44. In delivering the formula of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,  2  Matt. xxviii. 19. our Lord did not connect the gift with number. He did not say “into First, Second, and Third,”  3  Mr. C.F.H. Johnston quotes as instances of the application of the word “third” to the Holy Ghost; Justin Martyr (Apol. i. 13) “We honour the Spirit of prophecy in the third rank.” Tertullian (In Prax. 8) “As the fruit from the tree is third from the root, and the rivulet from the river third from the source, and the flame from the ray third from the sun.” Eunomius (Lib. Apol. § 25) “observing the teaching of Saints, we have learned from them that the Holy Spirit is third in dignity and order, and so have believed him to be third in nature also.” On the last St. Basil (Adv. Eunom. ii.) rejoins “Perhaps the word of piety allows Him to come in rank second to the Son…although He is inferior to the Son in rank and dignity (that we may make the utmost possible concession) it does not reasonably follow thence that he is of a different nature.” On the word “perhaps” a dispute arose at the Council of Florence, the Latins denying its genuineness. nor yet “into one, two, and three, but He gave us the boon of the knowledge of the faith which leads to salvation, by means of holy names. So that what saves us is our faith. Number has been devised as a symbol indicative of the quantity of objects. But these men, who bring ruin on themselves from every possible source, have turned even the capacity for counting against the faith. Nothing else undergoes any change in consequence of the addition of number, and yet these men in the case of the divine nature pay reverence to number, lest they should exceed the limits of the honour due to the Paraclete. But, O wisest sirs, let the unapproachable be altogether above and beyond number, as the ancient reverence of the Hebrews wrote the unutterable name of God in peculiar characters, thus endeavouring to set forth its infinite excellence. Count, if you must; but you must not by counting do damage to the faith. Either let the ineffable be honoured by silence; or let holy things be counted consistently with true religion. There is one God and Father, one Only-begotten, and one Holy Ghost. We proclaim each of the hypostases singly; and, when count we must, we do not let an ignorant arithmetic carry us away to the idea of a plurality of Gods.

[44] Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα παραδιδοὺς ὁ Κύριος, οὐ μετὰ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ συνεξέδωκεν. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν ὅτι εἰς πρῶτον καὶ δεύτερον καὶ τρίτον: οὐδὲ εἰς ἓν καὶ δύο καὶ τρία: ἀλλὰ δι' ὀνομάτων ἁγίων τὴν γνῶσιν τῆς πρὸς σωτηρίαν ἀγούσης πίστεως ἐχαρίσατο. Ὥστε τὸ μὲν σῷζον ἡμᾶς ἡ πίστις ἐστίν. Ὁ δὲ ἀριθμὸς σημεῖον γνωριστικὸν τοῦ ποσοῦ τῶν ὑποκειμένων ἐπινενόηται. Ἀλλ' οἱ πανταχόθεν ἑαυτοῖς τὰς βλάβας ἐπισυνάγοντες, καὶ τῇ τοῦ ἀριθμεῖν δυνάμει κατὰ τῆς πίστεως κέχρηνται: οἵγε οὐδενὸς τῶν ἄλλων ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ προσθήκης ἀλλοιουμένου, οὗτοι ἐπὶ τῆς θείας φύσεως εὐλαβοῦνται τὸν ἀριθμόν, μὴ δι' αὐτοῦ τῆς ὀφειλομένης τῷ Παρακλήτῳ τιμῆς ὑπερβῶσι τὸ μέτρον. Ἀλλ' ὦ σοφώτατοι, μάλιστα μὲν ὑπὲρ ἀριθμὸν ἔστω τὰ ἀνέφικτα: ὡς ἡ παλαιὰ τῶν Ἑβραίων εὐλάβεια ἰδίοις σημείοις τὸ ἀνεκφώνητον ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ διεχάρασσε, καὶ ἐκ τούτου τὴν κατὰ πάντων ὑπεροχὴν παριστῶσα. Εἰ δὲ ἄρα δεῖ καὶ ἀριθμεῖν, μήτοιγε καὶ ἐν τούτῳ κακουργεῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ἢ γὰρ σιωπῇ τιμάσθω τὰ ἄρρητα, ἢ εὐσεβῶς ἀριθμείσθω τὰ ἅγια. Εἷς Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ καὶ εἷς μονογενὴς Υἱὸς καὶ ἓν Πνεῦμα ἅγιον. Ἑκάστην τῶν ὑποστάσεων μοναχῶς ἐξαγγέλλομεν: ἐπειδὰν δὲ συναριθμῆσαι δέῃ, οὐχὶ ἀπαιδεύτῳ ἀριθμήσει πρὸς πολυθεΐας ἔννοιαν ἐκφερόμεθα.