11. What is this mighty folly of theirs? Once again, where in the Scriptures have they found the Spirit referred to as an angel? I am obliged to repeat what I have said before. He is called Paraclete, Spirit of adoption, Spirit of sanctification, Spirit of God, and Spirit of Christ; but never angel or archangel, or ministering spirit, as are the angels.

Rather he is himself ministered unto with the Son by Gabriel when he says to Mary, ‘The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.’ But if the Scriptures do not speak of the Spirit as an angel, what excuse have they for so great and absurd an audacity? For even Valentinus, who implanted this evil-mindedness in them, called him Paraclete and them angels; though at the same time he very foolishly ranks the Spirit as coeval with the angels. ‘But see,’ they say, ‘it is written in the prophet Zechariah, “These things saith the angel that spake within me”. Clearly, he means that the Spirit who spake within him was an angel.’ They would not say this if they gave heed to their reading. For Zechariah himself, upon seeing the vision of the candlestick, says: ‘And the angel that spake within me answered and said, Knowest thou not what these things be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, Not by great might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord Almighty.’ It is therefore clear that the angel who spoke to the prophet was not the Holy Spirit but an angel, while the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Almighty, to whom an angel ministers, who is inseparable from the Godhead and might of the Word.

But as they make the words of the Apostle the basis of their plea, because after Christ he mentions the elect angels, let them tell us which of all these is the one who is ranked with the Triad. They do not all amount to one! Which of them is he who descended to the Jordan in the form of a dove? For ‘thousand thousand’ and ‘ten thousand times ten thousand’ are they that minister. Why, again, when the heavens were opened, is it not written, ‘One of the elect angels came down’, but, ‘the Holy Spirit’? Why did the Lord himself, when conversing with the disciples concerning the End, distinguish them by saying, ‘The Son of Man shall send forth his angels’? And before this it says: ‘The angels ministered unto him.’ He himself says again: ‘The angels shall come forth.’ But in giving the Spirit to the disciples, he said: ‘Receive ye the Holy Spirit.’ And, when sending them out, he said: ‘Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ He did not rank an angel with the Godhead; nor was it by a creature that he linked us to himself and to the Father, but by the Holy Spirit. And when he promised him, he did not say that he would send an angel, but ‘the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father’, and from him receives and gives.

