18

quenches so great an unquenchable flame of Gehenna. For two births happen to men, the one from our body, and the other from the divine Spirit. Concerning these things, dogmatic men have written appropriately; I will write down both the name of each and the account itself. John: "But as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." As many, he says, as have believed in Christ, have received the power to become children of God, that is, of the Holy Spirit, and to acquire a kinship with God, of which angels were not deemed worthy. For, showing that the God who begets is the Holy Spirit, he added from Christ: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The Spirit blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." By saying, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God;" and, "You must be born from above;" he signified that, even if they should believe in the name 39.672 of the Father and of the Son and be baptized, and not equally and alike in the same divinity of the Holy Spirit, since they do not have perfection, and having received the three immersions in vain, in altering after baptism the equal honor of the Trinity in the doxology, and transgressing their own confessions, they are not able to be deemed worthy of the kingdom of heaven; but as confessing transgressors they hear, on the one hand from the saints, the things prophesied in the 80th Psalm: "The enemies of the Lord have lied to him;" on the other hand from the Son, as it is in the 17th Psalm: "Alien sons have lied to me;" and in the 100th: "I have hated those who commit transgressions; a crooked heart has not cleaved to me;" and from the Holy Spirit, as was written to the Romans: "I have begotten and exalted sons, but they have rejected me;" and the Spirit of God for its part also hears in the 65th Psalm: "In the greatness of your power your enemies shall lie to you." And he said, "You must be born of water," since the washing away in baptism of the filth of the body is a sign of those who are recreated by the Holy Spirit. For visibly, the font, with priests ministering, gives birth to our visible body; but invisibly, both body and soul together, with angels serving, the Spirit of God, invisible to all thoughts, baptizes into itself and regenerates. For also the Baptist historically, and following upon, "Of water and the Spirit," said concerning Christ: "He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire." For the human vessel, being earthenware, 39.673 first needs the purification from water, and then also the intelligible fire that makes it solid, for God is a consuming fire, and so of the Holy Spirit who completes and renews; since he knows that the spiritual fire waters, and that the water remelts. And a proof of this is Paul writing to the Corinthians the second time: "But we have this treasure in earthenware vessels." And by saying, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit;" he taught in summary that the person who has not received baptism is carnal, that is, without a share in heavenly light; for it is clear that the flesh is understood as long as it lives with its own soul; but the one who has been baptized is spiritual, which means, a partaker of immortal life. And by saying, "The Spirit blows where it wishes," he reveals its free will and omnipotence. And by saying, "And you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes;" he makes clear that he was not at that time discoursing with Nicodemus alone, but also with Arius,

