EPISTLE ONE

 1. Your sacred Kindness’s letter was delivered to me in the desert. Though the persecution directed against us was indeed bitter, and a great search m

 2. To the Arians indeed this way of thinking is not strange. Having once denied the Word of God, they naturally say the same evil things against his S

 3. Where then do you find excuse for such audacity, so that you do not fear that which was spoken by the Lord, ‘Whosoever shall blaspheme against the

 4. Tell us, then, is there any passage in the divine Scripture where the Holy Spirit is found simply referred to as ‘spirit’ without the addition of ‘

 5. But do you answer the question which has been put to you whether anywhere in the divine Scripture you have found the Holy Spirit called simply ‘spi

 6. But inquire also about the contents of the Gospels and the writings of the Apostles, and you will hear how there also, inasmuch as there is a great

 7. See how the Holy Spirit is denoted in all divine Scripture ! Did you, then, notice anything of this kind in the prophet? The ‘spirit’ of which the

 8. Read the sacred Scriptures, and you will find ‘spirit’ used of the meaning which is in the divine words, as Paul writes: ‘Who also made us sufficie

 9. ‘But’, say they, ‘since the text makes mention of Christ, to be consistent we must take the spirit it speaks of to be none other than the Holy Spir

 10. Accordingly, if created spirit bears this meaning, we can appropriately take the thunder which is established to be the sure word and unshakable l

 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 repea

 12. Moses too knew that the angels are creatures and that the Holy Spirit is united with the Son and the Father. For when God said to him, ‘Depart, go

 13. ‘But granting this,’ they say, ‘why did the Apostle after Christ make mention not of the Holy Spirit but of the elect angels?’ In like manner we m

 14. What will they say if they hear also the Lord saying: ‘There was in a certain place a judge who feared not God and regarded not man’? Because, aft

 15. Such, it seems to me, is the meaning of the divine oracles and it refutes the evil which these irrational men speak against the Spirit. But they,

 16. We ought therefore, as I said before, to be silent on these matters and to disregard these people. But lest our silence should furnish an excuse f

 17. For this reason too, it is madness to call him a creature. If he were a creature, he would not be ranked with the Triad. For the whole Triad is on

 18. Let them presume to tell us, as they have a glib answer to everything, how the heavens were formed, and from what material, and what is their comp

 19. Since, therefore, such an attempt is futile madness, nay, more than madness !, let no one ask such questions any more, or else let him learn only

 20. But if there is such co-ordination and unity within the holy Triad, who can separate either the Son from the Father, or the Spirit from the Son or

 21. But if, in regard to order and nature, the Spirit bears the same relation to the Son as the Son to the Father, will not he who calls the Spirit a

 22. The creatures came from nothing, having a beginning from which they came into being. For, ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’

 23. He, therefore, who is not sanctified by another, nor a partaker of sanctification, but who is himself partaken, and in whom all the creatures are

 24. Further it is through the Spirit that we are all said to be partakers of God. For it says: ‘Know ye not that ye are a temple of God and that the S

 25. The Spirit, therefore, is distinct from the creatures, and is shown rather to be proper to the Son and not alien from God. As for that wise questi

 26. That the Spirit is above the creation, distinct in nature from things originated, and proper to the Godhead, can be seen from the following consid

 27. From what follows, also, we may see how the Holy Spirit is partaken and does not partake. (We must not mind repeating ourselves.) For, ‘It is impo

 28. But, beyond these sayings, let us look at the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning, which the Lord gave,

 29. Since then the Church has this foundation of faith, let these men tell us once again and let them make answer, Is God triad or dyad? If he is dyad

 30. Such absurdities meet you if you say God is dyad. But if he is triad, as indeed he is and if the Triad has been shown to be indivisible and consi

 31. This consideration also shows that the activity of the Triad is one. The Apostle does not mean that the things which are given are given different

 32. The divine Scriptures, then, consistently show that the Holy Spirit is not a creature, but is proper to the Word and to the Godhead of the Father.

 33. Dwelling as I do in a desert place, yet, because of their effrontery who have turned away from the truth, I have not heeded those who will be glad

 EPISTLE TWO—THREE

 2. This opinion of the Arians is indeed mortal and corruptible. But the argument of truth, which even they ought to ponder, runs like this: If God is

 3. When these points are thus proved, he is impious who says that the Son is a creature. For he will be compelled also to give the name of creature to

 4. Again, all things originate were not and have come into being. For, ‘He made the earth as nothing’ and, ‘Who calleth the things that are not as th

 5. Since these things are true and are written in Scripture, who does not recognize that, inasmuch as the Son has no likeness to the creatures but has

 6. In this way too we can refute the impiety of those who say that the Word of God is a creature. Our faith is in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as the

