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the prophet says: "You are the God who does wonders, you alone are the great God;" and elsewhere: "One is holy, one is the Lord Jesus Christ." And concerning the Holy Spirit, as when Paul, full of understanding, testifies that it is the Spirit of God and the Father, just as our spirit is to us. And again he writes: "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines." Concerning wisdom, as when concerning the Son the most revered Paul, who was mentioned, writes: "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God;" and, "In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." And David sings in the Psalms: "How great are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all." And as Isaiah prophesies: "And he also is wise, and will bring disaster." And concerning the Holy Spirit, as when Isaiah prophesies: "the Spirit of God, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and of piety." And concerning incorruptibility and immortality, it has already been said, but it is not out of place to set forth other things as well; as when, concerning the life-giving Only-begotten, whose eye, and hearing, and justice, and love for humanity are present everywhere, David sings: "You are the same, and your years will have no end;" and, "Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens." And concerning the Holy Spirit, who nourishes all things, and illuminates with divine rays, and is long-suffering even toward those who abandon 39.872 the divine law, so that they might either turn back, or there receive a blameless punishment; as when it says: "And your incorruptible Spirit is in all things." But to those who say, "Are not souls and angels therefore immortal and invisible?" we must answer thus: First, concerning immortality, in one way, that their immortality in no way partakes of the primary and infinite immortality, being subordinate to and distinct from that, as much as a creature is from a Creator. And for this reason God alone was said to have immortality, as is easy to know, if we should consider that none of these is able, either to create, or to grant immortality, as the only invisible and eternal Only-begotten, and the Holy Spirit create, and make immortal. In another way, that souls and angels are both immortal with respect to the imperishable and incorruptible nature of their substance, and mortal with respect to being corrupted at times in their will. For from change it sometimes happens that they fall into sin, from which comes death; according to which Paul writes: "And the widow who lives for pleasure is dead;" although she has not yet departed this life, as has already been explained in the discourse concerning the Holy Spirit. For the mortal is contrasted with the immortal, 39.873 and correspondingly the immortal with the mortal, and it is understood 39.873 in the case of souls and angels, the immortal, when, in addition to not admitting death, that is, not being dissolved, since they are uncompounded and imperishable in their existence, if they also do not fall into corruption of will, that is, if they remain unchangeable; but the mortal, in opposition to this. And generally such persons seem not to know things that are said convertibly, and how not all things that are said homonymously of certain things are by nature convertible. For God is in every way immortal, but what is immortal is not yet God. And concerning the invisible, both souls and angels are indeed invisible to the eye of our body, in that they are without visible properties, I mean color, shape, size, but they are visible to the mind, which is the eye of the soul; since they are not unattainable, being created in their existence, but we have a conception of them. So that, even if they are invisible to the perception of the bodily eye, yet they are visible to the grasp of intellectual contemplation. But God, being beyond the invisible, and most hidden, and beyond all mind, is of such a nature as not only not to fall under sight, and, in a word, sense, but not even to be perceived by the mind of angels themselves, because of His incomprehensible and unapproachable nature. For that God exists is known to all; but what, or how He exists to contemplate, of all natural beings

