, we say this that the Ho

 But if there is any of them who rejects this statement, and this idea involved in the very name of Divinity, and says that which, to the destruction o

 These destroyers of the Spirit’s glory, who relegate Him to a subject world, must tell us of what thing that unction is the symbol. It not a symbol of

 Again, let us look at it in this way. Kingship is most assuredly shown in the rule over subjects. Now what is “subject” to this Kingly Being? The Word

 For notice the amount of absurdity involved in the other alternative all things that we can think of in the actual creation have, by virtue of all ha

 Then let us look to this too. In Holy Baptism, what is it that we secure thereby? Is it not a participation in a life no longer subject to death? I th

 So that if these despisers and impugners of their very own life conceive of the gift as a little one, and decree accordingly to slight the Being who i

 If, then, every height of man’s ability falls below the grandeur of the Spirit (for that is what the Word means in the metaphor of “footstool”), what

 On the contrary the Holy Spirit is, to begin with, because of qualities that are essentially holy, that which the Father, essentially Holy, is and su

 If such, then, is the greatness of the Spirit, and whatever is beautiful, whatever is good, coming from God as it does through the Son, is completed b

 But you will say, “When I think of the Father it is the Son (alone) that I have included as well in that term.” But tell me when you have grasped the

 Do they too, then, mean this by their worship? Well, is it anything but absurdity to think that it is wrong to honour the Holy Spirit with that with w

 [Translation lacking]

If, then, they agree that the Holy Spirit is perfect absolutely, and it has been admitted in addition that true reverence requires perfection in every good thing for the Father and the Son as well, what reasons can justify them in taking away the Father18    i.e.from fellowship with the Spirit. The text is τίς ὁ λόγος καθ᾽ ὃν εὔλογον κρίνουσιν πατέρα ἀναιρεῖν, δεδώκασι; (for which δεδωκόσι is a conjecture). But perhaps πνεῦμα ἀναιρεῖν, διδάσκωσι, or διδάξωσι, would be a more intelligible reading; though the examples of the hortatory subjunctive other than in the first person are, according to Porson (ad Eurip. Hec. 430), to be reckoned among solecisms in classical Greek. when once they have granted Him? For to take away “equality of dignity” with the Father is a sure proof that they do not think that the Spirit has a share in the perfection of the Father. And as regards the idea itself of this honour in the case of the Divine Being, from which they would exclude the Spirit, what do they mean by it? Do they mean that honour which men confer on men, when by word and gesture they pay respect to them, signifying their own deference in the form of precedence and all such-like practices, which in the foolish fashion of the day are kept up in the name of “honour.” But all these things depend on the goodwill of those who perform them; and if we suppose a case in which they do not choose to perform them, then there is no one amongst mankind who has from mere nature any advantage, such that he should necessarily be more honoured than the rest; for all are marked alike with the same natural proportions. The truth of this is clear; it does not admit of any doubt. We see, for instance, the man who to-day, because of the office which he holds, is considered by the crowd an object of honour, becoming tomorrow himself one of those who pay honour, the office having been transferred to another. Do they, then, conceive of an honour such as that in the case of the Divine Being, so that, as long as we please to pay it, that Divine honour is retained, but when we cease to do so it ceases too at the dictate of our will? Absurd thought, and blasphemous as well! The Deity, being independent of us, does not grow in honour; He is evermore the same; He cannot pass into a better or a worse state; for He has no better, and admits no worse.

Εἰ οὖν διὰ πάντων τέλειον τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον εἶναι συντίθενται, ὡμολόγηται δὲ πρὸς τούτοις εὐσεβὲς εἶναι καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ τὸ ἐν παντὶ ἀγαθῷ τέλειον, τίς ὁ λόγος, καθ' ὃν εὔλογον κρίνουσι πάλιν ἀναιρεῖν ὃ δεδώκασιν: τὸ γὰρ ἀναιρεῖν τὸ ὁμότιμον ἀπόδειξίς ἐστι τοῦ μὴ νομίζειν μετέχειν τῆς τελειότητος. αὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο τὴν τιμὴν ἐπὶ τῆς θείας φύσεως τί ποτε ἄρα νομίζουσιν, ἧς ἄμοιρον εἶναι τὸ πνεῦμα βούλονται; πότερον ταύτην φασὶν ἣν καὶ ἄνθρωποι ἀνθρώποις χαρίζονται λόγῳ τε θεραπεύοντες καὶ σχήματι, τὸ ὑπήκοον ἐνδεικνύμενοι κατὰ τὴν πρόοδον καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα τῇ ματαίᾳ τοῦ βίου συνηθείᾳ τῷ τῆς τιμῆς γίνεται λόγῳ; ἅπερ πάντα τῇ προαιρέσει τῶν ταῦτα ἐργαζομένων συνέστηκεν: ὧν καθ' ὑπόθεσιν μὴ προελομένων, οὐδεμίαν ἐκ φύσεως ἀφορμὴν ἔχει τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὐδεὶς εἰς τὸ εἶναι τῶν λοιπῶν τιμιώτερος πάντων ὁμοίως κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ μέτρα τῆς φύσεως γνωριζομένων. σαφὴς δὲ ὁ λόγος καὶ οὐδεμίαν ἀμφιβολίαν ἔχων: τὸν γὰρ σήμερον διὰ τὴν ἀρχήν, ἧς προέστηκε, τίμιον τοῖς πολλοῖς εἶναι δοκοῦντα εὑρήσομεν ἐφεξῆς ἕνα τῶν τιμώντων καὶ αὐτὸν γινόμενον τῆς ἀρχῆς εἰς ἕτερον μετενεχθείσης. ἆρ' οὖν τοιοῦτόν τι τῆς τιμῆς εἶδος καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς θείας φύσεως ἐπινοοῦσιν, ὥστε βουλομένων μὲν ἡμῶν τὸ τίμιον ἔχειν, παυσαμένων δὲ τοῦ τιμᾶν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ προαιρέσει συγκαταλήγειν τὴν θείαν τιμήν; ἢ καταγέλαστόν ἐστι καὶ ἀσεβὲς ἅμα τὰ τοιαῦτα νοεῖν; οὐ γὰρ δι' ἡμᾶς τὸ θεῖον ἑαυτοῦ τιμιώτερον γίνεται, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχει οὔτε πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον οὔτε πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον μεταβῆναι δυνάμενον: τὸ μὲν γὰρ οὐ δέχεται, τὸ δὲ οὐκ ἔχει.