 7. But as they plead the passage in Proverbs, ‘The Lord created me, a beginning of his ways, for his works’, adding, ‘See, “He created” He is a creatu

 8. This character [of our faith] is from the Apostles through the Fathers. It remains that he who reads Scripture should examine and judge when it spe

 9. Then too there is that other saying, which is indeed well said, but by them ill understood—I mean: ‘Of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not ev

 Letter III. 1. Perhaps you will wonder why, when I was charged to abridge and briefly to explain the letter I had written concerning the Holy Spirit,

 2. These considerations are sufficient to dissuade anyone, be he never so contentious, from continuing to call the Spirit of God a creature, who is in

 3. Again, the Holy Spirit is called, and is, unction and seal. For John writes: ‘And as for you, the unction which ye received of him abideth in you,

 4. This the Apostle knows when he says: ‘All these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally, even as he will’ and a little

 5. As it is thus written, it is clear that the Spirit is not a creature, but takes part in the act of creation. The Father creates all things through

 6. Assuredly, when he prayed for the Corinthians, he prayed in the Triad, saying: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the comm

 7. In these terms the Catholic faith is expressed. But as for those who speak evil of the Spirit and call him a creature, if what we have said does no

 Epistle Four

 2. Who, when he hears these things, will still regard them as Christians, and not rather as pagans? For such things the pagans say against us in conve

 3. Once again, in the following way also, it is just for you to be questioned from the questions you ask. If the prophets speak in the Spirit of God,

 4. Thus the Spirit is not a creature but proper to the essence of the Word and proper to God in whom he is said to be. Once more, we must not shrink f

 5. These things being thus proved, he must be mad who asks, Is the Spirit also a son? But neither let any man, because this is not written, separate h

 6. For if you ask, Is the Spirit then a son?, since by our showing he is not a creature so must you ask, Is the Son then a father?, for you have

 7. These things are sufficient to refute your foolish speech. Mock no more at the Godhead. For it is the part of those who mock to ask the questions w

17. For this reason too, it is madness to call him a creature. If he were a creature, he would not be ranked with the Triad. For the whole Triad is one God. It is enough to know that the Spirit is not a creature, nor is he numbered with the things that are made. For nothing foreign is mixed with the Triad; it is indivisible and consistent. These things are sufficient for the faithful. Thus far human knowledge goes. Here the cherubim spread the covering of their wings. He who seeks and would inquire into what lies beyond these things disobeys him who said: ‘Be not wise in many things, lest thou be confounded.’ For the things that have been handed down by faith ought not to be measured by human wisdom, but by the hearing of faith. What speech shall be able worthily to interpret the things that surpass originated nature? Or what hearing is able to understand things it is not lawful for men either to hear or to utter? For that is how Paul spoke of what he heard; but of God himself, ‘How are his ways past tracing out!’, and, ‘Who hath known the mind of the Lord and who hath been his counsellor?’ Abraham was not a busybody, nor did he question him who spoke, but believed and ‘it was counted to him for righteousness’. Thus Moses was called ‘a faithful servant’. But if the disciples of Arius, because wisdom will not enter their deceitful hearts, are not able intelligently to believe in the indivisible and holy Triad, let them not on that account pervert the truth as well, neither let them say that what they cannot understand cannot be true. They have put themselves in an absurd position. Because they cannot understand how the holy Triad is indivisible, the Arians make the Son one with the creation, and the Tropici, for their part, number the Spirit with the creatures. It would be better for them either to say nothing at all in their incomprehension, the Arians not ranking the Son with the creatures nor the Tropici the Spirit; or else to acknowledge what is written, and join the Son to the Father and not divide the Spirit from the Son—so that the Holy Triad may still be rightly characterized as indivisible and of one nature. Having learned these truths, they ought not to be so bold as to ask doubting, how these things could be; lest, even if he whom they question be at a loss for words, of their own accord they think out false notions for themselves. For all created beings, and especially we who are men, find it impossible to speak adequately concerning the things that are ineffable. All the more presumptuous, then, if, when we cannot speak, we devise for these subjects strange forms of expression other than those in the Scriptures. Above all is this present attempt madness, both on the part of him who asks and of him who so much as thinks of answering. For he who asked such questions even about originated things would not be regarded as of sound mind.