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προφήτης λέγει· «Σὺ εἶ ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ποιῶν θαυμάσια, σὺ εἶ μόνος Θεὸς μέγας·» καὶ ἑτέρωθι· «Εἷς ἅγιος, εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός.» Περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ὡς ὅταν Παῦλος, ὁ συνέσεως πλήρης, Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, καθὰ ἡμῖν τὸ ἡμῶν πνεῦμα, εἶναι αὐτὸ μαρτυρεῖ. Καὶ πάλιν γράφει· «Ταῦτα πάντα ἐνεργεῖ τὸ ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ Πνεῦμα, διαιροῦν ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ, καθὼς βούλεται.» Περὶ μὲν σοφίας, ὡς ἡνίκα περὶ μὲν τοῦ Υἱοῦ ὁ μνημονευθεὶς σεμνότατος γράφει Παῦλος· «Χριστὸν Θεὸν δύναμιν, καὶ Θεοῦ σοφίαν·» καὶ, Ἐν ᾧ εἰσι πάντες οἱ θησαυροὶ τῆς σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως ἀπόκρυφοι.» Καὶ ∆αυῒδ ψάλλει· «Ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου, Κύριε! Πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας.» Καὶ ὡς Ἡσαΐας προφητεύει· «Καὶ αὐτὸς σοφὸς ἦγεν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς κακά.» Περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ὡς ὅταν Ἡσαΐας προφητεύῃ· «Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ, Πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως, Πνεῦμα βουλῆς καὶ ἰσχύος, Πνεῦμα γνώσεως καὶ εὐσεβείας.» Περὶ δὲ ἀφθαρσίας καὶ ἀθανασίας, προείρηται μὲν ἤδη, οὐ μέντοι ἄτοπον καὶ ἄλλα παραθέσθαι· ὡς ἡνίκα, περὶ μὲν τοῦ ψυχοδότου Μονογενοῦς, οὗ τὸ ὄμμα, καὶ ἡ ἀκοὴ, καὶ ἡ δίκη, καὶ ἡ φιλανθρωπία πανταχοῦ ἐφέστηκε, ∆αυῒδ μελῳδεῖ· «Σὺ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν·» καὶ, «Εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, Κύριε, ὁ λόγος σου διαμένει ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ.» Περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, τοῦ τὰ σύμπαντα τρέφοντος, καὶ θείαις ἀκτῖσι καταλάμποντος, καὶ ἕως καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀπολειπο 39.872 μένους τοῦ θείου νόμου μακροθυμοῦντος, ἵν' ἢ ἐπιστρέψωμεν, ἢ ἐκεῖσε τιμωρίαν ὑπόσχωσιν οὐ μεμπτήν· ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· «Καὶ τὸ ἄφθαρτόν σου Πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἐν πᾶσιν.» Τοῖς δὲ λέγουσιν, Οὐκ εἰσὶν οὖν αἱ ψυχαὶ καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι ἀθάνατοι καὶ ἀόρατοι; ἀπαντητέον οὕτως· Πρὸς τὸ ἀθάνατον πρῶτον καθ' ἕνα μὲν τρόπον, ὅτι τῇ πρωτουργῷ καὶ ἀπείρῳ ἀθανασίᾳ ἡ τούτων οὐδαμῶς κοινωνεῖ, ὑπὸ βεβηκυῖα καὶ διωρισμένη ἐκείνης, ὅσον δημιούργημα ∆ημιουργοῦ. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μόνος ἔχειν ἀθανασίαν ὁ Θεὸς ἐλέχθη, ὡς ἔστι γνῶναι ῥᾴδιον, εἴπερ εἰς νοῦν βαλοίμεθα, ὅτι τούτων οὐδὲν, οὔτε δημιουργεῖν, οὔτε ἀθανασίαν χορηγεῖν δύναται, ὡς ὁ μόνος ἀόρατος καὶ αἰώνιος Μονογενὴς, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα δημιουργεῖ, καὶ ἀθανάτους κατασκευάζει. Καθ' ἕτερον δὲ, ὅτι αἱ ψυχαὶ καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοί εἰσι καὶ ἀθάνατοι κατὰ τὸ ἀνώλεθρον καὶ ἄφθαρτον τῆς οὐσίας, καὶ θνητοὶ κατὰ τὸ φθείρεσθαί ποτε τῇ γνώμῃ. Ἀπὸ γὰρ τροπῆς ἔστιν ὅτε πίπτουσιν εἰς ἁμαρτίαν, ἐξ ἧς ἐπέρχεται ὁ θάνατος· καθ' ὃν ὁ Παῦλος γράφει· «Καὶ ἡ σπαταλῶσα χήρα τέθνηκεν·» καίπερ μήπω τὸν τῇδε ὑπαλλάξασα βίον, καθὰ ἤδη ἐν τῷ περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐξηγήθη λόγῳ. Ἀντιδιαιρεῖται γὰρ τῷ ἀθανάτῳ τὸ θνητὸν, 39.873 καὶ ἀντιστοίχως τῷ θνητῷ τὸ ἀθάνατον, καὶ νοεῖται 39.873 ἐπὶ ψυχῶν καὶ ἀγγέλων, τὸ μὲν ἀθάνατον, ὅταν πρὸς τῷ θάνατον μὴ ἐπιδέχεσθαι, ὅ ἐστιν μὴ διαλύεσθαι, ἅτε ἀσυνθέτους ὄντας καὶ ἀνωλέθρους τὴν ὕπαρξιν, ἐὰν καὶ φθορᾷ γνώμης μὴ ὑποπέσωσιν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, εἰ ἄτρεπτοι διαμείνωσιν· τὸ δὲ θνητὸν, ἀντικειμένως τούτῳ. Καθόλου δὲ ἐοίκασιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι μὴ γινώσκειν τὰ ἀντιστρόφως λεγόμενα, καὶ ὡς οὐ πάντα τὰ ὁμωνύμως κατά τινων λεγόμενα πέφυκεν ἀντιστρέφειν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Θεὸς παντοίως ἀθάνατος, οὐ μὴν τὸ ἀθάνατον ἤδη. Πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἀόρατον, εἰσὶ μὲν καὶ αἱ ψυχαὶ καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι, ἀόρατοι μὲν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν, ἐν τῷ εἶναι ἐκτὸς τῶν ὁρατῶν ἰδιωμάτων φημὶ χρώματος, σχήματος, μεγέθους, ὁρατοὶ δὲ τῷ νῷ, ὅ ἐστιν ὄμμα τῆς ψυχῆς· ἐπειδὴ μὴ ἀνέφικτοι, ἅτε κτιστοὶ τὴν ὕπαρξίν εἰσιν, ἀλλ' ἔστιν ἡμῖν νόησις περὶ αὐτῶν. Ὥστε, εἰ καὶ κατὰ προσβολὴν αἰσθήσεως ὀφθαλμοῦ ὄμματος ἀόρατοι, ἀλλ' οὖν κατὰ ἀντίληψιν θεωρίας ἐπιστημονικῆς ὁρατοί εἰσιν. Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ὑπὲρ τὸ ἀόρατον, καὶ ἀφανέστατον, καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντα νοῦν ὑπάρχων, οὐ μόνον ὄψει, καὶ συνόλως αἰσθήσει, μὴ ὑποπίπτειν, ἀλλὰ μήτε νῷ αὐτῶν ἀγγέλων ἐνορᾶσθαι, διὰ τὸ ἀκατάληπτον καὶ ἀπρόσιτον, πέφυκεν. Ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἔστι Θεὸς, πᾶσι γνώριμον· τί δὲ, ἢ πῶς ὑπάρχει θεωρῆσαι, πάντων τῶν φυσικῶν