Didymus the Blind, On the Trinity

But it does benefit spiritually. For only let faith concerning the thrice-blessed Trinity come into our heart, and a spiritual word into our mouth, and the seal of Christ on our forehead; only let him receive baptism, and let the chrism strengthen him; immediately the Trinity, which is by nature the bestower of good, is found to be gracious; immediately it arrives with us, in that very instant the unclean spirits depart from the clean, at once worldly affairs are gone, and all kinds of bodily passions are put out of the way; all transgressions are forgiven, our names are written in indelible books, the heavenly goods are permitted to us; so that because of its ineffable readiness, and providence, and its will always to be first in all good things, even this our purpose is anticipated by it, or pre-initiated. And, to speak concisely, while preserving 39.713 clearly the reverence that is between truth and shadow, even the image itself of baptism always both enlightened all the Israelites of that time, and saved them, and showed that the salvation provided is common to the consubstantial Trinity, as Paul the expert in the law wrote in his first Epistle to the Corinthians: "For I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ;" and as they prophesy, Ezekiel on the one hand: "Thus says the Lord: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be cleansed from all your sins; and I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God." And David on the other hand: "You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; you will wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow." For by the sprinkling of hyssop, he means the Jewish purification, which is customary among them even until now; but by "whiter than snow", the enlightenment of Christians, he means baptism. And Isaiah: "All those written for life in Jerusalem shall be called holy; for the Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Zion, and will cleanse the blood from their midst 39.716 by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning." And so that Peter might show in his first Epistle how, if the baptism that once took place in shadow saved, how much more does that which takes place in truth make us immortal and deify us, he wrote thus: "Which also now saves you in a corresponding type, baptism, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but the appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels and authorities and powers subjected to him." And by "appeal to God" he means the confession of conscience which we set forth, consenting to be baptized into the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, according to the Lord's voice. Therefore Isaiah again cries out to those who do not believe in the Holy Spirit, and for this reason do not have the future inheritance: "There is, he says, an inheritance for those who serve the Lord, and you shall be righteous, says the Lord. You who are thirsty, come to the water; and as many as have no silver, go buy and eat, without silver and price, wine and fat." By "water" he meant the Holy Spirit, and the streams of his font; by "wine and fat," at that time it signified the things of the Jewish table of showbread, but now the immortal communion of the Lord's body and blood; which together with the renewal we both buy, depositing faith and not silver, and at the same time also receive as a gift. But that the Holy Spirit is water, and indeed that of His baptism, John also testifies from the Savior, saying: "He who believes in me, as the Scripture said, 'Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.'" And he immediately added to the saying: "This, he says, he said about the Spirit, which those were to receive who