Οὐκοῦν καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο μανία τὸ λέγειν αὐτὸ κτίσμα. Εἰ γὰρ κτίσμα ἦν, οὐ συνετάσσετο τῇ Τριάδι. Ὅλη γὰρ εἷς Θεός ἐστι. Καὶ ἀρκεῖ γινώσκειν, ὅτι μὴ κτίσμα ἐστὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα, μηδὲ τοῖς ποιήμασι συναριθμεῖται· οὐ γὰρ ἀλλότριον ἐπιμίγνυται τῇ Τριάδι, ἀλλ' ἀδιαίρετός ἐστι καὶ ὁμοία ἑαυτῇ. Ἀρκεῖ ταῦτα τοῖς πιστοῖς· μέχρι τούτων ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἡ γνῶσις φθάνει· ἕως τούτων τὰ χερουβὶμ κα λύπτει ταῖς πτέρυξιν. Ὁ δὲ περιττὰ τούτων ζητῶν καὶ θέλων ἐρευνᾷν παρακούει τοῦ λέγοντος· «Μὴ σοφίζου περισσὰ, ἵνα μὴ ἐκπλαγῇς.» Τὰ γὰρ πίστει παραδοθέντα, ταῦτα οὐκ ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῃ σοφίᾳ, ἀλλ' ἐν ἀκοῇ πίστεως διανοεῖσθαι πρέπει. Ποῖος γὰρ λόγος ἐπαξίως διερμηνεῦσαι δυνήσεται τὰ ὑπὲρ τὴν γενητὴν ὄντα φύσιν; Ἢ ποία τις ὅλως ἀκοὴ συνιέναι δύναται, ἃ μὴ ἔξεστιν ἀνθρώποις μήτε ἀκούειν, μήτε λαλεῖν; Περὶ μὲν οὖν ὧν ἤκουσεν ὁ Παῦλος, οὕτως εἴρηκε· περὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ· «Ὡς ἀνεξιχνίαστοι αἱ ὁδοὶ αὐτοῦ! Τίς γὰρ ἔγνω νοῦν Κυρίου; Ἢ τίς σύμβουλος αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο;» Ὁ γοῦν Ἀβραὰμ οὔτε περιειργάσατο, οὐδὲ ἀνέκρινε τὸν λαλοῦντα, ἀλλ' «ἐπίστευσε, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην·» οὕτω Μωσῆς πιστὸς ἐκλήθη θερά πων· Εἰ δὲ οἱ τὰ Ἀρείου φρονοῦντες, ἐπεὶ εἰς τὴν κακότεχνον αὐτῶν ψυχὴν οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται σο φία, οὐ δύνανται νοεῖν οὐδὲ πιστεύειν περὶ τῆς ἀδιαι ρέτου καὶ ἁγίας Τριάδος, μὴ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν ἀλή θειαν παρεξηγείσθωσαν, μηδὲ ἅπερ αὐτοὶ μὴ δύνανται νοεῖν, ταῦτα λεγέτωσαν μηδὲ εἶναι δύνασθαι. Πρᾶγμα γὰρ πάσχουσιν ἀτοπώτατον· ὅτι, μὴ δυνά μενοι νοεῖν, πῶς ἀδιαίρετός ἐστιν ἡ ἁγία Τριὰς, ποιοῦσιν οἱ μὲν Ἀρειανοὶ ἓν τὸν Υἱὸν μετὰ τῆς κτίσεως· οἱ δὲ τροπικοὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα καὶ αὐτοὶ τοῖς κτίσμασι συναριθμοῦσιν. Ἔδει δὲ αὐτοὺς ἢ καθόλου μὴ νοοῦντας σιωπᾷν, καὶ μὴ συντάσσειν, μήτε ἐκείνους τὸν Υἱὸν, μήτε τούτους τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῖς κτίσμα σιν· ἢ τὸ γεγραμμένον ἐπιγινώσκειν, καὶ τῷ Πατρὶ συνάπτειν τὸν Υἱὸν, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα μὴ διαιρεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ἵνα τὸ ἀδιαίρετον καὶ ὁμοφυὲς ἀληθῶς τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος διαμείνῃ. Ταῦτα μαθόντας αὐτοὺς ἔδει μὴ τολμᾷν, μηδ' ἀμφιβάλλοντας ἐρωτᾷν, πῶς ταῦτα γένοιτο, ἵνα, κἂν ὁ ἐρωτώμενος ἀπορῇ λέ γειν, μὴ ἐπινοῶσιν αὐτοὶ κακονοίας ἑαυτοῖς. Ἔστι μὲν γὰρ πᾶσι τοῖς γενητοῖς, μάλιστα δὲ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατον ἐπαξίως εἰπεῖν περὶ τῶν ἀποῤῥήτων. Τολμηρότερον δὲ πάλιν, μὴ δυναμένους λέγειν, ἐπινοεῖν ἐπὶ τούτων καινοτέρας λέξεις παρὰ τὰς τῶν Γραφῶν. Ἄλλως τε καὶ μανιώδης ἡ τοιαύτη ἐπιχείρησις τοῦ τε ἐρωτῶντος καὶ τοῦ κἂν ὅλως ἐνθυμουμένου ἀποκρίνασθαι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ περὶ τῶν γενητῶν οὕτω τις ἐρωτῶν νομισθείη νοῦν ἔχειν ὀρθόν.