Τί οὖν ἡ τοσαύτη τούτων ἀπόνοια; Ποῦ τῶν Γραφῶν πάλιν εὗρον ἄγγελον τὸ Πνεῦμα λεγόμε νον; Τὰ αὐτὰ δέ μοι τοῖς προειρημένοις εἰπεῖν ἀνάγκη. Παράκλητος ἐλέχθη καὶ πνεῦμα υἱοθεσίας, καὶ πνεῦμα ἁγιασμοῦ, καὶ πνεῦμα Θεοῦ, καὶ πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ ἐλέχθη· οὐδαμοῦ δὲ ἄγγελος, οὐδὲ ἀρχάγ γελος, οὐδὲ πνεῦμα διακονίας, οἷοί εἰσιν οἱ ἄγ γελοι· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον σὺν τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ αὐτὸ διακονεῖται παρὰ τοῦ Γαβριὴλ λέγοντος τῇ Μαρίᾳ· «Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σέ· καὶ δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπι σκιάσει σοι.» Τῶν δὲ Γραφῶν μὴ λεγουσῶν ἄγγελον τὸ Πνεῦμα, ποία τούτοις ἀπολογία γένοιτ' ἂν τῆς τοσαύτης ἀλογίστου τόλμης ὅπου γε καὶ ὁ τὴν τοι αύτην αὐτοῖς κακόνοιαν ἐπισπείρας Οὐαλεντῖνος τὸ μὲν Παράκλητον, τοὺς δὲ ἀγγέλους ὠνόμασεν· εἰ καὶ ἐν τῷ ἴσῳ χρόνῳ, ἡλικιώτην τοῖς ἀγγέλοις συντάσσει καὶ αὐτὸς τὸ Πνεῦμα ὁ ἀφρονέστατος. Ἀλλ' ἰδοὺ, φασὶν, ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ Ζαχαρίᾳ γέγραπται· «Τάδε λέγει ὁ ἄγγελος, ὁ λαλῶν ἐν ἐμοί.» Καὶ δῆλόν ἐστιν, ὅτι ἄγγελον εἶναι τὸ Πνεῦμα σημαίνει τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ λαλοῦντα. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἂν εἶπον, εἰ τῇ ἀναγνώσει προσέχοντες ἦσαν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ Ζαχαρίας, ἡνίκα τὴν ὀπτασίαν περὶ τῆς λυχνίας ἑώρακε, φησί· «Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ λαλῶν ἐν ἐμοὶ, καὶ εἶπεν· Οὐ γινώσκεις τί ἐστι ταῦτα; Καὶ εἶπον· Οὐχὶ Κύριε. Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη, καὶ εἶπε πρὸς μὲ λέγων· Οὗ τος ὁ λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς Ζοροβάβελ, λέγων· Οὐκ ἐν δυνάμει μεγάλῃ, οὐδὲ ἐν ἰσχύϊ, ἀλλ' ἐν Πνεύματί μου, λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ.» Εὔδηλον οὖν, ὡς ὁ λαλῶν ἄγγελος τῷ προφήτῃ οὐκ ἦν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς μὲν ἄγγελος, τὸ δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστι τοῦ παντοκράτορος· καὶ διακονεῖται μὲν παρ' ἀγγέλου, ἀδιαίρετον δὲ τῆς θεότητός ἐστι, καὶ ἴδιον τοῦ λόγου. Ἐπεὶ εἰ τὸ ἀποστολικὸν προφασίζονται ῥητὸν, διὰ τὸ εἰρῆσθαι μετὰ τὸν Χριστὸν τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς ἀγγέλους, εἰπάτωσαν τίς ἐκ πάντων τούτων ἐστὶν ὁ τῇ Τριάδι συντασσόμενος; Οὐ γὰρ δὴ πάντες εἷς εἰσι τῷ ἀριθμῷ· ἢ τίς αὐτῶν ἐστιν ὁ κατελθὼν εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς; Χίλιαι γὰρ χιλιάδες εἰσὶ καὶ μύριαι μυριάδες οἱ λειτουργοῦντες. Ἢ διὰ τί, ἀνοιγομένων τῶν οὐρανῶν, οὐκ εἴρηται, Καὶ κατῆλθεν ἐκ τῶν ἐκλε κτῶν ἀγγέλων, ἀλλὰ, τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον; Ἢ διὰ τί αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος περὶ μὲν τῆς συντελείας διαλεγόμενος τοῖς μαθηταῖς, διαστέλλων μὲν ἔλεγεν· «Ἀποστελεῖ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ;» Καὶ πρὸ τούτων εἴρητο· «Οἱ ἄγγελοι διηκόνουν αὐτῷ.» Καὶ πάλιν αὐτὸς λέγει· «Ἐξελεύσονται οἱ ἄγγελοι.» Τοῖς δὲ μαθηταῖς διδοὺς ἔλεγε «Λάβετε Πνεῦμα ἅγιον·» ἀποστέλλων τε αὐτοὺς ἔλεγε· «Πορευθέν τες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος.» Οὐ γὰρ ἄγγελον συνέτασσε τῇ θεότητι, οὐδὲ ἐν κτίσματι συνῆπτεν ἡμᾶς ἑαυτῷ τε καὶ τῷ Πατρὶ, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ, ὅπερ αὐτὸς ἐπαγγελλόμενος οὐκ εἴρηκεν ἄγγελον ἀπο στέλλειν, ἀλλὰ «τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὃ παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται,» καὶ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ λαμβάνει καὶ δίδοται.