ἀλλ' οὖν ψυχικῶς ὠφελεῖ. Μόνον τε γὰρ ἔλθῃ περὶ τῆς τρισμακαρίας Τριάδος πίστις ἐν καρδίᾳ ἡμῶν, καὶ ῥῆμα πνευματικὸν ἐν στόματι, καὶ σφραγὶς Χριστοῦ ἐν μετώπῳ· μόνον βάπτισμα ὑποδέξηται, καὶ τὸ χρίσμα ῥώσῃ· εὐθὺς ἵλεως εὑρίσκεται, ἡ τὴν φύσιν ἀγαθοδότις ὑπάρχουσα Τριάς· εὐθὺς παρ' ἡμῖν καταντᾷ, αὐτῇ τῇ ῥοπῇ τὰ ἀκάθαρτα πνεύματα ἀπὸ τῶν καθαρῶν ἀναχωρεῖ, παραχρῆμα τὰ κοσμικὰ πράγματα οἴχεται, καὶ τὰ σωματικὰ παντοῖα πάθη ἐκποδὼν καθίσταται· τὰ πταίσματα πάντα ἀφίεται, τὰ ὀνόματα ἡμῶν ἀνεξαλείπτοις ἐγγράφεται βίβλοις, τὰ οὐράνια ἡμῖν ἐπιτρέπεται ἀγαθά· ὡς διὰ τὴν ἄφατον αὐτῆς ἑτοιμότητα, καὶ προμηθίαν, καὶ τὸ ἐθέλειν ἀεὶ πάντων καλῶν πρωτεύειν, προφθάνεσθαι ὑπ' αὐτῆς καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν τοιάνδε πρόθεσιν ἡμῶν, ἢ προκατάρχεσθαι. Καὶ ἵνα συλλήβδην εἴπω, φυλάτ 39.713 των δηλονότι τὸ σέβας τὸ μεταξὺ ἀληθείας καὶ σκιᾶς, καὶ ἡ εἰκὼν αὐτὴ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἐφώτιζέν τε πάντοτε πάντας τοὺς κατ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν Ἰσραηλίτας, καὶ ἔσωζεν, καὶ ἐδείκνυ τῆς ὁμοουσίου Τριάδος κοινὴν εἶναι τὴν παρεχομένην σωτηρίαν, ὡς Παῦλος ὁ νομομαθὴς ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους αʹ Ἐπιστολῇ ἔγραψεν· "Οὐ θέλω γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοὶ, ὅτι οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν πάντες ὑπὸ τὴν νεφέλην ἦσαν, καὶ πάντες διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης διῆλθον, καὶ πάντες εἰς τὸν Μωϋσῆν ἐβαπτίσθησαν ἐν τῇ νεφέλῃ καὶ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ· καὶ πάντες βρῶμα τὸ πνευματικὸν ἔφαγον, καὶ πάντες τὸ αὐτὸ πνευματικὸν ἔπιον πόμα· ἔπινον γὰρ ἐκ πνευματικῆς ἀκολουθούσης πέτρας· ἡ δὲ πέτρα ἦν ὁ Χριστός·" καὶ ὡς προφητεύουσιν, Ἰεζεκιὴλ μέν· "Τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Ῥανῶ ἐφ' ὑμᾶς ὕδωρ καθαρὸν, καὶ καθαρισθήσεσθε ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν· καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμά μου δώσω ἐν ὑμῖν, καὶ ἐσεσθέ μοι εἰς λαὸν, καὶ ἐγὼ ἔσομαι ὑμῖν εἰς Θεόν." ∆αυῒδ δέ· "Ῥαντιεῖς με ὑσσώπῳ, καὶ καθαρισθήσομαι· πλυνεῖς με, καὶ ὑπὲρ χιόνα λευκανθήσομαι." Ῥαντισμὸν γὰρ ὑσσώπου, τὸν Ἰουδαϊκὸν καθαρισμὸν, τὸν ἕως νῦν εἰωθότα παρ' αὐτοῖς γίνεσθαι· ὑπὲρ χιόνα δὲ, φωτισμὸν Χριστιανῶν, τὸ βάπτισμα λέγει. Ἡσαΐας δέ· "Ἅγιοι κληθήσονται πάντες οἱ γραφέντες εἰς ζωὴν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ· ὅτι ἐκπλυνεῖ Κύριος τὸν ῥύπον τῶν υἱῶν καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων Σιὼν, καὶ τὸ αἷμα ἐκκαθαριεῖ ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν 39.716 ἐν Πνεύματι κρίσεως καὶ ἐν Πνεύματι καύσεως." Καὶ ἵνα δείξῃ Πέτρος ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ Ἐπιστολῇ, ὡς, εἰ τὸ γενόμενόν ποτε ἐν σκιᾷ βάπτισμα ἔσωζεν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὸ γενόμενον ἐν ἀληθείᾳ ἀπαθανατοῖ καὶ ἀποθεοῖ ἡμᾶς, ἔγραψεν οὕτως· "Ὃ καὶ ὑμᾶς ἀντίτυπον νῦν σώζει βάπτισμα, οὐ σαρκὸς ἀπόθεσις ῥύπου, ἀλλὰ συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς ἐπερώτημα εἰς Θεὸν δι' ἀναστάσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅστις ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ πορευθεὶς εἰς οὐρανὸν, ὑποταγέντων αὐτῷ ἀγγέλων, καὶ ἐξουσιῶν, καὶ δυνάμεων." Ἐπερώτημα δὲ λέγει εἰς Θεὸν τὴν ὁμολογίαν τῆς συνειδήσεως, ἣν ἐκτιθέμεθα, συντιθέμενοι βαπτίζεσθαι εἰς Πατέρα, καὶ Υἱὸν, καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνήν. Ἡσαΐας οὖν αὖθις βοᾷ πρὸς τοὺς μὴ πιστεύοντας τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μὴ ἔχοντας τὴν μέλλουσαν κληρονομίαν· "Ἔστιν, φησὶν, κληρονομία τοῖς θεραπεύουσι Κύριον, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔσεσθε δίκαιοι, λέγει Κύριος. Οἱ διψῶντες, πορεύεσθε ἐφ' ὕδωρ· καὶ ὅσοι μὴ ἔχετε ἀργύριον, βαδίσαντες ἀγοράσατε, καὶ φάγετε ἄνευ ἀργυρίου καὶ τιμῆς οἶνον καὶ στέαρ." Ὕδωρ εἶπεν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καὶ τῆς κολυμβήθρας αὐτοῦ τὰ νάματα· οἶνον καὶ στέαρ, τότε μὲν τὰ τῆς προθέσεως τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς ἐσήμανεν, νῦν δὲ τὴν ἀθάνατον κοινωνίαν τοῦ σώματος καὶ αἵματος τοῦ δεσποτικοῦ· ἥντινα σὺν τῷ ἀνακαινισμῷ ἅμα μὲν ἀγοράζομεν, πίστιν καὶ οὐκ ἀργύριον κατατιθέμενοι, ἅμα δὲ καὶ χάρισμα λαμβάνομεν. Ὅτι δὲ ὕδωρ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, ἔτι μὴν καὶ τὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος αὐτοῦ λέγει, καὶ Ἰωάννης μαρτυρεῖ ἀπὸ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, εἰπών· "Ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ, καθὼς εἶπεν ἡ Γραφή· ποταμοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ ῥεύσουσιν ὕδατος ζῶντος." Καὶ εὐθὺς προσέθηκεν τῷ λόγῳ· "Τοῦτο δὲ, φησὶν, ἔλεγεν περὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος, οὗ ἔμελλον λαμβάνειν οἱ