18

τοσαύτην τῆς γεέννης ἄσβεστον κατασβέννυσι φλόγα. ∆ιτταὶ γὰρ γίνονται κυήσεις ἀνθρώποις, ἡ μὲν ἐκ σώματος ἡμετέρου, ἡ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος. Περὶ δὲ τούτων οἰκείως ἔγραψαν δογματικοὶ ἄνδρες· παραγράψω δ' ἑκάστου τό τε ὄνομα καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ διήγημα. Ἰωάννης· "Ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτὸν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ οἳ οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρὸς, ἀλλ' ἐκ Θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν." Ὅσοι, φησὶν, ἐπίστευσαν εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν, ἐδέξαντο ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῦτ' ἔστιν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, καὶ συγγένειαν κτήσασθαι πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, ἧς οὐκ ἠξιώθησαν ἄγγελοι. ∆ηλῶν γὰρ, ὅτι ὁ γεννῶν Θεὸς τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμά ἐστιν, ἐπήγαγεν ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ· "Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω σοι· ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστιν· καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος Πνεῦμά ἐστιν. Μὴ θαυμάσῃς, ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· ∆εῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν. Τὸ Πνεῦμα, ὅπου θέλει, πνεῖ· καὶ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἀκούεις· ἀλλ' οὐκ οἶδας, πόθεν ἔρχεται, καὶ ποῦ ὑπάγει. Οὕτως ἔστιν πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος." Τῷ εἰπεῖν· "Ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ·" καὶ, "∆εῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν·" ἐσήμανεν, ὡς, κἂν εἰς τὸ ὄνο 39.672 μα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ πιστεύσωσιν καὶ βαπτισθῶσιν, καὶ μὴ ἴσως καὶ ὁμοίως εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν θεότητα τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ἅτε μὴ ἔχοντες τὸ τέλειον, καὶ μάτην τὰς τρεῖς καταδύσεις δεξάμενοι, ἐν τῷ ἐναλλάττειν μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα τῇ δοξολογίᾳ τὴν ἰσοτιμίαν τῆς Τριάδος, καὶ παραβαίνειν τὰς ἰδίας ὁμολογίας, βασιλείας οὐρανῶν ἀξιωθῆναι οὐ δύνανται· ἀλλ' ὡς ὁμόλογοι παραβάται ἀκούουσιν, παρὰ μὲν τῶν ἁγίων, τὰ προφητευθέντα ἐν πʹ ψαλμῷ· "Οἱ ἐχθροὶ Κυρίου ἐψεύσαντο αὐτῷ·" παρὰ δὲ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ὡς ἔχει ἐν μὲν ιζʹ ψαλμῷ· "Υἱοὶ ἀλλότριοι ἐψεύσαντό μοι·" ἐν δὲ ρʹ· "Ποιοῦντας παραβάσεις ἐμίσησα· οὐκ ἐκολλήθη μοι καρδία σκαμβή·" παρὰ δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ὡς Ῥωμαίοις ἐγράφη· "Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα, αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν·" ἀκούει δὲ λοιπὸν καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ξεʹ ψαλμῷ· "Ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῆς δυνάμεώς σου ψεύσονταί σε οἱ ἐχθροί σου." Εἶπεν δέ· "∆εῖ γεννηθῆναι ἐξ ὕδατος·" ἐπειδὴ τὸ ἀποπλῦναι ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι τὸν ῥύπον τοῦ σώματος γνώρισμά ἐστιν τῶν ἀνακτιζομένων ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Ὁρατῶς μὲν γὰρ τὸ ὁρατὸν ἡμῶν σῶμα, ἱερέων διακονουμένων ἡ κολυμβήθρα τίκτει· νοητῶς δὲ, σῶμα ὁμοῦ καὶ ψυχὴν, ἀγγέλων ὑπηρετουμένων, τὸ πάσαις νοήσεσιν ἀόρατον Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ βαπτίζει εἰς ἑαυτὸ καὶ ἀναγεννᾷ. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ Βαπτιστὴς ἱστορικῶς, καὶ ἑπομένως τῷ, "Ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος," εἶπεν περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ· "Ἐκεῖνος ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί." Ὀστράκινον γὰρ ὃν τὸ 39.673 ἀνθρώπειον σκεῦος, δεῖται πρότερον τοῦ ἀπὸ ὕδατος καθαρσίου, εἶτα καὶ τοῦ στερέμνιον αὐτὸ ἀποτελοῦντος νοητοῦ πυρὸς ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς πῦρ καταναλίσκον, καὶ οὕτω τοῦ ἀπαρτίζοντος καὶ ἀνακαινίζοντος ἁγίου Πνεύματος· ὁπότε οἶδεν τό τε πῦρ τὸ πνευματικὸν καὶ ἀρδεύειν, τό τε ὕδωρ καὶ ἀναχωνεύειν. Ἀπόδειξις δὲ τούτου, ὁ Παῦλος γράφων Κορινθίοις τὸ δεύτερον· "Ἔχοντες δὲ τὸν θησαυρὸν τοῦτον ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν." Τῷ δέ γε εἰπεῖν· "Τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστιν· καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος Πνεῦμά ἐστιν·" ἐδίδαξεν ἐν ἐπιτόμῳ, ὡς ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὁ βαπτίσματος μὴ τυχὼν, σαρκικός ἐστιν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἀμέτοχος φωτὸς ἐπουρανίου σαφὲς γὰρ, ὡς ἡ σὰρξ ἐν ὅσῳ ζῇ μετὰ τῆς ἰδίας ψυχῆς νοεῖται· ὁ δὲ βαπτισθεὶς πνευματικός ἐστιν, ἀντὶ τοῦ, μέτοχος ζωῆς ἀθανάτου. Τῷ δὲ εἰπεῖν· "Τὸ Πνεῦμα, ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ·" τὸ αὐτεξούσιον καὶ παντοδύναμον αὐτοῦ ἐκφαίνει. Τῷ δὲ εἰπεῖν· "Καὶ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἀκούεις· ἀλλ' οὐκ οἶδας, πόθεν ἔρχεται, καὶ ποῦ ὑπάγει·" δηλοῖ ὡς οὐ Νικοδήμῳ τὸ τηνικαῦτα διελέγετο μόνῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἀρείῳ,